I always feel a little bit let down the day after Christmas. Part of the magic of the Christmas season is the anticipation of all the parts of the holiday: the food, seeing loved ones, giving and getting presents, watching the A Christmas Story marathon, and so on and so forth.
So now I am dealing with that post holiday let down. One good thing is that I have Aidan with me here and his birthday is coming soon. So we have that celebration to look forward to.
I had a good Christmas, despite being sick and developing a cold sore. The cold that had been threatening me all week finally came into fruition big time on Sunday. It had started to feel icky on Friday, but Saturday was my birthday so I made myself enjoy it despite just wanting to lie in bed all day.
I had a great birthday! I slept pretty late, as usual, but also because I wasn’t feeling that great. The macaron place in the neighborhood was open for retail, so we went in and Adam got me a bunch of yummy macarons! My friend Jen had me over and took some photos of me. Here’s one of them:
long hair don’t care!
After Jen’s, we went to the UPS store where we picked up packages and mail and stuff, then we went to a late lunch/early dinner at Longhorn. I had prime rib! It had been years since I’d had prime rib. Then we went to Michael’s, which sounds a lot more fun than it was. It took me AGES to find the Christmas washi, the place was crowded and over warm, and my cashier was kind of a bitch. It wasn’t a great shopping experience, but I really don’t care that much. After that, we went and drove around looking at Christmas lights! Hung out with the upstairs neighbor a bit, then crashed. It was a low key birthday, but it was a lot of fun. Ivy sent me a pack of Staedtler Fineliners (my favorite!), Grandma Bel sent me a scarf that is battery operated and therefore heated! (I have to say I haven’t had to use it yet, and I am grateful. It can stay in the 50s all winter for all I care!) And Adam gave me a beautiful Tiffany necklace. He’s getting really good at picking out gifts! 🙂
Sunday, I was completely out of commission. I was sick and exhausted. I slept the entire day. I was frustrated because I had so much to do, but no energy. Monday I made myself prepare for traveling, and Tuesday morning I slept a nice, drugged up sleep most of the way to my mom’s. I don’t remember too much of Tuesday, to be honest. We got a Honey Baked Ham, I took some photos, I visited with my mom, set up the gift I got for her and Greggy (a computer!), and was annoyed because I couldn’t smell any of the good things cooking and baking or taste anything!
By Christmas Day, I felt much better, though. Still sniffling and plowing through the Kleenex, but I had more energy and didn’t feel like sleeping the day away. Which was a miracle because my mom and I stayed up talking literally all night. Until after 8am. It was my favorite part of the visit!
my mommy’s tree
Christmas Day was great! I slept in, everyone liked their presents, and the food was good. My taste was slowly coming back. Not fully, but enough that I could enjoy my dinner! And the company as well.
Once upon a time I used to write out long lists on my blog of the stuff I got for Christmas. I don’t even know if my readers care, but I like reading my past entries and seeing what I got that year. Let me see if I can remember what I got this year:
From Adam:
– Nintendo wallet
– Frederick the Literate blanket (!!!)
– lenses for my iPhone camera
– a pink lightning cable for my iPhone
– all of my favorite snacks in my stocking
– tons of hair ties (somehow he remembered that I kept breaking all the ones I had!)
– a light box (on its way)
– Mean Girls on Blu-ray
– Epic Mickey 2 for Xbox
– Nag Champa incense
From Aidan:
– Maleficent on DVD
From Chris & Matt:
– Kate Spade bracelet
– Kate Spade pouch
– toe socks
– cute Panda headband/ear warmer
– wax melts
– tote
– a bunch of gift bags (LOVE it, I always gather up the gift bags that people want to toss so I can reuse them–I’m touched that Matty remembered that)
From Mommy & Greggy:
– a bunch of cute sweaters and tops
From Leah:
– a pink lava lamp (aw yeah!)
From the In-Laws:
– awesome polka dot umbrella
– prints with Bob Dylan lyrics on them
– Doctor Who Dalek ornament
– super warm leggings
– Divergent Collector’s Edition
– woven blanket (I’ve been wanting this blanket for four years. SO glad I have it now!)
– canvas print of the family for the whole family
– Selzer family 2015 calendar
From Ivy:
– a cute canvas bag that says “I’m correcting your grammar in my head.”
From Andy:
– the large size Mickey Mouse Tsum Tsum plush!!!!
I’m sure I missed some things. I am so grateful to have the people in my life that I do.
Now, Aidan and I are both sick and kind of loopy from medicine. And I’m fighting the post-holiday melancholy that comes as we transition back to ordinary time and I wonder how we get through the rest of the year without this to look forward to. But I’ll be OK. I go through this every year and I manage.
wrapped in my blanket 🙂
So, the weekend is coming and that means a lazy Saturday, a sorta busy Sunday (kid’s room and Pretty Late), and back to normal on Monday. Work for a new freelance client, I need to go to the bank, bills to pay, boring business stuff to do, and so on. So I should enjoy the downtime now, right? 🙂
Merry Christmas, everyone!!!