It's Sunday night. After two long weeks (yes, some weeks are shorter than others) the kids are headed back to school and Michael is about to be off to Detroit for a job. (I hear Detroit in January is lovely). While Michael and the kids are dragging around a bit with a sense of dread that the overwhelming world of responsibilities and commitments are about to descend upon them, I am feeling a sense of giddyness. It's not that I want to get rid of my family. I love them madly. And we had some fun this break. But, I'll be getting my kitchen back to myself. (Seriously, you're frying bacon just after I've cleaned the stove top? You really dropped pancake batter between the cupboards and oven AGAIN? Thanks for loading the dishwasher. The dishes were clean). And I can steal my guilty pleasures during the day when no one is looking (watching new episodes of Downton Abbey while folding laundry!)
But, I get ahead of myself. Let's re-cap some of the fun we had on this wonderful winter vacation. First of all, we all got to sleep in each day. No alarms going off at 5:45am. Well, there was the one rogue alarm going off at 5am each day. No one was able to find it. I assume the batteries finally died. I suspect it was in Amira's room.
There was the romping and playing in the street with the other kids who were also on their two week break. Lots of bike riding, scootering and shanty town, I mean, fort building. There was the visit from Uncle Dave. How cool is that guy? We had our annual Christmas Eve Day roller skating at CalSkate. And since there was hardly anyone there skating, we got all our requests in (Billy Jean by Michael Jackson, Gangnam Style, The Beatles and All The Single Ladies by Beyoncee).
Christmas Eve we didn't manage to take photos. This is too bad because it was Bollywood-Style. As Susan and John were leaving for Borneo the next day, they decided to order out Indian food instead of cooking something traditional. Michael decided that he would download a Bollywood Christmas Album and furtively drop it into the speakers upon entering. And I spent some time watching a Youtube Video on how to wrap a sari. (Susan and John brought one home from one of their other trips. This was my big opportunit to wear it! Seriously, it's like 14 yards of fabric and a whole lot of folding/wrapping/pleating). It was somewhat wrapped. But it was a good thing I brought a change of clothes.
There were endless Beatles movies (as Amira is in her Beatlemania phase). In fact, I have fan mail for Paul and Ringo on my desk waiting for the international reply coupons to arrive so we can get those signed photos in the mail in approximately three months.
I finally entered the 21st Century with an iPod Touch, given to me by my most beloved husband. Although not a phone (at my request), I can put my shopping lists, contact lists, calendars, budgets, photos, etc. on the tool. I always swore I was a Luddite with all my paper notes and books. But now the kids cannot believe how this thing comes with me everywhere. Michael asked me if I've named it. Of course, that would be: Precious. Thanks, Michael!!!
Valerie spent some time setting up a new aquarium. It's in her menegerie of rats/sea monkeys/plants. There may be other things living in there. But I'm going to have to turn a blind eye at this point.
We had king crab, wild rice risotto with pinenuts, salad and chocolate with ghost peppers to ring in the New Year with the neighbors. We adults called it at 9pm (we phoned in East Coast time and went to bed). The kids had a sleep over here with the neighbors. I think they actually slept. But the people across the street had fireworks at midnight. I heard them but was too lazy to get out and see what was going on. I figured that unless there were sirens, I was staying in bed.
We got out to see the new Hobbit movie as a family. With friends Valerie and Rex saw it twice and three times respectively. We also got up to the delightful Mineral Lodge to do some family sledding one day.
So, the kids may say we didn't do anything great. But say we did. And now I'm looking forward to getting back on a schedule, doing a little yoga, zumba and laundry folding in front of my "stories".
When Michael comes home de-stressed from his next job I will run into his arms looking for a little break from the day-to-day grind I will have gotten into with the kids. And we will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary later this month, between jobs.
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