And we’re back. Almost two full weeks off of work has come to an end, as always, much too quickly. Fittingly, we’ve also been experiencing a pretty good lake effect system for the past day or so, being hit with snow, temps well below freezing, and a nasty wind. Great for spending the day inside with a fire in the hearth, pulled pork in the crock pot, and football on TV, which is what I did yesterday. Good for a morning commute after a long weekend and nobody looking forward to going back? Not so much.
Hope you all had a safe and enjoyable New Year’s weekend – time to start fresh with another year full of hopes and expectations. We’ve been going bowling with my family on New Year’s Eve for the past six or seven years, so C got his first real taste of the alley, and of course, he was ready to go (although he eventually found the arcade, with all its music and flashing lights, which is infinitely more interesting to a 16-month old; the rest of the evening was spent chasing him). Unfortunately for him, one of my first memories is of dropping a bowling ball on my big toe when I was about four or five, so he’s not going to be allowed to pick one up for a while. He didn’t quite make it up for the ball drop (Times Square, I mean, no pun intended), though he probably would have if I’d let him.
Now the focus is on getting back into a normal routine, and getting over the post-holiday letdown. The end of each year means the culmination of the Advent season, lots of time with family, good food, it’s still early enough in the season that I enjoy snow, a bunch of time off of work, and just a general downtime to recharge for the next year. And with that comes weeks of build-up and anticipation (particularly for Christmas), then it’s here and gone just like that. (I go through Christmas music withdrawal, and I can’t just quit cold-turkey. I am adamant about not listening to anything until after Thanksgiving, but I can’t just stop the day after Christmas; I have to kind of ease out of it.) I think I’m just kind of a moody person to begin with, but the first couple days back at work are usually bummer days.
With all that being said, during this time of year, I also try to spend more time just being grateful for what we have. S and I are extremely blessed – we have loving families, a great group of friends, a beautiful son, a rotten dog, a warm home, good jobs, generally good health, and the freedom to do just about whatever we feel led to do. Embarrassingly, at times I tend to forget about this – I wouldn’t call myself a serial complainer, but I can certainly gripe about things, and usually things that seem pretty trite in the end. So whether this is a resolution or not, each year I try to appreciate what I have more than I did yesterday. I feel like I’m pretty good about gratitude, but I guess I’m always working toward the day where I just take things as they are, give thanks for what I’ve been given, and not say anything negative.
That was all over the place. Sorry, guess I’m still getting my writing chops back too. 🙂
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