The best break EVER

The last time I had 4 weeks off was, I believe, in 2001 after I had returned from my 9-month internship in Maine. Actually, it ended up being more like 4 months off as I searched for a job. Which isn't really as much fun as a "break" because the stress of trying to find a job makes total relaxation impossible. Not so this break, which has proved to be 4 weeks just for catching up on all of the stuff I've been wanting to do for years but haven't had time. And holiday and special event type stuff. Some of it relaxing, some of it productive. All of it pretty darn great. Things such as:

- Welcoming a new niece into the world as well as a best friend's new daughter (and frequent subsequent visits :)
- Christmas shopping and wrapping and letter-writing and cleaning and decorating and, more recently, de-decorating
- Hosting a Christmas Dinner for 16 and a New Year's Party for friends
- Many date nights with Sam
- A girl's pampering day at Aveda with my mom and sis (FYI - the Caribbean Body Wrap experience is much like going through a carwash...and I was the car...)
- Re-decorating 2 rooms in our house (including new IKEA furniture, paint, and even photos!)
- Cleaning out and organizing the basement and the attic (I can actually find stuff again...)
- Purging every room in our house (many full garbage bins and multiple trips to Goodwill)
- Doing a scrapbooking project
- A multitude of lunches, dinners, coffees, and drinks with friends and families
- Reading for FUN
- Oh so many video rentals
- Helping out with End of Year/Beginning of Year stuff with Mu
- Getting my mom's B&B set up with Quickbooks software and helping cook for a retreat they're hosting this weekend
- Getting some work plans lined up for the summer
- A trip to the Brave New Workshop for the Christmas show
- Getting a dishwasher - yahoo! (thanks for all the help on that Wally!)
- Baking Christmas cookies and cooking many meals
- Taking my car in for its 90,000 mile check-up
- Taking my teeth in to the dentist for the first time in more years than I care to mention here
- Organizing last semester's stuff and getting all of my books and supplies for spring semester

As I'm sure that my summer breaks will be filled with work and studying for subfield exams in the fall, and my future winter breaks may very well be occupied with research projects, I wanted to make sure to live this one to the fullest. It's been fabulous! And, hopefully I'm ready to greet the new semester, now feeling more organized and on top of projects than I have in quite some time. For all those I saw over break, thank you for the wonderful times, and for those I didn't I hope to see you soon. Er, or at least this summer when I can re-surface again. Cheers!