The Last Week and the First Week

The week after Christmas is one of my favorite weeks of the year.  There is no gift shopping to do, no gifts to wrap, no pressure or anxious anticipation.  It is the week that I get to actually enjoy Christmas!  The house is decorated and full of life. The kids are still out of school.  Many people have few work related responsibilities which means they are either home or home early.  There is still a holiday to look forward to in New Year's Eve.   Oh, and there are some really great sales at all the stores for when you return that hideous gift and get whatever you really wanted...for less! 

This year the week between Christmas and New Year's has been one of the best.  First, a little review of some of our holiday activities.  We have adopted a Christmas Eve Eve tradition that involves eating out and going on a pub crawl (and responsibly taking a cab home).  Be sure to mark this on you calendar for next year because it is one of the most fun nights of the season.  In the past we have had the CEE pub crawl in Toronto, Madison and Houston.  We could be visiting a city near you next year!  We had a full crew that night but Michael had to go to Mexico for work on Christmas Eve, leaving TJ to fend for himself with all the women. 

His future is so bright he's gotta wear shades?  Cheers and Merry Christmas Eve!





Christmas was beautiful and quiet, unless you are talking about the weather.  It rained for 2 solid days.  We all spent most of the day in our pajamas!  Luxurious!  Kelly managed to work pajama pants into three outfits.....it was just that kind of day, very comfortable.



Evening wear pajama pants



Sleep/morning wear pajama pants

Day wear pajama pants

The day was great and we all got a lot of reading done, I know we are an exciting bunch. 

The week between was a lot of fun for some and a little work for others.  Michael worked in Mexico, till mid week.  Kelly had to go back to St. Louis for about 24 hours and watch all of her worldly possesions get packed and loaded into a truck for their trip to NYC.  She came back to Houston for the remainder of the week to gather strength for her big move.  We decided to go to Baton Rouge for a few days and visit the rest of the family.  Maybe TJ just needed a little male companionship. 

New Year's Eve ended up being a lot of fun.  It was like Christmas Eve without the presents.  We played games, we laughed more than humanly possible, we sang....badly, we went to a party at a friend's house and managed to get home before midnight and brought in the new year together....at home.

 New Year's Day was spent much like Christmas Day, eating, drinking, playing games and being together.... in clothes this time instead of pajamas and the sun was shining.  


Happy New Year!