Where did the last two weeks go?

Wow. What happened to the last two weeks of 2009? One minute I was driving home after class, feeling proud that I’d passed my classes with good grades, and the next thing I know it’s New Year’s day, 2010. Christmas flew by at mach speed on the back of a fat reindeer leaving a wreck of wrapping paper and cookie crumbs in my house. There are 6 extra pounds on my frame (6!) and I haven’t written anything in ten days. All I remember is having a lot of fun.

Queen Teen spent Christmas with her dad in San Francisco this year, so Rick and I decided to take Christmas off. We bought several bottles of good Saki and got good and drunk for three days. Normally he and I play tag-team childcare while dashing from one job to the next: rarely do we have the time for fun. So this year, we played… HARD. On Christmas day we watched South Park, went to the movies and saw Sherlock Holmes (best performance of Watson ever!), then we danced around our living room in our undies to 90’s dance music, laughing and joking and making total fools of ourselves. The day after Christmas we drove to the closest city and saw Avatar in 3D (the word “stunning” doesn’t convey how truly beautiful this film is), then stopped on our way home at Mary’s Pizza Shack for Gluten Free pizza. Yes, Gluten Free pizza at a pizza parlor. I haven’t been to a pizza parlor in 10 years. It was a thoroughly decadent, self-indulgent, goof-off, anti-Christmas Christmas: exactly what the doctor ordered. By day four I was hung-over and tired of eating junk food, and although I could’ve used a few more days to sleep, I was ready for Queen Teen’s return and the arrival of my in-laws. We rushed around that morning cleaning the evidence of our three-day party (how did goat cheese get on the ceiling?).

I love my in-laws, and luckily they like me. They live in Texas so we don’t get to see them very often. His parents claimed Queen Teen as their granddaughter the first day we met, back when Rick and I first started dating. Queen Teen was two years old and she latched onto her “Gran” immediately, spending hours every day sitting on Gran’s lap listening to stories and playing with dolls. Despite the fact she is not biologically theirs, and they now have other grandchildren, my in-laws have remained steadfast in their devotion to Queen Teen. Queen Teen adores her “Gran and Gramps.”

After a lovely visit, they flew home two days ago. Now Queen Teen is moping around the house as usual, complaining there’s nothing to do (despite brand new toys, books and movies!). Rick is racing from computer to computer trying to finish projects and get ready for school again, and I’m suddenly overwhelmingly exhausted. We have been celebrating the holidays since Dec. 20th when we had a Solstice dinner. Before the holidays I finished the last weeks of school with projects, exams, and papers. It’s been a crazy dash through December and my body feels the wear. But I had a fabulous time saying goodbye to 2009.

Happy New Year, my dear blogging pals. Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do reading your blogs, and a few extra posts of my own to write. I'm looking forward to reading about your adventures in the 2010.