Sunday Letter: 01.06.19

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

Happy 2019! I trust you survived the holidays and are ready to settle back into some sort of productive routine. This is me trying to get back on schedule by writing my first Sunday Letter of the new year.

Thanks for checking in!

Bye-Bye Christmas

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, I will be putting Christmas away. Yes, I am waiting until today.

Once upon a time when I worked at the bank and had young kids at home, I put Christmas away on New Year’s Day. Life was hectic, and I was frantic to get the house back to normal.

Not anymore. Now, I enjoy the magic of Christmas until Epiphany—the day of the Three Wise Men.

Yesterday, I moved most of my decorations to the dining room table, sort of a reverse staging area to make packing easier. This act of moving each item gave me one more opportunity to think about the memory associated with each, the sweet little tree Tate made in kindergarten, the quirky silver one Kelsey had in her freshman dorm room at UT. One final goodbye til next year.

On the one hand I’m always sad to see Christmas leave. On the other hand, there’s nothing like the clean that comes afterward, and the fresh start it brings.

New Year New Me?

There’s a popular hashtag that folks of Instagram use this time of year—#NewYearNewMe. Its purpose (I imagine) is to reflect resolutions of 2019 as everyone trades out burgers for salads and joins the local gym. Instead of shooting for great changes and huge alternations, I set myself up to achieve small successes by aiming at the realistic. Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning. Go for a walk without the dogs. Use the good china. Ignore what’s trending on Twitter. Write 200 words every morning.

Maybe, after all this time, this is simply me knowing myself.

But I’ve found it to be true. Little changes can grow into bigger ones. Try it.

Junkin’ Trip

Friday I went junkin’ with my friend, Valeria. We are well-suited junkin’ friends as we like to look yet don’t buy unless we really, really are sold on something. And we seem to have weaknesses for similar things—linens, china, crystal, chairs, tables, old things in general.

We hit all the best spots in Prairie Grove and visited Long Ago Antiques in Fayetteville.

We didn’t buy anything. Not yet, anyway. Mainly we talked about how we need to purge things from our own homes. I always wonder if these antique and thrift stores come about because the people who buy too much stuff end up opening their own booths rather than getting rid of things???

I bet so.

Check out the unique antique quilt above. The goblet pattern was the Temperance Union’s symbol of anti-alcohol. It would be hypocritical of me to buy it. (Like I need another quilt anyway.)

How about the book—Polite Life and Etiquette? I wish I had bought it because a) you can’t have too many books, and b) there are no doubt much-needed societal gems inside the pages of that old book.

Here’s a game I play—if the book is there the next time I go I’ll snag it because I was obviously meant to have it. ☺

Typing Class

Raise your hand if you took typing in high school.

Typing class was one of my favorites. Still today, typing is one of my strongest skills. No kidding. I LOVE to type, and I can’t imagine how different my life would be if I had to hunt and peck out words.

I blame typing class nostalgia for the fondness I feel for old typewriters (even though I learned on an electric). I romanticize John Steinbeck pecking out The Grapes of Wrath on a serious black Royal like the one Daddy had, sturdy as a tractor yet temperamental as a toddler, with keys that jammed and a ribbon that often twisted and smudged.

Something else I didn’t buy on Saturday???.  But isn’t he handsome in gold and black?

Of course I touched it. Well, more like I stroked it. I may have to adopt this jewel, too…

Things Momma Says

Momma: I put away all my Christmas stuff yesterday.
Me: (pointing) What about that?
Momma: I leave that out all year.
Me: (pointing to something else) What about that?
Momma: No, I leave that out all year too.

***

In my One Little Word post last week, I announced my goal to purge 2,019 things from our house by either donating or tossing items. So far I’ve gathered up over 100 items. Yesterday I started on the pantry. So far so good. My goal is less clutter and more space which may seem contradictory to my desire to buy another old book and a vintage typewriter. It’s a struggle, y’all. But getting rid of things unused in the past seven years makes way for things that bring joy.

Three questions for you:
1. What do you want more of in 2019?
2. What small change will you make in 2019?
3. What was your favorite class in high school?

See you later gater,

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.