Today I'm not cooking, just eating. Unable to pitch the left-over holiday sweets, I'm snacking on them as I dismantle the Christmas tree and box-up decorations. Yes, by tonight the bows, bells, and St. Nick statues will be gone and the normal, every-day knick-knacks will be back. But there is something lingering in the post-holiday air. And that something is the quiet calm of gratitude.
The gratitude may be just a feeling of relief, -relief that I'd done it again. I'd decorated, baked, cooked, shopped, and entertained my way successfully through another Christmas. I'd transmitted our culture's magic of Christmas to my children and they had smiled. Yes, that accomplishment is definitely one to be grateful for.
And I'm not alone in feeling grateful that we successfully "got-through" Christmas. Retailers and holiday-service providers are also breathing sighs of relief. At the company I work for, Wisconsinmade.com, we enjoyed the months-long, holiday-shopping season during which we helped people send gifts across the country. It was busy, fast-paced, and even fun, and now we'll return to normal schedules and work-loads. But all is not normal yet, first we'll have a holiday party in which we thank each other for jobs very well done. At our up-coming holiday party we'll recognize each person's contribution to making Wisconsinmade.com work. It's true; I'm not kidding. It took all of us to get those kringles to Idaho, that Babcock ice cream to Texas, those Badger sweatshirts to Indiana, those pottery crocks to California, those gift baskets to New York, those bratwursts to New Jersey, and that cheese to Iraq. Ours was a team effort coordinated with our teammates, the 250 artisans throughout Wisconsin who make our company 'Wisconsinmade'.
In these opening weeks of the new year Wisconsinmade is just one of thousands of companies, organizations, groups, and clubs that are holding thank-you parties. In fact, I'm going to a thank-you party tonight. The party's pot-luck and I have to bring something. But I'm cooked-out. What to bring that I can make in the next 30 minutes? Not to worry, I'll think of something; I always do. Now isn't that a hopeful outlook for 2010? Happy new year everyone. Keep reading if you want some suggestions for thoughtful thank-you gifts.
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