My Christmas Vacation

Every time I get a few days away from work, I have a huge list of things that I want to get done. And almost always, I return to work without accomplishing as much as I had hoped. It used to frustrate me and I felt a lot of anxiety in the last 12 hours or so before returning to work. I'm learning to let go of that. My house isn't clean yet, but I had a good break. And, I have a full fridge and freezer, the laundry is almost done, and I already prepped for lessons tomorrow, so the most important things are done.

As I packed to go to my parents' house, I purposely packed lightly knowing that I could do laundry there and that I needed to save room in the suitcase for the presents I would be bringing home. When I got to their house, I found out that their washer was broken. Great! My brother ordered a part, but we all ran out of clean clothes and towels before the part arrived. It's a good thing my parents have a minivan, because we filled it with laundry to take to the laundromat. My mom and dad and I spent the morning at the laundromat. It was actually kind of fun, but also reminded me how glad I am to have a washer and dryer in my home. I don't miss the days of having to go to the laundromat. Their washer was fixed by the time I left, but I didn't get a chance to do laundry there, so I brought home a suitcase full of dirty clothes. The last load just went in the dryer.

Health problems and work schedules changed some of our usual ways of celebrating. We still went to see the lights in the park, but Dad and one brother didn't come because they both have back problems and have trouble sitting that long. We almost always go to a movie together, but the ones that looked good were too long for the guys with the bad backs and the other brother with kidney stones. My sister-in-law had to work on Christmas, so we did our dinner and opened presents on Christmas Eve. I did kind of like that, although we didn't do our usual Christmas Eve singing. Christmas was quieter and calmer.

The really great part of Christmas was that even though I received lots of foods on my "don't eat" list as gifts and stocking stuffers, I didn't eat any(quietly snuck them into the communal bowl) and came home without gaining any more weight. Yeah! Plus, I didn't have to worry about the pain and emotional roller coaster that comes when I have too much sugar.

During my break, I rested (a lot), read 3 books and part of another, watched hours of TV (I figure it's OK to waste a lot of time like this during break since I don't even own a TV), ran errands and went shopping with my parents, memorized two more songs for my recital, and had several fun game nights with the family. They get together once a week for family night, so they get to play a lot of games all year, but I'm only there once a year, so they humor me and play more than once a week. This year, my brother bought the family Phase 10 Twist. We love Phase 10 and have played it for years, but sometimes it takes way to long to finish a game. This is somewhat shorter, and still a lot of fun. I think I laugh more during family game nights than any other time during the year. Laughter is good.

This next year will bring a lot of changes for my family. My dad will probably take an early retirement at the end of the year for health reasons. Dad is talking about moving soon after that because of the high cost of living where they are now. Mom teaches music lessons and would like to continue for a few more years, but is concerned about giving up all her current students and starting over in a new place. It takes a long time to build a studio. I guess I'll know more about there plans in the spring.

My parents' health problems also make me wonder more about my future. At some point, I will probably need to move closer to them to help take care of them. Like my mom, I am concerned about starting over in a new place and the fact that it takes several years to build a studio large enough to take care of my financial obligations. Plus, the kind of work that I do here--actually working within a high school choral program--just doesn't exist there. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. But right now, I need to quit writing and get ready to be a great teacher tomorrow. Wish me luck!