Adios Christmas, Hello Gym!

The lights are down and the ornaments safely stored in the back room commonly known as the junk room, the place where seasonal and occasionally used possessions reside in disarray waiting to once again be noticed. I spent most of the morning returning the holiday house into its old, unfestive self. As much as I love all the cheery trappings of this time of year, I welcome the return to normalcy, as boring as it can often be.

Leaving the Christmas and New Year jolliness behind, I now must also deal with the aftermath of all the goodies I so gleefully stuffed into my eager mouth as I celebrated to beat the band. Peanut brittle, fudge, eggnog, a cookie potpourri of all shapes and sizes, apple crisp with vanilla ice cream atop. Yes, they all passed through my enthusiastic lips. We're talking 5 pounds, the same 5 pounds I put on every December and take off every January. Here we go again, but it is OK because I knew what I was doing and it was worth it.  Besides, hard work though it is, I know how to make it all disappear.

So. The merry red and green of the once illuminated candles are banished to the dark obscurity of the junk room, and December's delectable and caloric goodies are kicked out of the cupboards, nowhere to be found. 

And that's the way it is: January, 2011.