Week 53 - A Wonderful Break

The week between Christmas and New Year's, which I've recently heard called Betwixtmas (love that!), has got to be the best week of the year. And much as I miss going back to Rhode Island for Christmas, being home for the entire break is pure joy. Being a homebody, I love having days and days with no commitments so I can enjoy myself. And while I do make a to do list, it wasn't horribly onerous, which is how I like it.

I spent Monday morning knitting in the sun. Bliss! After talking to my sister and oldest friend, I did get my butt in gear to do a few chores before my friend Lorri came over that afternoon for tea. I continued the celebration by eating the last of the drumstick blizzard I'd bought this summer and stuck in my freezer while streaming Kindred, which was good. How's that for a lovely first day of Betwixtmas?

My cousin, Helen, was supposed to come over to hang out on Tuesday but cancelled so I adulted up and got productive. The last thing to do to finish up the spare room clear out was to go through the gift dresser (yes, I have an entire dresser full of things I've bought for future gifting) and that's what I started with. I was able to cull enough that the overflow tote was empty too and everything was organized. Quite a few things came into my "I'm gonna use this myself" life and that lead to a clear out of the kitchen cupboards, my messy food corner and then the fridge. Talk about productivity! But I wasn't done. When I finished upstairs, I went down to the craft room and sewed the cutest little project bag with some fabric from the vintage stash my sister gave me for Christmas. Isn't it adorable? Love that 70's vibe.

Wednesday started early with my only weekday commitment - 8:00 a.m. breakfast with Cindy and Lana at Cook's Cafe, which has the best sausage links in Lincoln. We had a lovely time but were done so early that I had to rethink my itinerary for the day. I ended up going south to Aldi and Trader Joe's before hitting a few other places (mostly for food - a bagel, some donuts) and a single Goodwill, where I found some fun knitting stuff - project bags, a needle case full of double pointed needles and a few other things. And since I'd had such good luck there, I stopped at the Senior Center thrift shop in Wahoo and scored a few more things, including a vintage 8x8 pan with a cover, which will be useful for brownies. After unpacking all my finds, I made a cup of tea to have with my donuts and read an actual book. Yes, reading an actual book (as opposed to an ebook on my ipad) was on my to do list for break. It was lovely. 

I read even longer on Thursday after chatting with 2 friends and doing some baking. It was warmer than usual on Friday so I did laundry and hung it outside and even planted some hyacinth bulbs I found in a pot from last spring. It felt great to be outside. After puttering some inside, I read again. This was prime break relaxation sprinkled with bits of productivity. Perfect! But break was almost over.

I'm not one to celebrate New Year's and so started the 31st submitting all my receipts to my flexible spending accounts then made homemade pizza for lunch and did the floors. I was hot so went outside to cool off and ended up puttering for half an hour in just a t-shirt. I did nothing to celebrate and was in bed well before midnight. Call me old I guess.

In pre-pandemic days, I did a knitters' tea on New Year's Day but I had no interest in having a house full of people (hello omicron!) so just had 3 friends over and didn't go all out with my 3 tiered server full of treats. I made a peach pie and opened a box of truffles to go with the scones and clotted cream Lori was bringing, which was plenty. We knitted and chatted the afternoon away while drinking tea and eating snacks. It was low key but a lovely start to 2023.

I had one more day left of break but was absolutely happy with my week off. It was wonderful to get up each day and do whatever I wanted, sleep when I wanted, eat when I was hungry. If this is what retirement is like, sign me up! Just a year and 5 months to go. Anyway, I hope 2023 brings joy to us all. Happy New Year!