I hope ya’ll had a good holiday. To those of you also back to work this morning, I feel your pain.

Here are some of my thoughts from over the Christmas holiday:

Warm Holiday Weekend

Firstly, the past few days around Roanoke have been unseasonably warm, culminating with a Christmas Day which felt more like an early Spring day.The better part of yesterday was actually so warm I nearly broke a sweat wearing short sleeves.

I don’t particularly mind the more mild temperatures, but with the warmth also comes the bugs. They seem to come out of nowhere when we have a warmer day or two, and I had to dispose of a couple potato bugs (stink bugs) and a lady bug that had wondered into the house.

Paying Respects

A good buddy and myself spent a couple hours in the morning on Christmas Day visiting the gravesites of people we miss. We went to visit the site of his father and my grandfather, who are both buried in the Roanoke area.

I knew his father well, and he also knew my grandfather.

This is the first year we have done this, and hopefully it will be an annual trip of remembrance. I’m not a very spiritual person, but visiting the sites is the least I can do.

Opening Gifts and Gathering

I do admit, I’m terribly difficult to buy gifts for, so quite frequently I end up with gift cards and cash. I actually prefer this because I don’t like surprises. If someone must buy actual gifts for me, I tell them socks and t-shirts so they can’t go wrong.

This year we (meaning all local relatives on my mom’s side) gathered at mom’s house in Roanoke County. This is the house where I grew up. I visited dad and his wife at their home (near Bedford) on the 27th.

So, 2 gatherings, 2 dinners, 2 different events.

Even being over 10 years since the divorce, I still wish for being able to make a single trip and get it all done. But, that’s a topic for another day.

Relaxing on Sunday

In true post holiday fashion, I spent the final day before going back to work kicking back and relaxing.

Even with last week being a short week at the office, I felt as exhausted as if I’d worked 60+ hours. I call that needing a vacation from the vacation!