Christmas - I got the tripod I asked for, a sweeter vest, fleece shirt that was too big, socks, money for things like a digital camera or print framing or anything else I want, a shaving cream warner, a mike frother for coffee; I'm not going to be able to remember everything -- oh, a calming 'water fall' thingy in an Amazon motif, a pair of jeans, hummm, what else??? I have to think on it......

I actually got something done with my house over my time off. I usually take the days between Christmas and New Year's off to do things like prepare for taxes, etc. I stripped wall paper from my 'computer/cam room'. You can tell in the background if you look at the cam page. I found a wall paper to use! When I began stripping the paper off the wall, I realized that the plaster had never been painted! This house is over 80 years old, and the plaster walls in this room have never been painted. The plaster has an interesting patina and I thought about just leaving them raw, but when previous owners, who installed all the crown molding, painted the wood work before putting up their wall paper and didn't care whether they painted the wall around the wood work. Pulling off the wall paper was tedious, but not as difficult as I thought. J., when he was stripping the wall paper off his upstairs bedroom (he has a cape code), had to rent a steamer/stripper to get the stuff off. I'm pretty lucky.

Time at home was nice, but I tend to get a bit melancholy (or downright depressed) at home around the holidays. Nothing severe, yet it is there. I think it goes back to desiring relationship and not having it. It was nice seeing my family and all.

Today, my routine returns, which will be nice. Working out, FrontRunners, and everything else -- including my quiet time!