a few quiet days at home

Well, we've returned from our holiday travels and I believe we've nearly recovered from them. The laundry is all done, we're mostly unpacked, we've rested, the house is fairly clean, and we've started taking down some of the Christmas decorations. I'm glad to be home!

We were gone for 8 days, and we spent 4 of those days in the car. We. Were. Exhausted. BUT--Baby Will was born while we were in KY, so when we stopped back through Greenville, we got to see him. He is ADORABLE! He's got red hair and the softest little cry. I'll post a picture tomorrow. Now we have a niece and TWO nephews!!

My dad sang Gesu Bambino for me on Sunday morning, despite partially losing his voice during the carol sing. It was marvelous.

Braden was tons of fun at Christmas. I'll post pictures of him tomorrow, too. We got him a piano (child-sized) and he loved it! He immediately went over and started banging on it. He did hands together and then right and left alternately. He's so clever. He was a joy to be around.

We got some pretty great gifts and had a blast with our families. Mom and Dad got me the Florida poster print by P. Buckley Moss. If you've been to my house, you've seen my collection of these prints. I have Kentucky, Ohio, Atlanta, and New York, and now I've added Florida. I have one of every place I've lived except Tennessee, which is out of print. Maybe I'll find one someday.

My in-laws got me the Christmas accent plates that go with my china. They are GORGEOUS! I can't wait to get my new dining room set so I can display them properly.

Brian got me a gorgeous necklace, too. I was very surprised by this--he did a great job!

Brian got lots of entertainment stuff: movies, music, and mostly games. He got Guitar Hero for PS2 and we all had a ball playing it, including both our dads! That was fun to see!

Probably my biggest surprise for Christmas this year was from my dad. He put some of our old tapes on CD for us, including Brad talking as a child (hilarious--I'm always trying to interrupt his recording and he keeps getting mad), me talking as a child (well, mostly singing, and once my dad sweetly says to a 2-year-old me, "When you listen to this someday later on you'll be sorry you acted that way." ha!), and about 24 selections of our family singing, different members at different times, etc. The first cut on that CD has me singing the first verse of a family favorite, and I must have been 8 or 10. Oh, and Gesu Bambino is on there, too. :-D

For New Year's, Brian and I just sat around watching movies in our pajamas. We got home late Friday night, so we spent Saturday mostly lounging around and doing a few odd chores. We watched "Bewitched" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," both of which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Tomorrow, it's back to the grind for B. I'm going to start looking for some students. And I have to go to the eye doctor, since I washed my contacts down the drain on Christmas morning. Brilliant, I know. And it was my very last pair.

It got to 79 degrees here today. AND it was pretty humid. What!?!! Our air conditioner is on. Drastic change from our lives last January. Sometimes we still can't believe we've moved. We'll refer to last year and then act all shocked. For example, yesterday evening I said to Brian, "Last year at this time, we were at Pat & Jenn's for New Year's!" And Brian replied, "And we had no idea. NO IDEA!!" I miss New York. :-(

Cheers to a new year. I hope we can achieve at least a few of our goals this year!