Thanks Crown. Sorry it's taken so long to respond. Was really busy this past week so I haven't even been able to log on.
Anyways, I agree with what your saying. And I'll admit that taking everything down and leaving it behind once and for all for the year certainly brings with it a sense of relief in being able to do and focus on other things. Usually most years I'm able to resign myself to the thought that it will be back sooner than it seems. And with that thought in mind I'm able to move on from it pretty well within those first couple of weeks of January. Especially since like I mentioned before, being such a Halloween fanatic as well, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't getting the holiday wheels turning inside my head as early as August.
I think one factor this year that lead me to carrying it on so long into January was that it was really hot for most of November where I live (So Cal). It was weird because it was typical Fall weather in Oct, then it suddenly got blistering hot (hotter than it was during summer even) for the first 2-3 weeks of Nov, and it wasn't until Thanksgiving weekend that it then cooled off and started to get wintery. So in that first part of Nov with the heat and everything it just wasn't really conducive to start delving into Christmas just yet, as opposed to in years past where by mid-Nov everything is ablaze with Christmas and I get a whole two months to do it, which includes that early part of January.
But the thing this season was that I know some major changes are coming in my life fairly soon, mainly that I will be entering the military at some point in the year and embarking on some extensive journeys for the foreseeable future. And I know for the most part this past season was the last chance for me to do Christmas and the holidays in the capacity that I'm in now and have been up until this point in my life. Just with life and the ease of being around my family and my dog and the home I grew up in, mentally still feeling more closely linked to how things were when I was growing up than to how things will be in the future. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely look forward to the adventures ahead and eventually establishing a life and home for myself. But for the time being I was just trying to squeeze out whatever last possible remaining moments of Christmas that I could before I had to wrap it all up (no pun intended) once and for all, and before things will change for me to the point where simply going back to the state I'm in now will be impossible. In a good way. And believe me, I can't count my blessings enough for having it this good up to now.
But yea, this past Saturday I woke up early before work and finally took everything down. A bit of comic relief came when I stepped out of my front door with my tree in hand and a neighbor walked by, sort of gave me a bewildered look, and said "Well I guess Christmas is over huh?". It just felt like such a Clark Griswold end of credits type scene. If you've seen the movie you know how much he obsesses over his tree, and it would have totally been an appropriate end of credits scene to then see him finally take it out super late into January and the neighbors just look at him confused. That's the first thing I thought of and it brought some good lightheartedness to it.
Everything is all boxed up at this point. Now all I have that leaves any indication of the holidays are a few glass snow globes and glass mugs sitting on my shelf that I still need to wrap in paper for padding and then box up. Since I barely did it this past Saturday it's still a little weird coming home and not having any lights to plug in. And I'll still reflect on it here and there throughout the day, especially that whole "exactly 1,2,3,4,5 weeks ago at this moment..." thing I do. But I'm not really sad over it anymore.
I got to say though I don't know how I would have done it without MMC. Well, I do know, which is get way more depressed about it than I did. But again, I want to thank all you folks for letting me come on here and lament the way I do. And for supporting me and offering advice and sharing in it. Especially when I know my own issues absolutely pale in comparison to some of the struggles that some of the members on here have faced recently. You all are certainly in my thoughts and prayers. I really feel like I am part of a community here and absolutely appreciate it.