Oh, you good, faithful readers, who keep coming back to see if I'm a) alive and b) blogging. I had good intentions to blog over the break. And, since I don't start work again until tomorrow morning and it's... 7:30 pm, I'm technically still on break and therefore keeping my promise.
Kinda.
A variety of thoughts:
Christmas
Was delightful, as it always is with my family. I am extraordinarily lucky, I realize, and sometimes feel like the wonder that is my family and our Christmases together is fragile, a thinly blown glass ball. I love it, but I worry that at any moment something will happen that will shatter that joy. I think I got my worrying gene from you, Mom.
We spent a lot of time hanging out as a family. We laughed, on
occasion, at the picture we made - all six of us together, yet totally engrossed by the little iPhone screens. We also watched a lot of 30 Rock. I got some fantastic presents, I had fun shopping for others, and it was relaxing and without stress and just what I needed.Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner is pictured, as is the sign from the door of the restaurant.
Salt Lake
Before Christmas, Rachel, Mom, Dad, and I ran up to SLC
for a quick trip. We visited with the relatives there and I took the Frontrunner downtown. Exciting!Actually, I was really impressed with the lightrail. It was behind schedule by about 20 minutes, but it was also snowing at the time. For a stress-free way to go through the valley, not bad. Warm, free wi-fi, comfortable, and I didn't have to deal with traffic.
I met Teresa at the station and we breakfasted and book-browsed at
Barnes and Noble, then I met with Heidi for lunch and some much-needed catching up. She also gave me a lovely print of one of her new pieces, a gate of transformation. I love her work. Then on to Kelley's place (or, rather, former place). Ben was out of town (Boo!) but the rest of "Orange Tuesday" met for one more round of Rock Band before Kelley moved to Chicago. Strange how of our group, only Ben is still teaching at DPJH. I spent the evening with 
Janelle before my family came to fetch me for dinner at the bistro in Sugarhouse. It was a day full of talking and friendship and I loved it. By the way, Orange Tuesday people, I got Rock Band 2 for the Wii from Santa, so if we're ever all in Denver, I'm ready for us!New Year's
Was spent driving back from GJ. Yeah, it's not the most exciting way to spend the holiday, but the drive was uneventful and that was worth it. Wait, I haven't told you about the Thanksgiving drive yet, have I?
Thanksgiving
The holiday itself was a delight. We made a lot of food and a lot of candy (salted caramels are my new favorite treat). It even included seeing Twilight with Emily (followed by a very late night of reliving our Europe adventure). On Sunday, Rachel and I got into her car and headed homeward at about 10:00 pm. Things were not bad at all until we hit Silverthorn. And the snow. And the skiers. We were stuck in traffic for a very, very long time. At one point, it took us 5 hours to go 7 miles. We crawled towards the tunnel, Rachel did a formidable job driving in horrendous conditions, we put on snow chains all by ourselves, and we peed at the side of the road in the darkness and the cold. We were very rustic. We got home around 8:00 pm, after 10 long, long hours on the road. And that is why I left on New Year's Eve, when the forecasters started predicting snow in Vail starting Thursday.
New Year's, Again
And it's been nice to get some things done before school starts up again. I got a haircut, got my car fixed, bought groceries, made a few meals for the week, and started the laundry pile. And dreaded going back to work. But that's tomorrow.
Resolutions have been abounding on the blogs this week, so I feel compelled to address that.
Instead of resolving new things, though, I want to affirm some things I plan to continue to do. So, this year I will continue to
1) Look for a way to be happy at work
2) Read. A lot.
3) Travel. A lot.
4) Be open to new friendships
5) Keep my old ones
6) Eat consciously
7) Work out
8) Learn new things
9) Try new things
10) Make new resolutions when I feel a need for a change in my life.
And it's past 9:00 now (I do take a while to type these posts, but I also made lemon squares and did some laundry so I'm not THAT slow), so I need to head to bed. Maybe once I start teaching again the work nightmares will stop.
Happy New Year's to you all!
P.S. I got a new phone number with my new phone, so if you don't get an email from me with that new number in the next bit, let me know!
No comments:
Post a Comment