Post Holiday Bliss

After all the time I spent dreading this holiday I’m sitting back and just marveling at how much I’m enjoying this time off. I can’t remember when, or if, Karlo and I had time off from work and just spent it tinkering around the house - not working, but just relaxing and kicking back. It has been amazing to say the least. And now that the whole big production is done and over with I’m actually thinking that maybe the hosting of the dinner wasn’t all that bad. Maybe I made it out to be more work and stress than it needed to be. Gee, do ya think that’s possible?

Aside from my oven giving me all sorts of stress and problems and the slightly chaotic changing of the plates and silverware mid-meal (perhaps this is just a crazy Hungarian tradition that the Italians think was pointless) it all went pretty smoothly and easily. Oh and there was also that little morning cooking incidence . . . I decided weeks before Christmas that we should have something Hungarian as part of our meal. After all, the dinner was being served at the Apro residence. I wanted Karlo to have something familiar that might remind him of Christmas at home. I thought this would be a nice gesture, but the cooking (of course) would have to fall on Karlo. Little did I know this would mean upsetting my apple cart.

The day before Christmas I was busy doing last minute cleaning and prepping. I burnt candles all day long to make sure the house had the perfect “Christmas” smell. I figured the smell of pine needles mixed with sauce would be the ultimate holiday experience. I even told Karlo that we could not have pancakes, eggs, or french toast for breakfast because I didn’t want the smell of ‘frying’ to ruin my perfect little atmosphere. So you can imagine my surprise when suddenly the entire house was filled with the horrible smell of frying ONIONS. Oh my dear Lord, what on earth was he doing in the kitchen? I ran downstairs to protest and tell him that this did NOT spell like Christmas!! Karlo’s reply was, “Sure it does. It smells like a Hungarian Christmas.” Well, who’s fault was this? My own. What the heck was I thinking? No worries, a half a can of Oust or Fabreeze and we were back in business.

So now it’s all over and done with and we’ve been spending quality time in and around the house. I’ve been having a ball with my new dance game. Love it! We took time to play in the blizzard. The dogs loved that. We even spent time researching and brainstorming our next vacations. The time went peacefully slowly. We slept in, relaxed, played, tried to start the generator when the power went out . . . It was just the most enjoyable few days at home. I don’t want this to end. And having snow to play in was just the icing on the cake! Thank you Mother Nature and thank you God for all the blessings in my life.