Back to the salt mines, and a (rare) lazy weekend

There is such a thing as post-Hawaii depression, and I have definitely felt it. (See? I'm not the only one. Check out #1: http://www.hawaiilife.com/articles/2011/07/reasons-love-living-in-hawaii/) Lucky (?) for us, we didn't have time to wallow in self-pity at only having gotten to spend a few days in paradise this week. Our first morning home, jet-lagged and bleary-eyed, I dragged myself to the Pentagon for two days of crunching board files, and Seth was back at PT and the honey-do list he had let pile up. My time in the puzzle palace confirmed my desire to avoid actually working there at all costs, and I worked late every night for the rest of the week to make up for my "time off" there. Ahhh, Army logic. Seth fought jet lag, exacerbated by his already screwy sleep schedule, and the Walter Reed black hole, where everything takes ten times longer than it should. He did a ton around the house, purchased- but of course- dead deer ornaments for the tree, and is excited to start walking more and studying for the GRE. I'm excited he finally got the man cave out of the "Superfund site" category.

Because the holidays are officially upon us, we decided on a lazy at-home weekend before the traveling and chaos begins, and we enjoyed every second of it. Because I'm a Walters, our tree has been up since before Thanksgiving, but we got our cards ordered, some of our Christmas shopping done (without setting foot in a single store), and our Christmas lights up (not very ambitious, but they look nice and Seth turns them on every night before I get home from work, which helps relieve the traffic tension in a major way.) We also did an early Christmas with Michelle's family, and Seth gave Scott and Grace their new bows (and arrows and targets, since "moderation" is not among my adorable husband's strong suits) and he and Josh handled target practice in the yard while Michelle and I hid inside.

We never go to the movies, but Seth convinced me to see the new Vince Vaughn movie, and despite the movie's many shortcomings it was nice to have a normal weekend date, complete with popcorn and a diet Coke the size of a hot tub that was, inexplicably, a "small." We had drinks with friends and laughed about how we don't "come to town" very often, settled Maryland suburbanites that we have become. We slept in obscenely late, I cooked up a storm, and Seth watched more football games than I could keep track of. Sunday afternoon, after my (always a highlight) long run with Steph, it snowed for the first time this year. We had a blissful snowy day: Seth smoked venison roasts, and I lost a wet, freezing game of horseshoes in the yard. (I blame the weather, of course, but let's be honest. The odds were not in my favor.)

All in all, after a long and crazy week it was just nice to enjoy begin home together for a change.
Even if the Vikings lost.

Photo of the week:

On December 8th every year, this event takes place: http://www.compassionatefriends.org/News_Events/Special-Events/Worldwide_Candle_Lighting.aspx. Last year, we lit a candle for Savanna in the hospital with Seth's parents. This year, we realized about five minutes prior to the event start that we didn't have a single candle in the house (fail.) So Seth built a giant fire in the chiminea instead, and nearly caught the house on fire. I never got to meet his sister, but from the stories I've heard I think she would've liked her brother's (dangerous) (but impressive) "candle."