California Christmas 06

Well we have just returned from a fabulous trip to CA for the holidays. It was full of wonderful adventures with our family and we took a zillion pictures. My appetite did indeed return just as I stepped off the plane into the 75 degree sunshine, or was it when I caught the first whiff of ocean breeze??? Anyway, I was really naughty with my eating - I'm sure I consumed more white flour and high fructose corn syrup in the last week than in the entire past 6 months!! My digestion suffered for it too, but hey, it was the holidays. Now back to the old grind - it'll be easy to go back to eating well now that I really noticed the difference being lazy for a week. But actually we could have done worse - most meals were homemade, which wasn't too bad. It was the candy/chocolate/cake and ice cream that seemed to do the most damage. Though I have to say, I am totally glad I splurged on a piece of fresh Guava pie, made by Liz from guavas off of my parents' backyard tree. Raw guavas are gross, but in the pie, they were divine!! Gotta love all those fruit trees in the backyard! I can't believe people complain about it - I mean sure, maybe they're a little messy when the fruits fall on the ground and rot. But what we wouldn't give out here to have 6 different fruits growing out back!?

Anyway, we had a great time - once again generously hosted by my Aunt Vicky and Uncle Brian, and then adventures in Catalina with the whole crew. Even got to catch up with my old friend Anne for a bit, although sadly we were once again deprived of meeting the famous Dodger dog due to infamous LA traffic. We won't mention the upper respiratory virus we caught towards the end except to say that 1)having a cold while pregnant sucks, and 2)flying with a cold while pregnant really sucks. Fortunately, it seems short-lived.

So now the work of the new year commences. Dan and I both have so much to do work and home-wise, beginning with transitioning our dogs' bedroom into the nursery (they're going to love that!) We'll undoubtedly have lots of shopping to do, a mixed blessing: escape from cabin fever in the cold of winter, but also lots of obligatory money-spending. Maybe it'll be a lot of ebaying?? I know I need to get moving on my maternity wardrobe for sure! And we can't forget about actuarial exams and master's theses that need our attention too... Hope everyone had wonderful holidays and keep in touch!!

A few pics from our trip - click on thumbnail:

by hollydlr