Sunday Night Syndrome
I have been fortunate to have almost the entire last two weeks (except for one day) off from work. I took my birthday off right before Christmas, but my job gives all employees off from Christmas Eve through New Year's and because of how the days landed this year, it was extended through this weekend. So, today was my last day off. Anytime throughout my life when I would have vacations, time off of school, or even just a long weekend, I would come down with what my mom called "Sunday Night Syndrome" in that I would just start to feel punky about the fact that starting the following day, I would have to go back to normal life, be it school or work.
I got to thinking today though about what has filled my time the past two weeks. Clearly, Christmas celebrations with families take up a good amount of time, along with the final preparations for Christmas, such as wrapping all the gifts just right, but I would not have any of those events any other way. Then there was a case of food poisoning or something that really made me somewhat useless for a few days (yuck!). Jack and I were also able to do some furniture shopping. All of our shopping around paid off in the last few days in that we finally found some things we liked and made some purchases (hooray!). I am not so great yet at adding pictures to our blog, so I might have to leave those to Jack in regards to the items we bought and such. Let me just say though that we are quite pleased, and I would guess that Jack is somewhat relieved, that we won't have to keep shopping for dining room chairs. Our New Year's Eve celebration with friends was of course a lot of fun and we only wish we could have spent it with all of our friends. Jack and I also had a wonderful home-cooked meal on New Year's Day involving "super colossal" crab legs - yum! My parents have long had a tradition of having their own new year's eve celebration at home involving lobster tails and crab legs, so now that I have a husband and a home, I felt compelled to institute a similar tradition for us.
There are always things I don't get to on breaks like this. I start it with the best of intentions and a list a mile long, but the time available and my expectations never match. There were boxes I didn't get unpacked like I thought, though I did get to some, so I have to be at least glad for the progress. There were things that we did get to do that weren't in my original plan for these weeks that I am glad we were able to fit in. Tonight happened to be one of those items in that we got to take Jack's parents out to dinner to Cooper's Hawk in Burr Ridge. It was a nice leisurely meal with wine, good food, and even better company. There was never a quiet moment and I even learned some things throughout the night. I am sure I will have a lot of nights in the future with them where I will learn something though. I will say that, in and of itself, it was a great night, but it was even better for me because tonight's dinner provided just the right amount of distraction to my "Sunday Night Syndrome". I wasn't left to stew at home on the thought that my vacation was ending, but rather, I was able to end my vacation on a high note.
Now that I have spilled my guts, what did everyone else do on their Christmas/New Year's time off? (Leave your answers in the comments section please)