Taking a break did wonders for me and my family, but so far (an hour into my Monday) it’s very difficult to get back to it. But no complaining! What a blessing it was to have a week or so off just to unwind and enjoy a slower pace in life. We had a quiet but lovely holiday and spent our week off enjoying things like naps, movies, playing games, making dinner, going out for lunch, shopping, and (my favorite) browsing the bookstore.
We got our first real storm over the break.
And true to form, our snowblower (which had been operating just fine) broke. Yipee. My husband went out every few hours and shoveled and that saved us from being stuck.
We celebrated the real meaning of Christmas at church and then hosted a brunch on Christmas day. I made a quiche I saw on Damaris Phillips show and it was great. Also had some fruit tarts and Kringle and plenty of sides. We opened presents and had a lovely day, and then….
I had a lovely ER visit. It just isn’t an official holiday until that happens. 
But I’m okay. No worries!
We watched a couple movies in the theater (Sisters and Star Wars, both great) and many more at home, snuggled in with our blankets. We continued our tradition of watching silly movies on New Years and enjoying a safe and lovely time at home.
We called this new year an “unauthorized” new years because we watched three totally cheesy unauthorized TV show stories for Melrose Place, Saved by the Bell, and Beverly Hills 90210. Little did we know that each movie seemed to be made at the same time, with the same actors crossing over to the different versions. Totally hilarious. This is the kind of levity we like on New Years, something stupid and silly that will help round out the previous year and bring us gently into the new one.
We started 2016 by reading our gratitude notes. This has been a good practice for us, something to focus on each day of the year. Reading the notes from the previous year gives us an opportunity to remember the things we’ve experienced and how we’ve chosen to handle them.
The gratitude notes are a practice we will continue, and one that helps us to look for daily blessings in each other.
We read a lot and goofed around and played games and meandered… it was so lovely. We played with our doggie and wandered around bookstores and laughed and let every day be a “what should we do today?” agenda. No plans, but every minute seemed to be taken up with a relaxed kind of fun that was the perfect way to round out this year, too often filled with things like deadlines and health issues.
We are happily tired today and I can’t think of a better way to start the week. I hope your holidays were sweet and that your 2016 will be even sweeter.
