holiday break

So Christmas happened. It was pretty laid back for me, but nice. I spent a little over a week in Richmond with family, including my parents. I was still feeling sick though, so I mostly hung out resting.

On Christmas Eve my mom made our traditional New Mexican posole. She neglected to provide (bring, make, find, ask someone else to find, etc.) the tamales though. Dad and I tried to get some at the last minute, but the El Salvadorian kind we found just aren't the same. This provided an important lesson: make sure mom is on top of things next time.

Christmas day we spent the morning getting the big meal ready (I made rolls). A few other family friends joined us for our wild boar. After the meal and a little music time most of us took naps. Then we finally opened presents that evening.

Racks of our Christmas wild boar.

The next several days included sleeping in, napping, watching tv and movies, and hanging out with Cooper while he was home on break from puppy boot camp. One evening mom and I colored in the new coloring book I got her. Another night dad and Sunni and I went to see the lights at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. On the last night my parents were in town dad and I went out to a movie.

Cooper snuggles!

Coloring with wine.

Checking out the lights.

After my parents were gone I came back to Charlottesville on New Years Eve. I attended two parties, which were fun. At the first one we wore pajamas. At the second one (after I'd put real pants on) I helped judge a hilarious lip syncing contest. After New Years it was nice to have a three day weekend at home. I still didn't feel great and my sides still hurt (plus my back, which was a new ailment), so I spent all of New Years Day in bed. But Saturday I got out for a little hike with friends and a game night. Sunday was restful again, and I cleaned my house.

My coughing is almost all gone (I finally got an antibiotic), and the aches and pains are starting to go away. Soon I will be able to exercise again (hopefully), and will dive into dissertation research. Then 2016 can get moving in the right direction.