2018 began with the awareness of the soft but persistent kneading of cat paws on my shoulder. With a total lack of regard for holidays, Izzie was intent on making sure I was up at my usual time, insuring her breakfast was served at its usual time.
We hadn’t stayed up to see the new year in last night; the novelty of that ritual has long since worn away. Instead, we went out for an early dinner with friends to mostly celebrate Dave’s birthday and then hurried home to change into comfy clothes; switch on the gas fire and cuddle under an afghan to watch a little TV before heading to bed.
The past ten days have been a whirlwind of activity for us. Beginning with Andy’s arrival on the 22nd, we’ve been partying, decorating, cooking, entertaining, visiting loved ones and most of all; eating. It was fantastic while it lasted but now that it’s over, I feel just a tad bit down. We had a wonderful holiday celebration and were treated to having the whole family waking up together on Christmas morning to enjoy stolen and open presents just like in the old days – except now we start much later in the morning.
Our house and days were full for a week and it was glorious! Toys littered the floor, laughter filled the air and cookies and goodies were easily within reach. We had old and new friends come to call and later in the week, we went to visit our older grandsons, Seth and Caleb.
Each day was special. We saw the newest Star Wars movie. We had a dusting of snow Saturday morning and went to the ACC conference opening game between UVA and BC (extreme nail-biter!) And just to add a bit of whimsy to our holiday, we spied an escaped billy-goat run down our street on Christmas day!
Today, though, it is quiet here in our house. Everyone has gone home and like in The Night Before Christmas, on New Year’s Day, not a creature is stirring. It’s really cold outside with nighttime temps dipping into the single digits. (Not impressive if you live in CNY, but here in VA, it’s unusual.) Dave and I are enjoying one more day of slothfulness before the workweek begins tomorrow and we transition back to ordinary time.
Tomorrow Dave will head back to work and I will get back to the gym (along with my other household duties) but today we will enjoy our time on the couch with Netflix and possibly a football game to keep our minds engaged as we savor the memories we made this Christmas.
I always love the week between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s just a nice little pause in the normal routine of life for visiting and eating and celebrating and simply being “with.” Always sad to see it end! Hoping both you and Dave have a peaceful and joy-filled 2018!