The Holidays Are Over, and I'm Still Tired

 The holidays have officially ended.

The tree is down.
The ornaments are back in their boxes.
The cookie trays are empty, except for the crumbs no one will admit to leaving behind.

And yet… I am still exhausted!  LOL

Every year, someone inevitably says, “Now you can finally rest.”
Rest where, exactly?
Between folding laundry and answering the question, “What’s for dinner?” for the fifteenth time before noon?
Standing at the sink, staring into the abyss, wondering how one family managed to go through eight sticks of butter like it was a light snack?

The holidays are a marathon no one trains for.
There is cooking.
Hosting.
And smiling through conversations while mentally calculating how many pots were still soaking in the sink!!

I fed everyone generously — because that’s what we do.
“Have a little more, you’re too skinny,” I say lovingly, all the while praying there is no food that has to be picked up and put away...PEOPLE BRING FOOD CONTAINERS!!

Now it’s January.
The decorations are gone, but the exhaustion has unpacked and settled in like a long-term guest who never offers to help. The house is quieter, but Nonni’s to-do list is exactly the same — just without the twinkle lights to distract us.

And yet… the cooking continues.
The laundry never ends.
The family still eats like a small Sicilian village.

I don’t need a vacation. I'm about to leave on one!
I needs a locked door, a full coffee cup, snacks I don't have to share, and at least one uninterrupted hour where no one asks me to locate something that’s directly in front of them.

But we keep going.
We always do.

Because Nonni's don’t quit.
We just sigh deeply, roll our eyes dramatically…
…and make dinner anyway!!!  

Grazie per i ricordi... Benvenuto nel 2026!

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