I had an awesome holiday season, so I thought I'd start of my new year of blog posts by sharing all that went down over the past two weeks...
We'll start on Christmas Eve. I had to work that morning, and as luck would have it, I tweaked my lower back the night before and I was in some pain. Manageable, but it was frustrating. As we all know, one of my biggest fears is getting sick for Christmas, so I had been pumping all kinds of preventative measures for weeks, and then it was like God said, "You know what? To hell with your flu shot and Vitamin C and Echinacea and Zinc and gargling with salt water and hand washing like a crazy person. I'm going to give you a sore back instead." By the time we were done work at noon that day, I was suffering pretty badly, and I was panicking over how this was going to effect my Christmas. I went home and reluctantly took two Robaxacet tablets, lay on the couch for half an hour, but then had to get up and start getting things ready. I had food still to make for our Christmas Eve snacks, all my gifts to transport to my mom's, etc. Thankfully my brother stopped in and took the gifts for me. And strangely enough, by the time I was done scrambling around getting ready, my back felt much better.
We went to church that for our traditional Christmas Eve service, then played games (Christmas Mad Libs and charades) in my mom's basement, had snacks and festive drinks, and just had a really fun evening. Then it was off to bed to wait for Santa!!
I sleep on the couch on Christmas Eve, and I admit I did not have the best sleep, but I don't think I ever do. I'm always so wound up, and then the back issue didn't help. I know I was up first waiting for the kids, and they appeared around 6:30 AM. It's always one of my favourite parts - sitting on the couch by the glow of the tree with them, before the house has really come awake yet. Then the hustle and bustle begins - sticky buns for breakfast, stockings, and then, finally, the long-awaited gifts. Santa was very good to me, as always!! A stocking jam-packed with essentials and treats, a bundt pan, a deep-dish pie plate, two books off my list, a necklace, a bracelet, the Jimmy Fallon game Box of Lies, and the promise of an upcoming Sens game with the whole family. I am spoiled!
I went home early afternoon to have a rest and get cleaned up, then we went to my BIL's parents place for dinner that night. It was a delicious turkey dinner and a great visit with his family, including a rousing game of Family Feud haha! We were home and in jammies, and everyone off to bed fairly early after a big day, with another one ahead.
The next day was Boxing Day and that is the day of our family dinner. I had made a breakfast casserole for everyone, then went home again to get cleaned up for the day and I brought Danica with me to save my mom having a bunch of people showering at her house. My brother arrived with his kids, and we exchanged gifts with them, then spent the afternoon watching hockey, playing games, and helping get dinner ready. Another delicious turkey dinner, I ate so much I thought I would bust!!
The following day I had three of my littles come to hang out with me at my place. We went for a walk to the store to get treats, watched Netflix, played games, and they had fun using the water paint books I had got them. I enjoyed having them all to myself for a day!
The week between Christmas and New Year's is always kind of a blur. I know I watched a LOT of stuff: Die Hard (I had never seen it, seemed appropriate to have my first viewing over the holidays), the Netflix doc Don't F*** with Cats, Dolly Parton's Heartstrings, the latest season of Fuller House, Virgin River and Spinning Out. On Disney +, I watched Cinderella,10 Things I Hate About You, and Adventures in Babysitting. Like I said... a LOT of stuff. I don't even think I mentioned it all. I was a little disappointed I never got to the movie theatre over the holidays, but I kind of enjoyed this hunkering down and binging!!
On the 29th, we had a family dinner at my aunt & uncle's. The live right on the river, and the conditions were PERFECT that day for skating. A bunch of the cousins skated for over 2 hours!! Then we had an awesome dinner and dessert. I always enjoy these family gatherings so much, and I was so glad to see everyone for Christmas.
New Year's Eve was kind of a last minute thrown together plan, but it turned out to be a terrific night (for everyone but my mom, she had a bad cold and ended up sleeping through most of it lol). I invited everyone to join me at my place to celebrate my sister's birthday. They picked up Chinese food, and then we played games until it was time to watch the ball drop! The evening flew by so fast, and we had a great time ringing in 2020.
Danica slept over that night and the next day she and I lazed ALL day. (That's when I watched all of that Disney + stuff). We had snacks for lunch, and then late in the day, headed back to my mom's for one of my favourite holiday meals: tourtiere, ham, hashbrown casserole, coleslaw... yum!!! Everyone went home that night, but it didn't feel like the holidays were over yet as I didn't have to return to work until January 7th.
The following days included more lazing and Netflixing, crocheting, a shopping day, I took down Christmas on Saturday, and then vegged for the next few days until it was time to return to work.
I was officially back in the saddle and playing catch-up yesterday. I was off for almost two full weeks, and I don't think I've ever been off that long before. It was so nice, and I enjoyed it immensely! It was also long enough that I was pretty much ready to get back to routine yesterday. And the nice part is that I'm now on 3-day weeks for a few months with my winter hours, so it makes the transition back much easier.
I hope you all had a terrific Christmas and New Year's!! Here's to 2020!! :)
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