My first week of vacation has already come and gone. I had lunch with my daughter (three times), attended a Christmas party, did away with loads of clutter, reorganized my filing system, took the pup for shots, and then took her to the dog park (I felt bad about the shots). I’ve watched many a TV classic, a couple of Christmas movies, made Christmas dinner reservations and bought tickets for the new Star Wars movie. The kids saw Something Rotten! yesterday and then we all attended a special light show afterward.
Right Now:
The Hub is finally off from work for a whole week. He never gets to take time off so he has been looking forward to this all year long. It’s not like we have big plans or anything but we plan to do some fun things.
This Week:
We love to drive around. We’ve been wanting to go to the beach but with the fires raging out of control we’ve not been able to. I’m not sure if the situation will be better this week but we hope to hit Santa Barbara at some point. My son’s last day in California is Jan 20th and he wants to hit Santa Barbara one more time.
Reading:
I’ve started my last book of the year. I hope to have it reviewed by the end of the year as well. I don’t know about you but I can’t have a book carry over into the new year. I am weird that way.
Watching:
Everything I can. I still have a few movies to watch before I can call this Christmas complete: A Christmas Story, The Family Stone, It’s a Wonderful Life.
Oh! And on Christmas evening, we will catch the new Star Wars movie.
Making:
I’ve made soup and garlic chicken with pasta and nibbled on gluten-free cookies and eggnog. I am about to make Caramelized Onion Cornbread Dressing for a dinner later today. It’s a Tyler Florence recipe and I’ve been making it for years.
Grateful for:
Family time. My son quit one of his jobs so he could spend more time at home before leaving for Orlando. Two jobs were great for money but he had no time to spend with us!
What do you have planned this week? I know for some of us, losing a family member over the holiday has created a hole in our hearts that can never be filled, but I hope the magic of the season still finds its way in.
Book Chatter 
I think that the magic is always there…sometimes you just have to work harder at finding it. We are staying home for this holiday, too…my older brother is in Texas…my younger brother is in Wisconsin…my sister is in Ohio…we spent almost every Christmas together until my parents died. At times my parents house was filled with kids, dogs, cats and us! My parents loved it all and the kitchen never closed! But all of that is gone now and we are all more selfish about staying in our own homes. One of these years I want to rent a cabin where I am sure it will snow!
Merry Christmas!
I don’t think it’s selfish to want to spend a quiet holiday at home. I never had the bustling family Christmases that you had growing up. I sometimes yearn for a Christmas like that but I’m sure that’s to come as my kids grow up and start their in families.
Merry Christmas to you and Den and your sweeties.
Merry Christmas to You and Yours!
Merry Christmas!
My youngest is still in school during our first week off, so I used each morning to get out and about. I’m currently sitting in my bedroom with my feet propped up…I need to make one more quick trip to the grocery store, but I’m not in a frenzy about it. We’ve been to church once and will go back again in a bit. I don’t mind a Christmas Eve like that. Not at all. Gosh, there are so many people hurting this year, and I guess it’s like that every year…we just realize it more the older we get. Our community lost a 17 yr. old Monday. Her parents buried her Thursday. I can’t get that out of my head. Parents who’ve lost children are heavy on my heart at Christmas.
Enjoy your family, Tina, and have a wonderful Christmas!
I agree. There is always heartache at Christmas. We are just more aware if it now. I feel for that family who lost their child. I can’t even imagine. I hope you have a fabulous Christmas with your family. I am just tooling around the house. I’m about to sit down with my book. Candles are lit. It’s cozy. The pup is sleeping in the sun 😉 My son is working until 7. Bleh.
Saw Something Rottenn yesterday at the Ahmanson and really enjoyed it-love to laugh I thought the lead was brilliant!
Hi Ti, I hope you get to the beach at SB and enjoy the Star Wars movie too. We made it to the OC and it feels warm today. Such a quiet but good Christmas this year: with my parents & brother here. Lovely. Hope you have a great time with your son before he leaves. Merry Christmas!
It sounds like you are having a fairly wonderful time off. Hope it continues… We saw The Last Jedi today, and, no spoilers, but it’s good.
When you come up to SB check out the hills (and in Ventura as you drive by). They are black. With bits of red where they dropped fire retardant. It’s crazy!
The hills by us are still burned from our last fire so I can only imagine how yours must look now.
Merry Christmas!!
My dad passed away during the holidays in 2010 so it’s always a bittersweet time for us. Vance is spending the night with us tonight and we all have tomorrow off so we plan to relax and just enjoy each other. It should be wonderful. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Merry Christmas, Kathy. I hope you have a wonderful time with your family tomorrow.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying your time off!
We did. Star Wars was pretty good. A few small quibbles but overall entertaining.
Today we are heading to Santa Barbara. I hope your Christmas was good as well.
I don’t like carrying a book over into a new year either, so I don’t think you’re weird at all.
I love that your husband got a week off at Christmastime. That’s the best! I bet he enjoyed every minute.