jennifer
I took a couple of weeks off from the blog over the holidays.  We closed down the office from December 23 through January 3, so we pretty much let anything resembling a regular routine go out the window when we walked out of the office on the 22nd.  We had twelve full days off together, with no real plans, and it was wonderful.  Although I admit we all three did feel the slightest bit of relief when we stepped back into our predictable routine this morning.
Here are the highlights of our days off:
December 23: After binge watching Making a Murderer on Netflix, my mom, dad, brother, and the three of us loaded up in a handicap accessible van with nine feet of clearance from floor to ceiling (my parents bought it to transport my grandpa in his wheelchair after his stroke) and took a tour of tacky Christmas lights and then went out for pizza.  This is a tradition for us, but we doubled up this year as we had already done one tour with a stop for pizza the previous weekend.
December 24: Our second Christmas celebration.  We had my husband’s dad’s Christmas the weekend before, which ended with my husband and I being crowned champions of the Minute to Win It competitions.  (He can move cotton balls using only Vaseline and his nose like it’s nobody’s business!)  On the 24th we went over to my parents’ house in the afternoon and turned what could be done in about two hours into an eleven hour event.  We opened gifts, ate a delicious dinner, Facetimed my sister, and in true Christmas spirit we analyzed Making a Murderer and watched a couple episodes of Breaking Bad.  Then I almost forgot to put the gifts under the tree when we got home.
December 25: When the munchkin woke up, we put him in bed with us for a little bit, which was my absolute favorite part of Christmas morning.  When we finally got up and went into the living room together, he oohed and aahed at the gifts under the tree and then just sat down right in front of them.  He didn’t touch anything for the longest time; just stared in awe.  We checked off celebration numbers three and four at my husband’s paternal grandparents and my mom’s side of the family.  We lost both board games we played with my family, but had a blast deciding we should write Milton Bradley because the answers to his game were obviously incorrect. We also tried to talk everyone into watching Making a Murderer.
December 26: We celebrated Boxing Day (sounds more fun than the day after Christmas) and Christmas number five with my husband’s mom and her side of the family.  We had a delicious breakfast together and then visited while opening gifts.  The little babe got a flashlight from his great-grandparents, which was a huge hit until he opened a pacifier that Cliff’s mom had wrapped (and we had left at her house on a previous visit.)  My favorite gift was the box of neon Band-Aids that the peanut also got from his great-grandparents.  Every time he would walk by, they would pretend he had bumped a body part and they opened and applied a Band-Aid.  By the time we left, he was covered in neon stripes.  He loved it!  We spent a quarter of our time telling everyone about Making a Murderer.
December 27: My husband and brother went to KC for the Chiefs game and couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to go sit in the cold and rain.  My mom and I went to see Sisters at the theatreIt was really funny and finally gave us something to talk about for awhile besides Making a Murderer.
December 28: I wanted to do a quick team cleaning when I woke up.  Four hours later, my husband had scrubbed every inch of the stainless steel appliances and vacuumed behind and under every piece of furniture.  I really think he should be in charge of cleaning from now on.
December 29: My mom, the kiddo, and I went out for a little bit of after-Christmas shopping (against the baby’s wishes.)  It turned into an all day event with very few bargain wins, but we had fun regardless.  Even better, when I got home my brother and some friends came over and we played Cards Against Humanity.
December 30: We got lots of projects done around the house.  My brother was around all day so we got back to analyzing Making a Murderer.  I got my Etsy shop set up, which felt like I accomplished a huge feat.  Check it out: Night Owl (https://www.etsy.com/shop/nightowlthings)
December 31:  Our sixteen month old spent the night with my parents for the first time ever.  So, we celebrated NYE like we were in our 20s again.  It was fun.  I was looking forward to a solid night of sleep, but apparently having your child away from home for the first time in their life can really disrupt your Zzzzs.
January 1:  Pure laziness.  We. Did. Nothing. Except watch tv, eat, play, and read.  It was awesome.   We considered re-binging Making a Murderer, but my brain couldn’t handle it.
January 2:  We celebrated our sixth and final Christmas with my Dad’s side of the family.  Played the traditional white elephant bingo and then spent the rest of the night talking about Making a Murderer with my cousin.
January 3:  Ugh.  Sunday night blues times one hundred.  My brother came over for the Chiefs game and we were all a little depressed about going back to work, but agreed getting back to our routines would be nice.  During our “what was your favorite part of vacation” poll, my brother answered…yep…Making a Murderer.
I have not been paid by Netflix or any filmmakers, but you really should watch the Making a Murderer docuseries.  And if you do, I’m available to analyze at any time of the day or night.
We hope you have a great holiday season also and your 2016 is off to a good start. Next week we’ll get back to our decor makeover.
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