Around Here

First, the Christmas recap with no photos. Can you believe I took absolutely NO photos of Christmas. None. Sad. Christmas Eve we celebrated my grandmother's 80th birthday with a big lunch. I brought my camera along, took it out to snap some pictures and oops, no card. Seems I left the card in my card reader. Nice. The party was great, everyone had fun, the vases we made for centerpieces using old pictures of my grandmother were a big hit. I'd share a picture, but....actually, here's one of the collages we used on the vases:


Fun right? After the party, I headed home to make Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes with Mint Cream for Christmas Eve dessert. These were awfully tasty and even gluten free for my mom. We headed to my parents for Christmas Eve dinner complete with Christmas crackers, crowns and present opening. Oh and I brought the camera again, with the card, but this time with a dying battery and no camera bag with spares or a charger. Ugh. Not my finest move.

We spent Christmas morning being lazy. Shawn and I exchanged stockings, opened a few more presents and spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon hanging out. I made Moroccan Quinoa to take to my aunt and uncles for Christmas dinner with my giant family. It was a good time with lots of food, family and fun. I didn't even bother taking my camera, figuring some sort of camera faux pas would occur. Hopefully one of my camera toting uncles will share some pictures with me.

Sunday was officially pajama day. Traditionally, I try not to go anywhere or plan anything for the day after Christmas. I love spending the day in my pj's being lazy. This year, pajama day included internet surfing, scrapping (until I ran out of adhesive) knitting (and some unknitting...I seem to be doing this a lot lately), several episodes of Dexter (while eating chocolate drizzled popcorn) and staying up way too late reading Hunger Games. Perfect lazy day if you ask me.

The past couple days have been a mix of to do's and want to's. I have several assignments and two exams due by Jan 2nd, so there are things I must do. I'd much prefer fun things however. I've been doing my best to balance the two. So far this last week of 2010, I have:

• studied for and taken an exam (got 100% too)
• worked on a final project
  
• created a study guide for exam 2, which I will take on Thursday
• done all the laundry, including sheets and towels
• organized and purged 3 giant piles of random stuff I've been meaning to take care of
• purged the giant pile of magazines and catalogs
• made and consumed Ina Garten's Macaroni and Cheese
• downloaded and read 9 chapters of Catching Fire
• went to a doctor's appointment
• ate lunch at the Duck and Decanter with my sister
• hit Last Chance, where I found a pair of Paige jeans for $30 that though I didn't try on, fit me perfectly
• picked up some more adhesive

Not bad for mixing the to do's with the want to's. The rest of the week will be much of the same. More studying, homework and cleaning balanced with more crafting, reading (for fun) and lunch and dinner dates. Happy Winter Break!