A wordless Christmas and day after

Monday musings

• I feel like I've been washing dishes nonstop since Thanksgiving. And washing dishes is my least favorite household chore. I guess that's what I get for cooking a big meal with lots of leftovers.
• At my dentist appointment today, I learned I have two broken fillings and one broken tooth. Why? Because of my newly developed habit of grinding my teeth. My jaws have been so sore lately, and I wasn't sure why. Now I know. Now I have two more appointments, a crown and a mouth guard in my future. Yay.
• I found this obvious Christmas necessity at Target.

• When my running buddy Lori called to tell me we made the Tampa Bay Times (our local paper), I panicked. Why? Because the photo was of us running the Women's Half Marathon. I started imagining how red, sweaty and taxed I looked. Photos of me running are not cute. When I finally got my hands on the paper, I was relieved. 

Photo by James Borchuck, Tampa Bay Times

Thankfully, the photo was at the beginning of the race. As an added bonus, Lori's ponytail blocked my face. Even though it was early and I wasn't too red, sweaty or taxed, I'm still capable of making a ridiculous face.   

• You may have noticed I always refer to Lori as my running buddy. I'm not really sure how it started, but it's an accurate description. So, how cool is it that she got me this shoe charm?

•  I took today off from work. I originally asked for it because we were planning on traveling for Thanksgiving. Even though we didn't, I kept the day as vacation. Awesome decision on my part. Of course, it will make going back to work tomorrow that much harder.

Taking a break from breaks

After a two-week break from work, I’d like to say I’m refreshed and renewed. But, it would be a lie.

Unfortunately, along with my two-week break from work, I took a two-week break from blogging, an almost two-week break from the computer, a two-week break from eating or drinking anything remotely healthy (OK, that's not entirely true, but I ate a lot of crap), and a one-week break from running. So, now I feel like crap. But, with the new year comes a new me (or so it seems like the thing to say).

Prior to being new and improved, here’s what happened:

I never really got in the Christmas spirit this year, and I don’t know why. I put up the Christmas tree late. I started listening to Christmas music late. I never watched Christmas Vacation or Elf. I didn’t send out Christmas cards. Any gift I sent was late, and I still haven’t sent some (oops). I’m even still waiting on one of my brother’s gifts to arrive so that I can send it late.

I did receive this awesome Elvis ornament from Rachael (Thanks!) via Jenny’s Christmas ornament exchange. It rocks! And it arrived on time (unlike the one I sent). Sorry, Rachael.

Christmas was nice, but I still wasn’t in the holiday spirit. I even slept the latest on Christmas morning. That never happens. Well, every other day it does, but not that day.

After the Christmas festivities (and after family left town), I still had a week of vacation. So, we decided to take a trip. A dreaded road trip. I hate road trips. I hate sitting in the car for much more than an hour. So, an 8-hour car ride is my idea of torture. But, driving meant that Chloe could come with us. I guess she’s worth it.

This is at the Hard Rock in Biloxi. Chloe likes Billy Idol, apparently.

Family photo on the beach. It was cold. Like 62 degrees!

After spending a few days in Biloxi, Mississippi, we headed to Destin, Florida, to spend the new year with friends. After celebrating last New Year’s Eve out with sparkley hats, noisemakers and champagne, I was ready to do it again. Unfortunately, our friends were not. They claim New Year’s Eve is amateur drunk night. They are probably right, but I was a bit disappointed. So, we hung out at their beach condo (not a bad deal, I guess), grilled steaks, drank lots of wine (and champagne at midnight), watched fireworks and rang in 2012.

After getting home (finally … I still hate road trips), I had a day to put away the Christmas decorations, do laundry, watch some pretty awesome bowl games (although the best is yet to come … Cotton Bowl on Jan. 6 – go Cats!), relax (and not get in the car once) and try to head off the looming doom of returning to work.

Even though there is some reluctance about returning to work (not that work is bad (most of the time), but if given the choice, I’d rather not work), I am ready to return to a schedule. A schedule that includes running on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings. I’ve missed it.