Holiday Rundown

Happy New Year everybody!!!!

What a great Christmas vacation I had. I spent boatloads of time in Alabama with my mom and her partner and my sister. I got to spend a good chunk of time with my dad too before he had to head off to California for a week. In a Christmas miracle that usually only happens in movies all five of us had Christmas dinner together and it was lovely and not awkward or weird. Granted, my parents have been divorced for a really long time but honestly how many families can pull that off?

Also, we had a white Christmas, which was a pretty historic event. I woke up around 4:30 (a troubling trend for the past month or two- I wake up early and have to convince my body that it is NOT time to get out of bed yet so shut your damn eyes and go back to sleep already) and it was raining. When I woke up 3 hours or so later, everything was white. It was BEAUTIFUL. We had huge picturesque snowflakes for hours and staring out the window almost superseded present unwrapping- but not quite.

This Christmas I got amazing presents and I loved every single one of them. Honestly- how often does THAT happen? I got tons of wonderful books (I can't decide what to read first...), a light from Ikea that I was lusting after, 2 gorgeous perfumes, fabulous Tiffany playing cards (they really are the best), gift cards, some makeup... such fun goodies. I was also really excited to give everyone their presents because the older I get the better it is to find just the right gift.

I almost got myself a puppy too but that didn't work out this time around. Now I am itching for a dog.

Mom and Karen have a new puppy. His name is Jake and he is one of the sweetest and best-behaved puppies I have ever met. He's got his own blog! So I got to spend a lot of time playing and cuddling and generally spoiling that dog rotten and I loved it. It was rather mature of me to not steal him and bring him home.

My sister D and Jake. He found her very comfy.

I came home on Wednesday morning and on Thursday I was overtaken by a powerful urge to clean and de-clutter. I put away Christmas decorations, took down the tree, found homes for my Christmas presents, and sorted through boxes of stuff I haven't needed since I moved into my condo. I sold a bunch of books and gave a load of stuff to Goodwill (on New Year's Eve- the craziest day of Goodwill donations EVER I believe- hello tax write-off). I vacuumed and dusted and cleaned baseboards and even cleaned the top of my fridge. Then I got really crazy and covered a bunch of mismatched boxes I use at my desk for storage so they all match. Everything feels so much better in here because I know there aren't stashes of junk hiding out. My condo feels airy and bigger. And my bookshelves have room for even more books!

Then I sat down with a bottle of champagne and watched Easy A and toasted the New Year. Saturday was not quite so crazy because I was beat. I slept and read a lot. I made pot roast for dinner.

This morning I woke up with a sore throat and I'm getting a cold. And I have to be back at work tomorrow. So this is not as great a day as the rest of my vacation but I am really glad that I wasn't sick until now.

2011 is going to be a really interesting year.