Top Ten List from Christmas Break

One of the biggest pros of being in education is having breaks at home with Trey throughout the year.  Christmas break was highly needed this year with the new job, and I did my best to enjoy it as much as I possibly could.  Here are the top ten highlights of the two week break:

10. Trying new recipes: having some time off from work allowed me to try some new recipes and do some more cooking than I do during the work week.  I didn't get as much accomplished as I'd hoped, but it was fun to try some new things.

9.  Finishing my blog book: I now have four volumes of my blog book, one for each year, and I worked on this last volume a lot over break. It goes from June to June (Trey's birthday), so since I just now got this last book done, one can see that it takes a lot of time.  I use blurb.com to upload the blog, and then formatting the pages takes forever.  I really value these books, and I hope Trey will too.

8. Visiting with friends: I got to see friends over break, not as much as I'd like due to the holidays, and it was great to spend time together.  On the first Sunday of break, we drove to McMinnville and had dinner at Dan and Kristina's with Jeanne and Paul. The six of us always have so much fun together, and Trey loves playing with the kids.  How did I get through the night without taking any pictures?

7.  New Years Eve at the Kopplins: We spent New Years with good friends, and the night was perfect.  Trey had so much fun with the kids (oh, the noise! oh, the chaos!), and Randy and I had fun catching up with our friends too.  We went home just after 9pm, of course, but it was a perfect holiday.

Neil, Sarah, Bruin, Kathleen, me, and Randy

6. Seeing Wild, the movie: I have been waiting a long time for this.  I have both read and listened to Wild and have seen Cheryl Strayed speak multiple times.  I cannot say enough about how her book and message has impacted me as a reader, mother, and daughter.  Her love for her mother and her grief due to loss of her mother has resonated with me more than anything I can really describe.  Mindy and I met one night over break and watched Wild and I just loved it.  Every part of it.

5. Dinner at Departure: Randy, Kris, and I went to Departure for dinner (poor John was home with a man cold), and it was the best meal I have had in a long time.  Randy said it was the best meal he has ever had.  Gregory Gourdet, the executive chef who is currently in the top four of Top Chef, came in and I felt like I had a celebrity sighting.

With Randy and Kris at Pioneer Square post-delicious dinner

4. Reading three books: I got a lot of reading time in over break, and it was the best.  I really enjoyed all three of these books.  Nora Webster was a quiet story, but the writing was excellent, and the characters stuck with me.  I got through Orphan Train in less than 48 hours as it was hard to put down, and it was a moment of the right book at the right time.  The idea of children being unwanted or uncared for at any time breaks my heart, and this book struck a chord at the present time due to some of the things my family is faced with right now.  Lucky Us took a while to get into, and I was tempted several times to put it down, but I stuck with it because I like Amy Bloom as an author. By the end, I was sucked into the story and glad I finished it, but it wasn't my favorite book I've read of hers.

3. Not having to work: Work has gotten a little better, I guess, but having two weeks where I didn't have to go to school, teach, and deal with the daily goings-on of being a resource room teacher was pretty awesome.

2.  Christmas with our family:  We spent Christmas with my side of the family, and Randy's parents came on the 26th.  Experiencing Christmas through a child's eyes is a special thing.

Grady and Trey

1. Mornings with Trey: Hands down, no question, the best part of break was having mornings with Trey.  We were able to sleep in until 7:30 or 8:00am, relax in the morning and watch Super Heroes or Rescue Bots, and not have to rush out the door to work and school.  My ideal day would start around 9:00am, and holiday break reminded me of that.  Every.  Single.  Day.

Honestly, I was pretty depressed about going back to work and dreaded it like I haven't dreaded anything in a long time - well, except for maybe school starting in September.  We are 1.5 weeks in to the new year, and it's been pretty busy.  The busyness certainly makes me grateful for the time I have off.  45 days until spring break!