And I really thought no one would notice that I'd disappeared into the holiday cyclone.
Well, we're back in Kansas...err ah...Massachusetts, that is. It was a fun and festive ride these last two weeks!
19 of 31: A rare evening in bed with knitting and Julie & Julia. I was hitting holiday overload and needed a break.
21 of 31: A blizzard brought cold and cozy. The day before we collected kindling outside before the snow fell.
22 of 31: Kaia and I made a trip to a tennis court so she could run free in the snow. She's getting better at coming when called, at least in this squirrel free environment.
23 of 31: No photo today. If I would have had my camera, today's photo would have been of me sitting in the car, stuck in mall traffic for 2 hours. It's better left unremembered.
24 of 31: We packed up the car and left at 4:45am to drive to Michigan. We made it to Batavia, New York by noon and stopped at Tim's for lunch and a smoothie for me. We were home in Michigan by 7pm, and managed to stay awake to see his parents sing in their church's midnight service. We were so slap happy after a long day, that when I whispered a joke to Matt, he had to sit down for awhile to keep from breaking up loudly from the balcony front and center pew. Sacrilegious, I know.
25 of 31: Christmas Day. Matt's aunt and uncle had car trouble on the way to grandma's, and they didn't make it. The unplanned gift opening at Grandma's went wonderfully though.
26 of 31: Day two of gifts and hanging out with Matt's family. Our middle niece took an interest in knitting, although isn't quite ready to forge ahead. I then made the girls knitted bracelets and they picked out buttons to sew on. Matt played puppets with them, and when one of the puppets eventually got tired of playing, it may have asked all the other puppets to watch TV for awhile. The girls giggled while their puppets were glued to the TV. More gifts and a little Beatles Rock Band rounded out the day.
27 of 31: Christmas with my dad's side of the family. Our tradition for about the last ten years has been to buy one gift between $10 and $20 for a gift exchange (mainly because we're a cheap lot). Every year we have to renegotiate the rules because the stealing gets heated. This year the hot gift was a four pack of hiking socks from Costco, with a set of bamboo cutting boards, a knife, and band-aids, a close second. Every year, the gifts seem to get better as we all learn what the others fight over. I think most people went away happy this year.
28 of 31: I came down with an achy sickness I probably picked up from the sniffling nieces who spent Christmas and the day after on my lap. We were supposed to meet my mom's side of the family for burgers and shakes, but instead I spent the day on the couch and avoided getting the extended family sick, particularly my grandma who unfortunately wouldn't remember the visit anyway. I seem to conveniently time my illnesses when my parents are nearby. My dad made me breakfast for lunch.
29 of 31: After Christmas, Matt's extended family on his dad's side arrived as we left to see my family. We decided to meet up in Ann Arbor for lunch and a museum. Matt's aunt and uncle from his dad's side found his grandma from his mom's side a wheelchair and then pushed her around the museum the whole time. I thought it was particularly sweet part of the holiday.
30 of 31: We headed home after 7 days away. We left at 5:30am and made spectacular time so that we were able to pick up our puppers from her doggie vacation spot just before closing. She let us know that we'd been gone a little too long for her liking, and then settled in at home for a nice long sleep.
Happy New Year everyone. I'll be back tomorrow with the last photo of the 2009!
2 comments:
Sorry we missed you, but glad you're feeling better.
Mark
I missed you! I noticed! Thanks for catching us up! :) xoxo
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