dual personalities

I went back to work yesterday, and I must say it was hard to do so after ten days off!

Over the holidays I started reading my father’s old copy of Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway.

It was not great, but it held my interest and is better than a lot of things that pass for literature these days. I also re-read some Wallace Stegner essays and started My Sixty Years on the Plains, which my DP gave me for Christmas. Written by a mountain man who was born in Scotland and raised and educated in St. Louis, he recorded his personal story of life on the plains in his eighties in 1905. It is well-written, full of detail and his viewpoint is quite sophisticated. I am enjoying it a lot.

Indeed, I received a lot of lovely presents this Christmas. My favorite, of course, was my pair of Luther socks (“Here I stand”) which the OM sent to Germany for.

I was quite touched to say the least.

The best present was having my wonderful children (and the wee babes) home and knowing that they love to be there.

We had lots of fun. After daughter #2 and her DH left on Wednesday, daughter #1 and I even got a few things done around the old manse. We found and brought up our old crib which had been dismantled back in the early ’90s, wrapped in plastic and stored in the basement. She and the OM managed to put it back together (without a manual) and then we scrubbed it ’til it looks like new.

We went to Buy, Buy, Baby and bought a new crib mattress. We are ready for small visitors. I should note that we also took all the dolls out of the doll case and washed/changed some doll clothes, rearranged the dolls and generally spruced everything up.

I have a new calendar, a new year, a lot to be thankful for, and much to look forward to. How about you?