Holidays

Today is Monday, and I'm not at work! Hooray! Aside from the massive snowstorm that just hit Boston preventing most people from getting to work anyway, I have a few days of vacation for Christmas. Vacation time around now means seeing family, getting presents, eating lots of good food, and also making sure my World of Warcraft character is ready to raid when we start the new dungeons this week.

Our tree in the bright morning light of our apartment.

On Thursday night, we grabbed the Zipcar and drove up to New Hampshire to visit my family. On Christmas Eve (when my family traditionally celebrates the holiday) there was prime rib, Christmas movies and presents. Lots of presents. I'm pretty sure I could've opened a department store with the number of items sitting under the tree. I got to see my best friend Sam, who almost succeeded in ruining my Christmas until I found out she brought homemade Oreo truffles to my house with her. Sam's family is Jehovah's Witness, and she has always spent Christmas at our house since nothing is happening at hers. Good choice on her part, since my mother always provides her with food and presents along with the rest of us.

Some kitchen gifts, including a gorgeous cast iron tea kettle and casserole dish, and a rice cooker to make my life easier.

More gifts, including Windows 7, a Vera Bradley bag, and some new books.

My mother's big gifts to me - a red pea-coat (I've always wanted something so bold!), gray Uggs, and some black riding boots.

Ben and I got up early the next day and drove to Dexter, Maine to see his siblings. His oldest brother and sister just bought a beautiful vacation home up there this past summer and some of his family was gathered for the holiday. Unfortunately, the impending snowstorm forced us to leave on Sunday (a day early). It would have been really nice to spend some more time up there, since we only see his family once or twice a year, but I'm glad we left - even by the time we got to Boston in the early afternoon the weather was turning pretty hazardous. The wind was very strong, and the snow was already screwing with the visibility. It's still snowing a little bit now, and even the sides of buildings are covered in snow because of it being blown all over the place. Here are a couple of pictures from the sliding glass door onto our balcony.


Today, we watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (continuing our re-watching of the entire series), and I fully intend on not getting out of my pajamas until I'm forced to go back to work on Wednesday. In other news, we booked a ski trip to Jay Peak in Vermont for early March and will be staying in the beautiful Tram Haus Lodge and skiing lots of powdery, tree-filled slopes!

Tram Haus Lodge, Jay Peak, VT