Christmas Vacation

I have 4 days left of Christmas vacation and intend to use them well! I woke up sick Christmas morning and spent the next 4 days laying around the house doing nothing but watching crappy daytime television and checking my temperature in hopes I was magically better. A couple days ago, the fever finally left, and now all I have is the residual sore throat and runny nose.

Jesse was productive during my bout of funky junk virus, doing some major cleaning and bringing me hot tea in between. He cleaned out the office (which is no longer the office, since we moved a bunch of stuff to the garage) and scrubbed the floors, which required moving a couple of the dog beds into the living room temporarily. Horton was delighted at the double stack.

I was feeling pretty stir crazy after a few days of laying around, so the instant I was feeling remotely better, I begged Jesse to go out with me for a couple hours and run a few errands. During this time, we decided we will never be cool because we can't rock the huge sunglasses look. I swear some of those lenses were the size of my head.

Personally, I think Jesse stands a better chance of pulling it off than I do.

One of the things I really wanted to do over the break was go ice skating. We finally got to last night with a few friends. There was a crowd and while I'm by no means a good skater, I can at least go around the rink without falling down. Apparently, I cannot say the same for 50% of the people on the ice. It was hilarious just looking around and at any given minute, at least one person was laid out flat on their butt. (You Canadians would have a ball mocking people down here.)

Anyway, today I suppose it's time for reflection on the past and building hope for the future. Maybe today I will finalize some resolutions that I can break a month from now. Until then...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Today is actually pretty non-celebratory for Jesse and I in the grand scheme of things. We have already done all of the family get-togethers, and after a peaceful morning with just the two of us, Jesse headed in to work. (One of the few industries that doesn't shut down on Christmas day...oh well...we have had a great Christmas season nonetheless!)

Here's our Christmas recap -

A few days ago, we headed to my mom's. My brother/sister-in-law/niece and step-dad were all fresh off travel. (My step-dad has been doing contract work out of state, and my brother is in the midst of a short term job assignment in Montana.) About 15 minutes after Jesse and I got there, everyone else pulled up literally straight from the airport. We had a Christmas "panini party" courtesy of the new panini maker I got for my birthday. They were delicious, and Jesse and I ended up having paninis for the next 3 days straight. We had our gift exchange and watched my niece bobble around. She just started walking and is learning to connect words with actions. They have taught her "nonsense" and "touchdown". (i.e. they say "Oh Jada, that's just nonsense" and she grins and shakes her head side to side, or they yell "touchdown" and she throws her little arms up in the air.) It's cool to see the way her brain is developing and learning, and amazes me how much kids pick up even before they are speaking. (Note to self: watch your mouth.)

Christmas Eve we headed to my Dad's. Jada once again provided the entertainment with her nonsense and touchdown "tricks".

Over the last decade, my Dad has become quite a skilled woodworker. He made this chest for Jesse and I, which Jada found to be perfect for clutching and walking around. I am now in a conundrum about how to rearrange the furniture in our house. Those of you who have visited know that our house is teeny tiny. We don't have the luxury of being able to just add pieces in here and there, so I'm thinking something needs to go in order to make room for this new piece. Right now, it is still sitting in the back of our SUV. Until then, I'm waiting for a stroke of design genius to hit me. (For the record, I'm quite happy to have this problem...)

Peeking out from under my hands is a copy of The Joy of Vegan Baking, which I plan to start baking my way through in January.

This is kind of a silly photo of Jesse, but it's the only one I took that isn't totally blurry and I thought it appropriate that his mug have some space in this post.

Last, I made some onesies for my niece. This one I made in honor of Jesse. It has a maple leaf on the butt and says "Eh?" on the front. Though she is too young to understand, we tell Jada he is "the silly Canadian"/"that crazy Canadian"/"the scary Canadian"/etc.
Anyway, cheers to another beautiful Christmas season! Hope it finds you content in your heart and happy in your soul.

Party Poopin'

I had a great birthday, but Jesse already blogged photos...so not sure what's left that I can say!

I always feel like December 1st kicks off a big, long party. My birthday usually brings with it a number of get togethers with various friends and family, then the Christmas season rolls into full effect and the celebrations plow right on through to the new year.

On top of three birthday get togethers last week, we also attended the staff Christmas party for my work. I'm wise enough to know that despite some frustrations with my job, it's a very rare thing to find a place where you truly enjoy the company of those who surround you 40 hours a week. By and large, I can say that I sincerely love my coworkers. They bring a lot of laughter and fun into my life, and the Christmas party was no exception. I'm glad Jesse was able to come along so that he could witness a bit of what I get to enjoy at work.

Jesse on his 5th? 6th? Oh, whose counting? glass of

scotch on the rocks.

Jesse enjoying the fire pit.

At least he had gone for a 15 mile run before the party, so he could

pretty much eat (and drink!) all of the calories he wanted.

Me with some of the beautiful ladies I get to work with.

Some of those same ladies also happen to be

pretty amazing at karaoke.

Needless to say, it's been a fun week. It's also been kind of exhausting...I'm ready for an early bed time tonight. Blame it on being another year older. =)

Before I sign off though - thank you to all of you who dropped me a note this week. My life is infinitely richer because of the people in it.