Happy New Year! (and… I Did It…)
Yep, I took the tree down. I suddenly had a burning desire to get it over with, and when I get that desire I just have to do it quickly. I can’t let myself think too much, because then I start remembering how fun it was the day we got it, how excited we were, how all the Christmas fun was still ahead… No! Out you go, tree. Of course the tree exploded about 10,000 dead needles on the way out- we’ll be cleaning those up for a while. Meanwhile, my sister sent me a photo of her “January tree.” They took all the Christmas decorations off and put blue and silver lights on the tree. As I admired the photo, I realized that I should NEVER be allowed to have an artificial tree. I would make it into a January tree… then a Valentine’s tree, then Easter, 4th of July… I would never want to take it down. When the next Christmas rolled around, I would take the brown and orange decorations off the “Thanksgiving” tree and voila! The Christmas tree would be ready to go. Much better for me to have a real tree that becomes a huge drooping mess by January 1st. We got the tree out and moved the couch back to its normal place. And then I put up some New Year’s decorations! And made some festive food. I also made our traditional “clock cookies,” which are actually the NYC Black and White Cookies from this book: I made a few “clocks” before giving up and making the rest of them black and white. Overall the kids and I spent a cozy evening at home. The rest of our Christmas stuff (including plenty of white twinkle lights) is still up, and I’m enjoying it- but it’s a relief to have the tree gone. It was a huge chore hanging over my head, and it’s over for another year. It’s 2025- HAPPY NEW YEAR! Top photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash
New Year’s Eve and Goals…
We made it through the birthday! Here’s how the cake came out: Okay. I won’t win any decorating awards. But it tasted good! Everyone took a piece before I could get photos, so here’s the inside of the cake: I also had a gift victory- one of the things I got my daughter was a pair of jeans that fits “amazingly.” AMAZINGLY. What are the odds of that??? I’ll be savoring this for a while. Anyway, onward to the new year! Everyone is setting intentions and goals, and I feel so scattered. I’m longing for same time to sit and focus on a theme for the year I did a preliminary reflection on 2024 a couple weeks ago, and decided that the things I wanted to say “no” to but said “yes” anyway, turned out to be highlights of the year. So my theme could be something like “expand”, as in, expand my horizons. But I also want to immerse myself more deeply in some of the things I’m doing. Is there a word that means both “immerse” and “expand?” Well, no, because those words are kind of opposites. Sigh. I’m still thinking! Meanwhile- it looks like both kids and I will be home for New Year’s Eve. Noemi asked why my husband is working- isn’t he an educator? Yes, he’s a high school band director, but he’s also a professional trumpet player, which means he always has a gig on New Year’s Eve. Maybe I can suggest to the kids that we all sit quietly with our journals and set intentions for the New Year. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Just kidding, obviously. Right now we’re planning a dinner of vegan pigs in blankets, tempura cauliflower (from Trader Joe’s) and chips. and guac. In the afternoon we’ll watch the Baylor game, and we’ll watch something else at night, TBD. Maybe I can slip a little reading in there as well. Are you setting goals for 2025? Top photo by Oskars Sylwan on Unsplash
The 5th (?) Day of Christmas
The tree is starting to look sad and droopy. I’m getting to the point where I don’t want to take it down, but I also don’t want it to still be up. Sigh. I’m thinking we’ll leave it up till New Year’s Day. Today was my first day off since Christmas, and I took the opportunity to return a bunch of items. My husband gave me a sweater from Old Navy that I liked… I mean it was nice and soft and it fit well. But it was brown, and I don’t usually wear brown. I tried it on and asked my son if the color suited me (I can count on him for an honest opinion.) He stared at me for a few moments and said “I don’t know- this is perplexing!” What? Then I’m returning it! No, no, he said- it could be a fashion challenge for you. “We just have to find you the right shirt to wear under it, and some jeans…” OH FOR GOD’S SAKE! I’m not up for a “fashion challenge’ right now, so I exchanged it for the same sweater in light blue. I also had to go to the mall to return things to Victoria’s Secret, and Bath and Body Works. Guess who else went to the mall today? EVERYONE. When I got there, I saw such a large throng of people heading to the entrance I looked around for the bus- I thought surely a bus had just discharged a load of people. Nope! They were all just arriving at the mall like I was. After some long lines (I practiced being mindful and having gratitude) I finished my returns and went to the Container Store to replenish our supply of wrapping paper, ribbons, and tags: Then, home where I baked a cake! I mean, obviously- doesn’t everyone make a birthday cake on December 29th? It’s my daughter’s 16th birthday! She’s having a sleepover with two of her friends, and requested a “cookies and cream” cake. I just make a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream, and throw chopped up Oreos into the frosting. It works. All we have to do is get through the birthday, and then it’s New Year’s Eve! My husband will be working, as always, so it will be me and my son at home, and possibly my daughter as well. If it were up to me I would spend the entire evening finishing my book (The Wedding People- it’s so good!) but we’ll probably make some festive food and watch something. It will be a low-key evening though! What are your plans for New Year’s Eve? What would you do if you could spend the evening any way you liked?
Weekly Rundown- It’s Christmastime!
Hi there! In an effort to combat my usual post-Christmas depression, I’m trying to keep the holiday spirit going by savoring the 12 Days of Christmas (the first day being Christmas Day.). How is that going? Well…. I do feel vaguely festive. It’s not as much fun as the time leading up to Christmas, but it’s still “Christmastime.” Workouts were… well, let’s just say I had some good runs this week. Strength was pretty minimal. Oh well- it was a holiday week. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown! Sunday I didn’t even remember until I looked at this photo, but we had a cold snap over the weekend! Down to 50 degrees overnight= long sleeve weather. 4 mile run. Monday Happy Festivus! My big grievance this year is that Christmas fell on a WEDNESDAY, which is my day off anyway! This means I worked on Festivus, Christmas Eve, and Boxing Day. I could have requested time off but it wouldn’t have been paid, so I just sucked it up and went to work. But I’m still going to complain about it, ha ha. Workout-wide, it was the bare minimum- this MadFit Standing Core Workout and hip stability exercises. Tuesday Okay, the truth is I only had to work till noon- that’s not so bad. First I got up and had a nice 4 mile run. After work we hosted our annual cookie decorating party, and dinner. Wednesday Merry Christmas!!! I never run on Christmas Day- it’s a family day from start to finish. Presents, food, lounging around in Christmas pajamas, reading, napping. Thursday I didn’t do a long run this week- it seemed like a good time for a cut back. But I did run 5 miles before heading off to work. Friday Once again, I did the bare minimum to keep my body from crumbling to pieces- Caroline Girvan deadbug workout and hip stability. The hip stability exercises are very good, involve a lot of one leg sit-to-stand and other balance moves, but they don’t use any weights. I’m dreading the first trip back to the gym! Saturday 4 mile run with a little speed work thrown in. After work- so much college football! I’m sad the season is coming to an end, but enjoying all the bowl games (Baylor plays on Tuesday!) Sunday Day off! I have a lot to do though, because my daughter’s birthday is Monday (ugh. I know- who’s stupid idea was it to give birth on December 30th???) The festivities continue. If you celebrated, dd you have a nice Christmas? Did you get all your workouts in this week?