Only 360 days til.....

Wow! All the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and in a blink of an eye its gone. Christmas has come and gone and I am sad to see it go, yet somewhat relieved. I attended a party at my cousin Karens, which was alot of fun. I got to see her brother Bruce, my son and his gf came and I drank a few Chocolate Martinis. Bruce and I slept over so we didnt have to drive home which was a blast!! A Christmas pajama party for the over 40 crowd.HAHA. Then it was work and get ready for Christmas. Although I was finished my shopping by early October, I still had many things to do. For me, this year at my new job, I was fortunate enough to have wednesdays and thursdays as my regular days off. That really only meant I had more time at home to shop, prep and cook for Christmas eve at my moms. All went smoothly and I actually got to leave the kitchen a few times. We decided last year to do a cocktail party of H'or dourves instead of a sit down dinner. Mom seems to think its actually more work, but I tend to disagree, plus I love the different appetizers going out at different times. Paul ( my son ) came out and spent the evening with his girlfriend and moms hubbys family and kids were all here. It was a nice nite had by all. The next morning I prepared a few things and headed off to Ama's house, after a Lessard Crepe breakfast. The Lessards were all there in full force at some point and Ama outdid herself this year. Traditions were kept and new ones were made. We decided to do a Secret Santa this year which was alot of fun. We all had fun giving our gifts and seeing who had us. We even picked our names for next Christmas, I am finished my shopping now LOL. Months of planning, days of decorating, baking and cooking, wrapping presents and decking the halls are over. On wednesday this week my day off I will be taking down the lights, undecorating the tree, repacking the boxes and putting away the Christmas dishes until next November. New Years now was another story. I had come down with a cold and wasnt feeling well by New Yrs eve. I did some running around in the morning, did all my laundry of work clothes, and was in bed by 630pm. Medicine and exhausted from work, I was sound asleep at 1210am when my son Paul called to wish me a Happy New Yr. He asked if I was sleeping and embarassed I said " No, I'm sick" 47 years old and I cant even stay up till midnite for 2009! How sad is that? My brother Marc came out for dinner on New Yrs day with my neice and my sister in law. I of course cooked up a storm and we played Banana-grams. I was happy to see them but glad to get to bed since I really wasnt feeling well. My holidays are officially over for this year and I will look foward to the next one. They mean alot to me, the memories of Christmas past and the anticipation of Christmas's to come. As Ama wrote in a book for me " Cherish the memories, Keep the traditions". I cant wait to make more to cherish!!