Staycation!

 So it wasn't until about 3 p.m. yesterday that it started sinking in (and I officially decided) that I was indeed taking the next week off work.  There really doesn't seem to be a "good" time of year for me to be out of the office for a full week, and it is a little hard to stick to one's vacation plans when you are spending the majority of the time at home.  But thanks to the encouragement of coworkers and the strong tug towards home, I'm officially on vacation until Monday, February 18th.  I was rather giddy on the way home last night and kicked off the vacation with not one but two episodes of Downton Abbey with members of our household here and then followed that by staying in bed until almost 8:30 a.m. this morning with Alida.  Luxurious!

"Clean" is on my to do list for today but thus far I've had way too much fun puttering around the house and just enjoying being home - I've got an organizing bug for one (which my family may tire of quickly).  I enjoyed a jog and a long walk with Alida, ending at the kale patch and came home with two big shopping bags full.  Yes, it is February and we are still savoring large amounts of fresh kale. 

I keep reminding myself that I don't have to do everything I want to do all in one day.  And I want to soak up time with Kali and Alida.  Alida is cracking us up these days with her insistence on dressing herself.  At this point it looks like she may not take after me in my distaste for tight skirts.  The silly gal likes to put both legs in the same hole of pants, the other pant leg serving as a tail.  It makes putting her in her high chair for meals rather challenging. Here you can see it for yourself:



Spring is approaching and with it the anticipation of a new growing season, flowers blooming and ducklings and chicks hatching.  Here's some of the sights around our place these days!

Thankfully we aren't in full swing yet with gardening and food processing and are enjoying fitting in some family hikes here and there.  The lake on our recent hike was beautiful with half it frozen, which was very enticing for Kali and her friend. I was thankful that we still had dry shoes on the way home!

Well, my time is up.  The girls just downed a box of macaroni and cheese and a can of green beans in the short time I was typing this so they are ready to move on to other things.  Kali is about to embark on making another potholder and Alida is "helping."