Catching my breath...

It's been a busy month since we got back from NZ!

It was a bit of a culture shock coming home and going from long sunny days to cold short ones. Plus, surprise, it's almost Christmas! The day we got back home to VA we went right out and got a Christmas tree (then tied it to the top of our car and went grocery shopping). Add to that me working day/mid on Christmas day and Mark spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in NJ, and I didn't really feel much in the holiday spirit this year. I already told Mark that this coming year I want both of us home for Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day together. No traveling back and forth, no splitting the holiday, no having people down here...I just want a quiet Christmas together. We barely get to see each other as it is!

Bacon helped me wrap some Christmas presents while Mark was away. :)

Mark and I usually give each other one present on Christmas Eve (which this year, turned into about an hour and a half on Christmas itself before I had to go in for the mid). He gave me a tiny gun that shoots marshmallows. I'm not sure who had more fun with it...me or Bacon!

After an uneventful mid shift and a couple hours of sleep, it was time for [our] Christmas!

We had breakfast and opened our presents. I got Mark some books, games, and movies that he wanted (and a cool clock that we saw in NZ that was delivered a few days later), and he got me some wine, a nice pair of opera glasses, a few movies, and a whoooole bunch of legos (including a lego train - I've wanted one of those since I was a kid!!), among other things.

No sooner was our Christmas over than it was my turn to pack my bags and head to NJ. When I got there, my cousins Andee and Sandi were at my parents' house! I don't get to see them very often, so it was fun to get to hang out with them for a few hours. (Thanks, guys, for the Hanukkah presents!) Mom had us all get together for a Kaufman family picture. :)

I had a day shift on New Year's Eve and had to get up at 4:30am on New Year's Day, so rather than go out to celebrate we decided to invite Jeff over and hang out at home. I grabbed a quick nap as soon as I got home, then once Jeff arrived we had dinner, then grabbed some snacks and played some board games. I was in bed as soon as the ball dropped, but it was a fun night!

Our flight school has a brand new Skycatcher! I got checked out in it in early January, along with our G1000 C172. The Skycatcher is a lot of fun (and managed to outclimb the C172 I've been flying). I have my first student in it next week, so I'm looking forward to spending a bit more time with it.

Mark's parents came down the next weekend for a quick visit. I was working most of the time, but we did manage to sneak up to Brookside Gardens to check out their Christmas light display.

The weather guys got it wrong...what was only supposed to be some flurries turned into almost two inches of snow! So far that's the only snow we've seen this year...it's been fairly warm.