Today is officially the 12th Day of Christmas. It’s Epiphany, also known as “The Adoration of the Magi” or “The Manifestation of God.” According to CRI/Voice, “The Season of Christmas begins with the First Sunday of Advent, marked by expectation and anticipation, and concludes with Epiphany, which looks ahead to the mission of the church to the world in light of the Nativity.”

So Happy Epiphany to you! We’ve made it through the whole Christmas season! Now, if you’re like me, you’re ready to get back to regular routine and move along.

I wrote about how much we enjoy our Quiet Week after Christmas, and…well…it stretched into two quiet weeks. So we still haven’t taken our sparkly, artificial tree down. We relished the grace of those 12 full days of Christmas. But today — away it goes.

Now, I’m really getting into this FlyLady routine stuff — my days are starting to be anchored by solid, unwavering morning and evening routines. For some reason, it doesn’t seem so boring — when I know that 250,000 other “Fly Babies” are also shining their sinks, scanning for stray clutter, and checking our calendars. The EXCITING part of it all is I’ve discovered I can really be faster doing things I hate, which makes it more like a game than drudgery.

So, here’s the new motto for this year — are you ready? From FlyLady:

Simple Routines are the trick in 2006.

I chose this motto because I do not want you to make your routines so big that they are not doable and you allow your pefectionism to cause you to do nothing. Keep them simple and they will be easy for you.

The word trick can be fun! In the dictionary I found a meaning that seems to fit my idea. #5 A special skill; a knack: Is there a trick to getting this window to stay up? I want you to find that loving yourself by using simple routines is a special skill that can change your world. It is just this easy! By doing simple routines to relieve the pressure we put on ourselves; we are FLYing!

So, while you’re FLYing through your Friday errand running and cleaning as you get ready for the first POST-HOLIDAY weekend of the year, here’s a little quiz to remind you of your hidden talents. (This one pegged me exactly…somehow!)

Your Hidden Talent

You are a great communicator. You have a real way with words. You’re never at a loss to explain what you mean or how you feel. People find it easy to empathize with you, no matter what your situation. When you’re up, you make everyone happy. But when you’re down, everyone suffers.