Food Hangovah

Christmas has come and not yet gone. Still at my sister's house, enjoying her and the rest of my family's company. And the company of a furry little orange kitten is the kindest of all right now as he sits on the bed next to me -- quite curious about the sound of the clicking keyboard. Ran with my sister today -- it was painful. The pain stemmed from the incessant eating the last few days have demanded...well not demanded, but pretty close. So many of our family traditions and our family gatherings involve amazing food. Christmas Eve was spent gorging on beef and cheese fondue; this has been a Christmas Eve tradition for as far back as I can remember. It was a peaceful and engaging evening -- but a stuffing one too. Then comes Christmas day with a breakfast casserole and Jim's mom's cinnamon rolls and then my sister's epic Christmas meal. She is sooooo good. The food was unique and tasty -- mom contributed three pies, and there were homemade chocolates, sugar cookies, brown sugar fudge, what else... Too much. And this is all why the run hurt. Full of food and lethargy. Food should be fuel. But too much food acts in the reverse. The Bailey's in my coffee this morning probably did not help the run.

Jim built a beautiful cherry frame for my parents -- and I developed many of my pictures from when my brother and his family were home from Montana this fall -- we put the two together and created a sweet collage. The pics were from his first visit home with his brand new daughter, so this visit was special. I took many pictures and the collage came out well. Six were 5x7s - then there was several 4x6s -- I designed the layout of the frame and Jim built it. The center was a small 3x3 picture of one of the bonfires our family shared. My parents were absolutely blown away -- they loved it -- I could not have been happier. Last year Jim and I made them Adirondack chairs, this year was the collection of emotion-evoking pics of the baby and the family -- I may be painting myself into a position that will some day soon lead to letdown. It was fun to give. I am always so excited to give gifts -- I want to give them as soon as I can. I think that was the highlight for me this year, giving my parents something that they so clearly loved and appreciated. I have never been one for just giving gifts for the sake of giving something. If I don't have something to give that I am excited about, I get creative and find a way to give something that has meaning for me and for them. (Jim got me snowshoes -- they are beautiful, and I cannot WAIT to get out in the woods on them -- they are awesome -- and so is he.)

Life goes fast. I can't believe we are working on the new year now. My goal is to try to get some good down time in over this break -- down time for me may not fit the typical definition, but I hope to have time to see people I love and not feel like my time is completely planned and choreographed. Double-edged --gotta plan to make it all happen, but planning makes me feel so scheduled. Only a tentative plan for tomorrow. Less eating, that is definitely part of the plan.