The wine bottles are empty. The candles have seen their last flicker. And the last guest has gone home. You want to put your feet up with a big sigh of relief, but wait — there's cleaning up to do. Doing any type of cleaning when your holiday party is over might not seem like a particularly glamorous way to finish the evening. But taking care of a few housekeeping matters right away will lighten your load when you wake up the next morning. And tidying up actually isn't that hard when you have a game plan. Clear the mess first Close Go around the house with two bags — one for trash and one for recyclables — and start clearing all the tables. Toss paper cups and plates, crumpled napkins and food in the bag designated for trash, and place bottles and cans in the recyclables bag. Preventive measures help too: for my holiday parties, I decorate big boxes with wrapping paper and put bows on the front with tags that say "Trash" and "Recycling." Then I line the boxes with big trash bags, so at the end of the evening, most of the work is already done for me. Round up the dishes Gather all the real plates, glasses and utensils, take them to the kitchen and place them in the dishwasher immedi...