I hope everyone had a great holiday! I’m back to work so I feel like the season is “over,” but I’m totally okay with it. It’s weird – as I get older the hype of the holidays becomes less exciting. I do love giving gifts and spending relaxing time with family, but then I also love getting back into my routine. Plus, Thanksgiving is just so much better!

Regardless, I had a lovely Christmas on Long Island. I went home a few days prior to enjoy some other festivities: my parents had a bunch of people over one night for food + booze, I saw Life of Pi (2.75 stars in MHO), I tried doing every crossword puzzle I could find, and I went to Meals on Wheels with my Mom on Christmas Eve (she’s been volunteering for over 15 years now!). We also decided to do some Christmas caroling in the car while driving around town…this song created some controversy:

On Christmas morning my dad made my mom and I pancakes and bacon (it’s like I live in a BnB!) and I went back to crossword puzzle mania until Jim and Kate came over. And then gifts were opened. As I tradition I get a weird animal calendar every year (there were owls, cats doing yoga..) and this year it was Goats in Trees. I don’t know HOW my mom finds these things. I literally opened it up and started crying because it was so funny. Seriously…streams of tears. For minutes. Don’t say “goats in trees” in front of me or else I may tear up again. 

I was able to get on the roads every day while I was home, too, and for whatever reason each run always ended up being six miles. They were all very, very happy runs. Plus, here is my cat.

Let the countdown to 2013 begin!