The day after Christmas, and sometimes the whole next week, can often turn into a depressing time for many people. After all, you’ve been shopping and decorating and partying for at least a month. For those of you addicted to the Hallmark Channel, like my husband, you’ve been watching Christmas movies since Halloween! So it’s no wonder that you have the Christmas Blahs and are experiencing a letdown.

But never fear because you still have New Years Eve! In our household, it’s a very important food holiday. Being the old folks that we are, we do not go out and party. Nope. We choose to stay in where it’s warm and celebrate the New Year with food, naps, watching football games, playing cards and getting puppy kisses. We buy even more food than we do on Thanksgiving. It’s a buffet party extravaganza for about a week.

On the menu is shrimp, homemade potato salad and deviled eggs, green bean casserole, pickles and olives, lots of cheese, cocktail wieners, veggies and chip, chips and dip, shrimp, chicken wings, jalapeño poppers, sausage, shrimp… the list goes on and so does the eating.

So after that is done, I’m guessing I will have the post-holiday blues just like the rest of you might be having right now. Life will have to get back to “normal” and snow is no longer welcomed. Well, actually it isn’t welcomed a whole lot before Christmas either but it’s pretty.

The National Alliance for Mental Health says that about 64% of people are affected by the holiday blues – which is the whole period around the holidays. Symptoms include fatigue, tension, frustration, loneliness, isolation, sadness and a sense of loss. They offer tips on avoiding the blues including sticking to normal routines, getting enough sleep, eating and drinking in moderation (oops!), and exercising.

The psycom website says that we are experiencing the blues because of several factors including being emotionally exhausted and coming down from our sugar and alcohol-fueled holiday diets and the season of overindulgence.

Nevertheless, holiday or not, I will continue to find comfort in chocolate.

And shrimp.