A Crazy December to Remember!

There are so many things to coordinate and do in December for me at work - open enrollment, Christmas trade, manager cards, staff cards, food drive flyers and donation bins, etc. It feels like every minute is accounted for, and the hours/days fly by in the blink of an eye.

And then there are the personal things that occupy every second of our limited time at home- small holiday gatherings with friends/family, events, buying/wrapping dozens of gifts, sending out cards, baking/delivering treats, decorating the house, etc. And this stuff is all in addition to the regular stuff of bills, laundry, cleaning, groceries, exercising, cooking, etc. It feels overwhelming, even if you start in November! (Christmas magic is for the kids, honestly. The parents work their butts off to make it magical...but it is far from festive for most harried parents.)

Needless to say, the house ends up not looking so hot most days. The diet ends up having lots more sugar and calories in it. The sleep schedule gets disrupted, and it's just not relaxing, no matter how much you vow to 'simplify' and 'be present in the moment.' The reality is that you're still panicked, buying last minute gifts, stress-eating cornflake cookies and spending more than you'd intended on gifts for folks you're not even sure they'll like.

Fortunately the month also offered us fun and memories, and I need to remember that-

A coworker got a new Maltese puppy that weighs no more than a pound...and we got to play with him! So cute, so clumsy, so adorable!

We hosted a baking night for Ry and his two closest friends one day...they churned out peppermint brownies, snickerdoodles and gingerbread cookies.

...and the experience must have been grueling, as they retired to the patio and collapsed.

Since we had our tree up first for the family, this was the scene of 2021's annual Christmas card photo for my parents Christmas cards!

I got to take my nieces out shopping on two separate days for their Christmas gifts- toys from Target...and clothes from Macy's! I call these dresses their cotillion attire!

After only a few years, we finally found a nightstand for Ryan, which he assembled by himself while Rich and I were cleaning the kitchen one day. ;-) He's come a long way, this kid! He can assemble basic furniture, baked solo a few times this holiday, etc. He's definitely growing up!

And although we have yet to see this niece perform in-person, she has become a skilled dancer and was asked to perform with two others in her class of about 20, at a luau! Super exciting to her shine!

One of my gifts for Rich this year was matching shirts for him and his BFF/podcasting/improv partner, Kerry! As she says, "We have merch now!"

These two showed up at my office one day and through a comedy of errors, they ended up with four steak entrees!

So glad I managed to convince Ryan to decorate gingerbread houses one more time this year! This is a tradition we've done nearly every year since he was born. 

Stepped up my baking game this year and made some pumpkin pecan muffins, and used tulip parchment paper cups, turbinado sugar to top off the muffins, and bought bakery boxes to pack muffins in. I stole every one of those ideas from the bakery at one of the restaurants!

Beauty is not always glamorous...my friend got me this gold mask (it was $20 freaking dollars for a one-time mask!), and although I looked like a bougie serial killer/human Oscar trophy...

...look at that glow, bitc&#s!!!

Although it's been a few years in the making, I have recently stepped up my succulent garden maintenance and have been working on creating more starts. I am loving the way it looks now that I also took out the largest succulents and used their leaves to create more babies. Cannibalistic, yes. But also, cute! Loving how this is looking so far!

Since we got back from our trip, we basically dove right into the Omicron surge, and the holidays. It was not easy, and I have no idea how we would have managed it if there were the usual holiday events (I don't miss most of that stuff). But having said that, I'm grateful we're alive/well to face it, and these pics are reminders it was still great.

This month, I am so grateful for:

• Our lingering trip memories
• Our friendships with so many people we care deeply about (exchanging gifts = seeing friends I don't normally get to see)
• Twinkling Christmas lights
• Sempai Roland's cornflake/macadamia nut cookies
• Ryan's winter break (I get a break from the early AM traffic)
• Spin classes and walks with friends (keeps me sane)
• My plantar fasciitis improving (the trip ravaged my feet)
• The cooler weather and snow atop Mauna Kea (cooler trade winds!)
• My bosses/job...and the feeling of being valued/appreciated
• My health, home, car, family...having roots and a roof = grounded and happy.