Holidays

After a hiatus to WDM, I am back in Chicago and back at work trying to motivate myself to do some work. I thought a little update on my activities over the past week or so would be appropriate.

On my trip home for the holidays I had intended to attend four different holiday related events: my mom's birthday party, Langel Christmas, immediate family Christmas and Sipfle Christmas. Due to weather complications I essentially missed out on three of the four which meant a lot of time spent bumming around home with the fam. Although it would have been nice to see more of the extended family and to have spent less time waiting in the Greyhound station/on the train etc. it was still a good trip. For example I...

played a lot of games. Playing card games is definitely a staple of family interactions around my house and this time around was no exception. Nerts, hearts, Scrabble, Boggle, Liars' Dice, 99, you name it. Game time is especially fun when a glass or two of wine or a few beers are mixed in. It's hard to explain the Sipfle family dynamic during game time, you have to experience the goofiness to really understand. (for the record, I kick butt at Boggle).

got a lot of wonderful gifts. Now, i have always been a supporter of the giving is better than receiving sentiment but i am really excited about a lot of my gifts this year though taken independently from the rest of my personality i wonder what sort of picture they might paint about me. My excitement over a sewing machine, a blender, a mixer, a bunch of cookbooks and other kitchen things might make me seem exceedingly domestic for example. Not that i am opposed to that. I like having domestic skills up my sleeve like that.

saw some dear friends. And i even went bridesmaid dress/wedding dress shopping. Eep! Actually i got into the dress shopping more than i would have imagined. Maybe that comes from Grandma Alice letting us try on almost finished dresses when we were younger.

took the train. Which was wicked awesome! But i think my thinking the train was wicked option just shows another part of my personality, the part that was twisted from watching too many Westerns with my dad when i was younger. Sadly, there were no bandits on the train.

baked, a ton. I would have thought my earlier baking extravaganza would have gotten it all out of my system but nope, i still helped with lots of cookies etc. And then I ate.them.all. Or at least that's how i felt at the time. As it should around the holidays, eating played a big part in my daily activities.

Now that i'm back its time for New Year's in the city with friends and soon a whole new year too look forward to!