Home for the Holidays

One of the best parts of the Christmas holidays is having Joel home from work. He doesn't go back for another full week. We had one Christmas yesterday, another one tomorrow and one more two days after that, leaving some golden days in between with no plans. Our families live between one and fifteen minutes away so we don't have much travelling to do.

I've already enjoyed a few sleep-ins which is one of my absolute favourite things to do. Luckily, it's also one of my husband's least favourite things to do so it works out well. My little white noise machine has been key in giving me an extra hour or two while the boys play downstairs. We also want to do a few things around the house, things we've had on our mental to-do lists for awhile...organize the front hall closet, switch out clothes that don't fit the boys for the next size, purge more stuff from the basement. Perhaps we're getting a little boring in what excites us as we approach middle age but these kind of things feel good once accomplished and are somewhat of a necessity in having a home. Plus having an extra adult around to hang out with the boys while the other works is a bonus.

I also plan to tackle some big-batch cooking and restock the freezer with meals to make my life a little easier. I'm still not a huge fan of cooking during the crazy dinner hour but if I can make something while I don't have two toddlers tugging on me to be picked up, and have extra for bonus meals later, I actually find it quite enjoyable. On today's list: carrot muffins for the boys (I'll post the recipe later) and minestrone soup for the freezer.

One of my decisions for the holidays is to stay of Facebook until Joel is back at work at least. I've confessed in the past that I waste too much time on there. I don't really need to see the piles of presents people got, the Boxing day deals acquired, who ate how many turkey dinners etc. I don't actually care, I just use it to avoid other things. Facebook has its benefits but I can certainly live without them for awhile. If I have free time I want to spend it with my family, reading, playing games, going outside, having a conversation with a real person, drinking a glass of wine or doing anything remotely useful. Since I haven't been successful in setting limits I'm just going to stay away. And for those who I communicate with via FB messages, I've just had them sent to my regular email account. Brilliant!

I'm really looking forward to the next week. If you have holidays, what are you up to?