falalalala-lalalala.

happy happy christmas!  (a few days late.)  we have had a great weekend, full of sleeping in, opening presents, playing with friends, eating lamb and other varieties of yummy meats and sweet things.  Cora has been wearing the above smug look on her face a lot lately, especially when presented with a camera.  As she was many many many times during my sister’s visit in mid-december.  so many pictures.

I had a major attitude adjustment about christmas this year– I think last year I was just not excited about traveling, and too busy and tired to get in the mood, but this year we decided early to stay put and have the stereotypical christmas morning experience here with just the 3 of us, and advent had a much different feel because of that.  We played a lot of holiday music, and really enjoyed watching Cora experience it for the first time.  She is still talking about papa cutting down a twee (!!) and it’s in our house (!!) and it has yights on it(!!!).  I wasn’t sure where to fall on the santa thing… we are Christians and Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ and of the redemption of man, no small thing.  But we live in America, and I’m fine with cultural context… we watched the Grinch and Charlie Brown Christmas and I just decided we can do both-and.  I think my parents always kept their tongues-in-cheek re: santa… I remember asking my mom once if he was real, and she looked at me and said What do you think.  So I reckon that is the path we are on.

In any case, Cora is pretty convinced that Santa brought her a play kitchen and eggs and a toaster, and she is grateful.  As am I– we needed a new toy to get some mileage out of, lest the weather drive me to letting her watch more television than I would normally allow.  So I am happy with Santa for correctly guessing what we needed most, and so is she.

a few pictures:

we made some cookies and peppermint bark and other goodies this year.  and actually delivered things to the neighbors!

the kitchen is so darn cute.  there is a matching fridge that we didn’t spring for, but I’m contemplating it…

henry was in charge of christmas morning breakfast and he did a bang-up job.  french toast, courtesy of america’s test kitchen, and jimmy dean sausage.  mmm.

…it was a little sad to miss the extra-white tahoe christmas.  Maggie and Bonnie very thoughtfully took a picture of the “three” of us anyway and posted it on facebook.  if you go looking for pictures of me, this will be in there.

 

we are slowly getting prepared for the new year, which will be a tidal-wave of insanity from my perspective.  things have calmed down remarkably for henry… he is pretty settled in his job in a private practice across town and is in the (sometimes, frankly, very exhausting) rhythm of doing therapy.  I’m still working full-time, and am starting nurse practitioner school in 2 weeks.  It is an online program through gonzaga, and will take somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 years to finish.  I’m going to see how it goes with work and school and life all jumbled up together, and expect that things will be ca-ra-zee for a little while.  I am very very excited to get going with it– I’ve known since forever that I needed to be a primary care provider, and not a nurse at the bedside, although I have enjoyed my (nearly eight!) years of doing it.  So I have the pleasant sense that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing and that somehow I will finish it and keep myself intact in the process.  We’ll see, I guess.