The Holidays

The holidays were in a word. AWESOME. Did I do much? No. Did I go anywhere? No. And that's part of what made it so great. I love a good staycation.

I kind of feel like the fun of the holiday season starts with Halloween. We went to the 17 Door Haunted House up in orange county for the second time, and there is a good chance I will never go back. It was super intense. I was so traumatized! Click the link and you will see what I mean. I just looked at it again to link it here and got flashbacks.

My parents spent Thanksgiving with us for a second year in a row. My mom and I did a lot of walking as usual. MJ and my mom did most of the cooking for Thanksgiving as usual. We try to stick to our favorites, and not do too much,but it's crazy how much work it takes. It really is an all day and some the night before thing getting all the food ready, but in the end it was so good. We got our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. We have never gotten it that early, but it was great. My mom enjoys decorating and she was here to help. It was done, and then we got to enjoy it that much longer. My parents celebrated their 50th anniversary just before thanksgiving, which is quite impressive. They have lived an entire lifetime together, and I love seeing the love they have for each other after all these years. Love them! We had a great visit.

After that we were in full on holiday mode. There was so much baking!! Making four kinds of cookies plus mini bundt cakes in one day is a lot of work!! This is MJ's thing. I am not the baker, but I help out and do a lot of dishes. I stressed a little bit over Christmas gifts. I don't shop for a lot of people, but sometimes trying to decide what to get for people can be overwhelming. MJ is especially hard to shop for because he is the man who has everything. He's also a really good gift giver, so I want to return the favor. 

I was off from Wednesday before Christmas until New Years Day and MJ was off a few days less than me so we spent a lot of time together. Every single day, morning until night, and I loved it! And it felt so nice and long. I wasn't ready for it to be over but I'm glad it didn't go by too quick. We went to the movies on Christmas Eve, took a trip to UTC mall to return something and ate lunch, and went out to breakfast one morning. Not a whole lot, but I enjoyed the down time very much. I kept myself occupied with reading, working on YouTube videos, writing, exercising, and watching TV. It was really cold and rainy for most of it, but I was cozy and comfy at home so I didn't mind. 

I felt a little bit lost on New Year's Day. I wasn't sad, but I just felt dazed and confused. The anticipation of the holiday season Christmas and NYE was over and I didn't know what to do with myself. I spent the entire day in pajamas on the couch. Good thing it only lasted a day. I didn't expect much from 2021 but overall it was a good year. I got to see everyone in my family this year. I'm here. I had one health scare that sent me to the ER in some serious pain, but it turned out okay. I'm healthy. My family is here and healthy. I can't ask for much more than that right now. I'm doing dry January for the first time ever this year and I'm looking forward to 2022.

I put together a Look Back on 2021 Video here on YouTube that basically sums it all up if you want to check it out.

Happy New Year!!