i have always loved Christmas break the best.

i have always worked, so it has never been a complete time of do nothing, but the absence of school makes a huge difference.

this term i turned in approximately 80 pages of written work.
completed approximately 1200 pages of assigned reading.
completed additional optional reading, research and intervention finding.
provided counseling to 4 precious families.
participated in 20 hours of supervision / evaluation.
worked approximately 200 hours at my job at the hospital.

but now it is Christmas.  now i am getting home a tad earlier.  going in to my internship a tad later.  picking up takeout.  sleeping (significantly) more.

it's not without its difficulty.  shoes and i are finding this year to be the hardest year yet to be separated and living in 2 different states.  we put up the Christmas "decorations" yesterday:


i realized i have been stringing Christmas lights around the perimeter of a room and hanging ornaments off of them (no room for a tree!) since i was 19 years old.  next year .... dreams of a house i share with shoes and a real tree and Christmas cards and Christmas cookies ...

this is also a very, very, very favorite part of my holiday season:


holiday giving trees!!  it is one of my great privileges to be able to buy toys for local kids, and as a social worker, i can absolutely, 100% assure you that your contributions do make a difference.  the need is so great.  greater than i could ever fully explain.

but, i prefer to think of it not as work or labor or a chore or an obligation.  i like to think of the kids i work with and how super happy they are when they get to play with new toys.  that happy kid innocence gets me far.

this holiday season i will continue my holiday shopping.  i will attend the brightest holiday parties.  i will bake my most favorite holiday goodies.  i will hold on to this time of happy and shiny and bright before the madness that is my last Winter term starts 1/9/12.  that's a little bit of a d-day ...

... but i have 4 glorious weeks until then ...

3 comments

  1. AandW Drive-Thru on December 6, 2011 at 11:39 AM

    Enjoy your Christmas break! I'm so excited for you for next year's Christmas celebrations... None-the-less, I'm sure this year's celebrations will be something special too, with many new memories to hold dear. Now I just wish we could share a nice long chat in person over a red cuppa joe...

     
  2. Lisa on December 6, 2011 at 9:47 PM

    Oh, W. Catching up over coffee sounds amazing ... maybe that's what I'll ask Santa for.

     
  3. Anonymous on December 7, 2011 at 11:20 AM

    You, my friend, are "happy and shiny and bright". I love you.

     


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