When Genius Strikes!

 I will say that it (genius striking) doesn't happen often but, when it does, I might be found doing the "happy dance". As you can see, I am still not ready to begin my Valentine 2026 tour just yet...I'm getting closer but this has stopped me in my tracks for a bit.

I do admit to having almost all of the Christmas down and almost all of the Valentine's Day stuff up with a few minor exceptions and maybe some tweaks before it is ready to be shown BUT, I did not have one thing packed up and put away...and stuff was everywhere! This is the couch in the sunroom and it holds most of the faux greenery...but not all. And, every time I looked at it, I found another excuse not to start...until this morning when I finally psyched myself up to begin! Normally, a lot of the garlands go up on the very top shelf of the garage shelving and it is a bit scary to get up there and have to maneuver the weight of these things once they're packed up...but, I was prepared to do it when I just happened to spy a large garbage can that is also on a shelf in the garage that has always held all of our outdoor icicle lights. We always had those lights stretch the entire length of our house and garage as well as down the fence lines so there were a LOT of lights. But, with the age of my roof, I am happy not having anyone walking around up there anymore and they are too difficult to hang from the ground on a ladder so, a few years back I passed them along to granddaughter #1...and, I guess that can has been sitting there empty all of this time.

And that's when it hit me. Why not wind up the garlands and store them in there. And, since many of the new garlands are "real feel", they wind up so much smaller and I was able to fit almost every one in that one garbage can. And, thankfully. I had enough other Rubbermaids to accommodate the rest.

And that was all it took to get me on the fast track. I now have all of the Christmas for the garage packed away. I still have just the other stuff that was part of the red and green theme to put away and all of the guest rooms to pack up because stuff literally gets stored in every square inch of this house but, the "elephant in the room" has been addressed and I am moving ahead...and breathing a sigh of relief that I don't need to go up to that top shelf today. Lol

Thought I would share a picture from my lunch and shopping trip with granddaughter #1. She is the one who started me on this incredible journey of "grandparenthood" and I still have to pinch myself to believe that it has been almost 30 years!! This child and I have logged many, many miles together in restaurants and stores and malls and I am so happy that she still wants to do this with her old Nana!

And then there is this...granddaughter #5.

This was at a game I was going to attend but she didn't think she would be playing-she is their newest goalie and she is almost always aware of when they will be putting her in-so I ended up missing it to keep on keeping on with my swap out...and then, when she least expected it, she went in and made a save! Wish I had been there but she sure looks happy with herself!

And so now I head back to try to finish up all of the rest-except the tree which I think will wait until the weekend because I am off to run a bunch of errands tomorrow. I am looking for a few new things to round out the decor and if I find them, I will be back to share. Stay safe and stay tuned.

One last thought. My images arrived and I got them all framed and hung for Valentine's Day so you will see them soon but I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for the frame I grabbed for the St. Pat's image. It matches perfectly...and, if I was being truly honest, I wish I was decorating for St. Pat's instead of Valentine's Day. I just LOVE all of the green!