All Good Things...

Vacation is officially over. It's back to work for this girl tomorrow, after 16 days away from the office. Womp womp.

I am very proud to say that I did not check or respond to any work e-mails during the break. Okay, I opened it once or twice to see how many there were, but I really didn't worry about doing work. Before leaving, I did my best to check off all my major to dos, and went into break stress-free and ready to relax and enjoy my time away. And what a vacation it's been. I could write you a really long higlights post, but I think a bulleted list will do.

• Five delicious holiday meals and wonderful time spent with family. 
• Movies and books galore.
• UNO Attack and a vacation puzzle.
• Gifts given and received. Very excited to use the City Tin from my sister.  
• Time spent in five different state: Wisconsin, Illinois, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York.
• Slippers that looked like dinosaur/monster feet. For a little one. Although I was totally jealous.
• A visit to the September 11th memorial. Moving.
• A visit to the PEZ factory. Fun.
• Snuggles with Finn. The only dog I kinda like.
• Snuggles with Fenway, Bucky and Stella's half-sister who is "away at college."
• A relaxing New Year's Eve with This is 40, Chinese Food and waking up to watch the ball drop then immediately going back to sleep. Party animal, I know.
• A third Rose Bowl loss for the Badgers. Always within a touchdown. 
• Seeing Barry Alvarez on the sidelines again. He was the inspiration for the GF Berry Alvarez pie that my mom made. Yum!
• Bonus vacation after everyone else went back to work! Meaning getting the laundry done, grocery shopping, making homemade meals, and baking.
• And most importantly, working on my dissertation proposal. I have mapped out a plan for progress for January, with the hope of getting quite a bit done.
• Finally seeing Les Miz! The most amazing musical movie ever.         
• And a final holiday celebration on January 5th. Who say's that Christmas can't go on for weeks?  loved getting to see more relatives, and my grandma stocked me up with 10 new pairs of socks!

This is it folks. Off to a full inbox and a whole new year of excitement. Lunch is packed. Outfit set out. Let's do this!

Can't wait until the students come back!