We stayed home for Christmas this year, just like last year--and while we could have made the trek to Oregon, I'm glad we didn't because it ended up SNOWING for several days! The snow melted the first few days, but yesterday and today, it hasn't been warm enough, so the snow is here to stay until next week. I'll be out wrapping up my run streak (run daily between Thanksgiving and New Year's) this week--and running with my YakTrax today since there's snow all over the place. A nice, relaxed, slow run today for sure.
Meanwhile, I've been baking all the things: I made gluten-free rough puff pastry and wrapped it around tiny hot dogs for the Christmas Eve smorgasbord, along with sourdough grissini and other tasty things. I made a cranberry linzertorte that was AMAZING (imagine linzer cookie dough but made into a whole tart with cranberry jam in the middle). Today, I baked a loaf of challah for dinner tonight, and I'll likely tackle babka so I can take it to a friend who is also gluten free.
In non-edible Christmas break fun, I've also been reading tons of books. I quickly read Olivia Dade's new book, All the Feels, which was a delightful rom-com. I am also wrapping up reading a few books that I started this year, including Braiding Sweetgrass (Robin Wall Kimmerer) and Eloquent Rage (Brittany Cooper). Both of these books are stunning--I think I paused on Braiding Sweetgrass because I wanted to mull over my thoughts, and I'm not sure why I paused on Eloquent Rage, but maybe just got bumped down on my Kindle as e-books from the library (thus with a deadline) became available. Either way, these two books have me thinking a range of thoughts.
Other delights involve completely and utterly ignoring work and work emails--I sent off a book chapter, then turned on my vacation responder and refuse to open that email browser window. It took a few days to relax and resist the urge, but one of the benefits of my current employment (and being on sabbatical) is that everyone steps away this week (or should), so I feel more free to just spend the time with myself.
And with the family--the kids are a delight and have really enjoyed the holidays. It was a bit of a challenge to curb the amount of stuff that came in with Christmas, but I think we found a good balance (and put a few things away for next year, so Christmas shopping done, yesss). The baby ooed and wowed as he opened gifts, and they have both been playing with all the things they were given.
When I was a kid, we were pretty poor, so we usually got a few presents each, but I never felt the lack. And honestly, we had so many other fun things around Christmas that the traditions and activities felt way more important than the things--and I want my kids to grow up with that belief too. Yes, it's nice to give and be given presents, but my favorite parts of the holidays are sharing tasty food I made, spending time with each other, watching holiday movies, playing games, and being together. Even if we can't see all the people we'd like to see this Christmas, I'm trying to connect and let folks know I'm thinking of them and love them. And that's a nice way to wrap up the year.
