apparently, vacation hasn't been very conducive for blogging. i've either had too much observing the holidays or relaxing to actually write, although i've thought about it a lot. some bullet points: ...our early christmas in indiana with my parents was relaxing and peaceful - a good way to ease into the holidays. daniel played with my parents' sheep, mom made my favorite baked goods - raisin-filled cookies and moon pies (the apple kind, not marshmallow), we had some good time with old friends at a lovely wedding. ...christmas eve was spent with the fox family and christmas day with the otterbein family. i have to say that i married into a great set of in-laws - good conversation, good food, generous gifts and the ability to just relax. that's hard to beat. ...wednesday night we had dinner with patti, scott, fisher, tate and lara. they're fabulous hosts! ...thursday night nikki and zach came over for dinner. they're fantastic guests! they also didn't complain about being coerced into learning how to play dutch blitz. ...friday i girl time with sharon, and friday night brought some good karaoke with good people. today i got to know carol better at the new mennonite coffee shop in plain city - great coversation that was well worth the drive... ...so, thanks for bearing with all of the name-dropping, dearies! in short, it's been so nice to have time to breathe, and to get to know some truly lovely people better this week. i don't go back to work until tuesday, which is fine - i'm not eager for it, but i'm not dreading it, either, so i'm thinking that's a good sign... finally, dare you think i spend all of my time socializing, it's time for book recommendations again. leave those comments! also, is anyone else thinking they may have a hard time choosing between obama and edwards for the secular leader of the free world? happy new year's eve eve...