Christmas passed

So Christmas 2008 is now over. It seemed like a whirlwind two days. Rad and I drove to South Jersey to go to my brother's Christmas Eve party, slept on the sofa bed at my parents' house, visited there for a while Christmas morning, and then went to my other brother's house for brunch. We got back to Queens early yesterday afternoon. (Our cats were alone and needed our attention).

My mom seemed very happy with the necklace I bought her. I got Godiva chocolate-covered popcorn for my dad, plus restaurant gift certificates for both of them. I didn't spend a lot of money this year, but I did bake cookies for all my brothers and sisters. The cookie packages seemed so small after all the work I put in. But that's okay. You do what you can.

Rad bought me a new jewelry box and a beautiful pair of onyx and gold earrings. I bought him the new Ron Suskind book The Way of the World, and a new shirt. We had set limits for each other and we stuck to them; we have to watch our money.

Being with my family was nice. I got to play a few games of ping-pong in my brother's basement, something I hadn't done in a long time. The kids and some of the adults were playing "Guitar Hero," which involves pretending to play along to a music video using guitar, bass, or drums, with one person singing. It was all very loud and sounded pretty bad, but everyone was having fun. I joined in at one point and tried it, singing, "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult. Not a pretty sight. Ping-pong was more fun. That's actually a pretty good workout -- especially if you're chasing the ball around the floor, as was frequently the case.

I ate things I wasn't supposed to eat. The diet didn't hold up very well. Upon our return to Queens, I walked for almost an hour and then did some weight training. Today, I ate in moderation (healthy stuff, no junk) and walked and worked out again.

Now I'm going to relax and take a bath, one of my favorite things to do.