December Update

I was back at work this week after a short but sweet visit home to Illinois, where Eric and I spent a few days visiting my family. It was good to spend some time at home, but now it's back to the daily grind. My work schedule doesn't really change over the holidays. While most museum staff get the holidays off, the Education department must provide staff to run the public programming during what often turns out to be our busiest two weeks of the year. These holidays in the trenches, so to speak, are probably the hardest part of the job to accept and get used to. Just like everyone else I want to have some time off to enjoy the end-of-the-year festivities, but duty calls. Still, on the positive side, it does feel good to be a part of other people's time with their families and friends and maybe help make their visit to the museum memorable. These days, for people working in the humanities, it also feels good just to have a job. There are a lot of people who aren't so lucky, and I do my best to remind myself of that fact when I'm at work wishing I was someplace else.

Hopefully these last few days of the year will be relatively uneventful and quiet. Well, maybe not so much quiet. A couple of Eric's buddies surprised him with a home theater system for Christmas. Now my living room is home to two speaker tower monstrosities and something called a subwoofer. I enjoy surround sound as much as anyone, but I'm not a fan of having to accommodate the requisite equipment in my home. Also, now when Eric plays "Modern Warfare 2" on his Xbox, it sounds as if a tactical assault is going down in our apartment. Sigh. Ever the long-suffering wife, I endure, knowing there will come a day when Eric's boyish enjoyment of this fancy noise-maker on steroids will be seriously checked.

I've been following the news reports of the hefty snowstorm hitting the eastern U.S. this weekend. It always seems a bit odd during the winter months to hear people talking about snow and ice while L.A. enjoys 70 degree temperatures, warm breezes, and sunshine. I've always said one of the few perks of L.A. is the weather this time of year. For all of you who will be freezing your patootie's off this winter in less temperate regions, I'll be thinking of you as I'm cruising up the street with the window down under the sunshine and palm trees!

My family: Eric (my husband), me, Dad, Mom, Erin, and Ethan (Erin's boyfriend)

Sisters

Cousins: Erin, me, Lacy, and Heather

Christmas Tree 2009

This is our 2009 Christmas tree. As you can see, the sucker barely fits, and that only after I went to Home Depot, bought a hand saw, and made like a lumberjack in my own kitchen to take a foot or so off. It is undoubtedly a beautiful tree, but I don't believe I've ever worked so hard for a Christmas tree!

Due to the extraordinary height of the tree, we couldn't use our angel tree topper this year. Instead we had to settle for our small star tree topper, which was obviously designed for a much smaller tree. But hey, it still looks pretty, right?