Life: It Goes On - December 26

Happy Sunday! For those of you who celebrate Christmas, happy day after Christmas slog. For my Canadian friends, happy Boxing Day. Trying to keep focusing on the happy here. Today is grey, the beautiful wrapped gifts are all gone from under the tree (although the cat is happy about that because she can finally sleep under there again), and I'm exhausted. But my family made it through our first Christmas without the woman who always worked so tirelessly to make it perfect and we did it without giving up on any of our traditions, it was warm enough on Christmas Eve that my dad could sit outside barefooted while the guys grilled steaks, I got all of the foods made that my family loves, everyone seemed to like their gifts and I don't have to go back to work until Tuesday. So there is much to be happy about. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I worked to try to finish Beautiful World, Where Are You but came up about an hour and a half short before it was automatically returned to the library. To be honest, I chose Christmas music over the book on more than one occasion. I don't know that I'll check it out again to finish up - I really wasn't enjoying it all that much. Maybe my mood, maybe not the right book for the season. 

It was not as warm in 
Anchorage as it was here - 
the kids took the pups for 
a hike on Christmas.

Watched: It's a Wonderful Life the other night with my kids as I cleaned up the house after present opening. I don't know how many times I've watched that movie and I still have a visceral reaction to Mr. Potter - maybe because there are all too many Mr. Potters in the world these days and far too few George Baileys. 

Read: As you can probably tell from two weeks with no reviews, virtually no reading has been done this month. Maybe the worst reading slump I've had in years. It's certainly not for a lack of good reading choices. Just can't make my brain focus on reading right now. 

Made: More homemade ice cream, more chocolate sauce, bavarian mints, onion dip, cheese balls, cheesy hash browns, caramel corn, sugar cookies, bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin with sour cherry glaze, mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus. Last week's cooking was almost entirely focused on Christmas eating. Which we will be eating leftovers of for the next few days! 

Enjoyed: Time with family. I enjoyed it so much I forgot to take a single picture. My sister did snap this one of Miss H and my dad, which I absolutely love. We got to FaceTime Mini-me and Ms S yesterday which makes having them so far away just a little bit easier and we got to see the new grand puppy and watch their cat scale the inside of their tree to get to the new wooden ornaments we gave them which had been promptly hung. Apparently he wanted to chew on them!

This Week I’m:  

Planning: I'm babysitting Mini-him's cat this week so that means splitting time between floors of the house since he and my cat don't get along. We'll see if I can manage to get the decorations taken down and stored back away without letting our guest out of the basement. 

Thinking About: The gift my nephew and his wife gave me dad - they set up a scholarship in my mom's name for young people who, like her, are the first generation in their families to go to college. There were a lot of tears shed when this gift was opened and a determination to fund it annually for years to come.  

Feeling: Tired but grateful for these days off and an upcoming four-day weekend to help recharge my batteries. 

Looking forward to: A lazy week. 

Question of the week: My house is full of leftovers and we're happy to have them. I'll look for ways to reuse them - cold pork sliced onto salads, cheese ball sliced for grilled cheese sandwich, etc. Do you like having leftovers to enjoy?