Couple of tasks on the docket today.

First and foremost is the van’s oil change across town. 8 had to bump my dog’s playdate by a day because of it. We need one as we’ve gone slightly over due to extended holiday traveling, and my not recalling the mileage correctly. Second thing is to take the tree down. I started on the ornaments. Will tackle the tinsel and lights next, then boxing up the tree and putting that away. Third will be to shovel all this new snow we are in the middle of accumulating as we speak. Then after that I can look at the laundry, floors, and kitchen. It’s a domestic duties Monday! First day back for everybody in our household anyway.

Sad to put the tree away, but it’s nice to have it packed away neatly, and at my own pace. I was going to listen to music, still might. But I have to get the car across town for an appointment shortly, so I didn’t want to get carried away, and forget about the oil change while working on the tree. Still have a way to go on this, so I’ll leave it be, for now. And will come back to it upon my return.

Filling my bins neatly!

The third bin is for ceramic ornaments, tree skirting, tinsel, and the light strands. Perhaps some stockings etc… to keep the ceramic stuff intact when moving them up & down stairs. Shame to lose them all in one ill timed drop. I say this from experience because I dropped a separate container that had the only remaining paw imprint ornament from our previous dog, and an infant hand print from our eldest daughter, and I could not save either one. The medium was too brittle and shattered into an untold number of pieces. Unlucky.

So the van is done, the snow has been shovelled at least once (still actively snowing though) and I have eaten breakfast, and I am set to take the rest of the tree apart. I even brought our tree bag inside to warm up a little before it goes back out to the shed for another ten or so months! How thoughtful. I will set the dishwasher to run first, get some kitchen issues settled before I dig back into the tree. Wandering minds make for chaotic housekeepers. I eventually get to what I wanted to do, I just find other tasks along the way!

Enjoy the remainder of your Monday January 5th, 2026.