The Christmas holiday has come and feels like it’s gone, even though we celebrate here in our home for the full 12 days until January 6th. We had a house full of people – family from both sides and diplo-husband back from Jordan, not to mention a full crew of workers racing to complete as much of the renovation as possible before the festivities began. We’re not quite done but we’ll get there.
The house seems quiet now, too quiet as all have departed and we catch our breath in these final days of the year, so it’s just as well that we made our Key West plans. Packing for this trip has been a comedy of errors. As it turns out, all our suitcases are either wrapped somewhere in the garage or now the part of the attic with the blocked by the renovations, so I’ve cobbled together what I could. It seems fitting for this year – everything seems a little scrambled and cobbled, but in a way that’s meant to pave the way for better things ahead.
At the start of this year, I walked in to my office of 11 years, to find we had been acquired. By a competitor. Who, by the way, although different to us in style, has for the most part turned out to be nothing but gracious. I’ve learned a ton. I’ve also worked even more. The last time I was actually on a vacation that didn’t involve being on email the whole time (which is not my usual MO for vacation) was when we were aboard the Queen Mary last year to return from Denmark because there was no actual internet for most of the trip. I’m tired, but I’ve also never been so professionally challenged and motivated.
On a personal note, diplo-husband came back from an unaccompanied tour, only to leave mid-year for a voluntary separation. We both are getting tremendous professional opportunities, but I won’t lie, breaking up the band is a real drag, and I’m a little tired of it. It would be so nice to just be a little normal family for awhile.
We bought a house this year. In our neighborhood that we adore. So we moved. And then we started renovating…which turned out to be a bigger project than we thought, but it’s going to be so awesome when it’s done. I’m tired of that too, but again, I’ve learned a ton and the house will fit us perfectly when everything is completed.
This year has been full of challenges, but ones that also come with rewards. The icing on the cake has been to be able to host both sides of our families here together, all under one roof, our roof, this Christmas. And now the quiet of everything after and everything still to come is setting in.
So I’m looking forward to a bit of sunshine, perhaps a margarita or two, and taking some time to be with my children, without the thousands of distractions that somehow creep into our daily lives. I’m also looking forward to taking some time to just think about the clean slate ahead in 2018, and all the possibilities that it can be. I’ll see you on the flip side.
Happy new year!
Photo by Helena Hertz on Unsplash.
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