Another successful Christmas.

I'm not exactly sure what a successful Christmas is (one in which we get lots of presents that we don't have to immediately return? One in which we survive with all of our wits intact? One in which we don't eat so much we have to roll back home?), but I think we had another one this year. We gave each other gifts both practical and fun. We sat around Christmas trees and enjoyed the company of others. We ate a lot. And we survived both the busy-ness and the weather.

Let's talk about the weather first, since I'm sitting here under a blanket and in my robe and yet still feel a draft creeping in from somewhere. It's cold out. Very cold. I believe the outdoor temperature is somewhere between 15 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Yay. To go along with that lovely coldness is about 16 inches of snow, with more in places. We had a blizzard the day after Christmas. This was the scene when Doug and I were driving back home from Connecticut: You can see that it made for really fun driving. When we woke up the next morning it was still snowing, but once it stopped we made our way outside to shovel. Doug was thrilled. Really. Seems that he likes shoveling. Well, good for him. The next time that we get a blizzard he can do all the shoveling and I'll stay inside and drink hot chocolate and read a book. I wouldn't want to get a snowblower and take away all his fun.

So okay, we survived the blizzard. We are shoveled out, Doug's still amped up about being alive and shoveling, and I'm trying to come down from my sugar high. I consumed more sugary sweets these past few days than I have in a long time; well, at least since Halloween. It all started with a few days before Christmas when I turned our house into Roz's Bakery and decided to bake all night. Here are the results, most of which are now in my belly (or, more appropriately, on my thighs): I know that those cookies and pie and cakes and peanut M&M's and whatever else I ate will cause me endless hours at the gym, but I can't say no. Not around Christmas when everything smells so good. Besides, I think my body tries to store fat at this time of year. It's a nature thing. I'm like a bear, preparing for hibernation.

Now that I have my healthy cookbook, though, I don't have to worry about getting too fat. The Bow-Tie and his team have finally made a healthy cookbook - there's even a section on vegetarian recipes! - and I cannot wait to try it out. I was so excited to see it in the store that I called up Doug immediately and told him to tell Santa to put it under my tree. I'm glad Doug listened to me on that one. Thanks, Doug and Santa! Now I can be healthy.

And Doug can be healthy, too. He got a yoga mat, which means he has no reason not to take up yoga this coming year. The true test of his excitement level will come when I try to get him into the basement to do some Yoga Body Burn with me. This has not gone over well in the past, but maybe if he has his own special mat he'll be more amenable to downward dog.

Let's see. What else. I got some very cool onion goggles that should block out all the nasty fumes from burning my eyes (but if nothing else they will make me look like Bono while wearing them, so maybe I'll belt out some Irish rock ballads while cooking), and Doug got himself a couple of really nice books, the one below about Les Paul. Doug has been a Fender man, but reading about Les Paul has made him consider adding one of those to his musical tool box. This may mean another post with him holding a guitar in pieces - the results of another year-long quest for the perfect axe to hang on the wall next to all the others that rarely get played.

The family seemed happy with their Christmas, too. Doug's parents seemed to really like the cat scratching post that we got for their cat colony and I'm sure my sister can't wait to put her witty nurse calendar on the wall. She's a nurse now, you know. She just had her pinning ceremony a couple of weeks ago, and once she takes her big test she's all set to get out there and start nursing. Her three beautiful children are very excited about that (or could it be that they are excited about the chocolate cream pie they just ate?), and I for one cannot wait to start asking my sister for medical advice. Just wait until she has to start inspecting my scabs and moles. She'll wish she had stuck to librarianship!

Anyway, I think I've run out of steam. I'm tired, I'm cold, and I have to get ready for the pre-wedding party that we're going to for our friends Marieke and Curt. They're getting married tomorrow. Yay! I'm happy for them. Doug and I like being married. As long as you overlook the piles of dirty socks and underwear that seem to spontaneously generate and the half-filled glasses of juice left on every available surface (and I'm sure Doug would have a word or two of married wisdom, too), married life is great. I hope you read this, Marieke and Curt! Those are sound words of advice.