A sigh of relief
My bestfriendfromJapan, Tressa, posted some words of thanks on her blog recently because 2010 has brought her some great luck so far. Though her luck is more meaningful and grandiose than my own, she did get me thinking...I've been really lucky to celebrate the recently passed holidays with my ever-growing family. I did worry quite a bit about how to feed and entertain everyone while keeping a clean house and my sanity, but it all worked out.
I cooked my first Christmas dinner ever, and it was wonderful. What luck! I guess I shouldn't be saying that, since it's bragging, but it was better than I expected. I did a huge turkey breast roast, rather than a bird, because my oven is too small and too unpredictable. It was an orange, white wine and thyme turkey with my mom's fabulous (un-stuffed) stuffing and all the fixings. Mmmmmm... I don't know if I'll ever do a proper turkey after that!
Amidst the eating and sleeping in, we did a lot of game-playing, chit-chatting and sight-seeing - a lot of driving around! It was great to give and receive amazing and thoughtful presents, and better to mix Riccardo's family traditions with mine. It was great to come home after work to a warm house full of family, just like the days of old, and better to have my mom and sister ready and waiting with their delicious home cooking. It was great to introduce some of our family to some of our friends, and better to have the chance to share our lives here with people from afar. At the same time, it's great to breath a sigh of relief at an empty house after three weeks' straight of company!
So what now? Well, I've started tackling the laundry - not easy when our washer takes three hours and our dryer's broken! I've mastered the art of a drying rack, and can now squish nearly four loads on laundry on at once! The house desperately needs a cleaning. Obviously. And of course there's tons of work to catch up on - you know, couldn't keep up my usual 60 hours per with visitors to entertain!
Plus, Riccardo's back! In total, due to weather, he sat in airports waiting for canceled flights for over 23 hours, but he made it there and back safely. And his exhibit at the Delhi Motor Show was a success. But I guess that doesn't really count as good luck, because he did put in a lot of elbow grease to make it happen. And being delayed for cancelation after cancelation is not good luck either, but the 100 euros of KLM vouchers he received as compensation will certainly help toward our visit to Canada this Easter! Not to mention that this flight should have provided us with the last of the frequest flyer miles we need to pay for a return ticket.
Hmmm... what else is lucky? Well, I'm currently enjoying one big bit of luck: school is canceled! It was good timing last week when we had a snow day while my family were still here. A great excuse to spend more time with them, though it meant post-poning their trip to Liverpool. But presumably due to the uncharacteristically cold weather, our heating system at school has developed a gas leak this week, which means we can't open - you know, good old Heath & Safety requirements do benefit us sometimes! Anyway, we've enjoyed today 'working from home' and the school has just announced it cannot open tomorrow either. Fingers crossed for next week! Hahaha!
And many happy returns to you, too! xx
Hi Sweetie! I am glad that you are doing well and had a great time with family and friends this holiday season. I have realized that more often than not we dwell on bad things that happen when we should really be celebrating all the great things we have in our lives.Glad my little post made you think of all the positives! xo Miss you tons and am happy that you are so happy...
Love Tress