Pre-Christmas Week in Atlanta

I landed in Atlanta a hour earlier than scheduled and Sue was waiting to pick me up curbside at the airport!  On the drive to my house we got caught up on my trip and what had been going on in Atlanta while I was gone.  I was in desperate need of a pedicure so we decided to meet up in the morning at the nail salon and grab lunch after our pedicures.  I was able to stay awake until 11:00 before passing out for the night and was thrilled to stay asleep until 7:30 am.  I was only going to be in Atlanta for a week before heading up to NJ and MA for Christmas, so I had a lot to accomplish in a few short days:  finish Christmas shopping, prepare for and host Stacey's going away party, volunteer at Project Open Hand, have lunch and/or dinner with about 12 people and take Sue to the airport for her flight to PA.  Of course, I had to fit swimming at the Y in each day as well, so it was going to be a busy, busy week.  I have told many people over the past 4 months that I continue to be surprised by how quickly I can fill up a day with activity.  For the past 16 years I spent 10-14 hours a day working, using only the remaining hours in the day doing "other" things.  How is it possible  that I freed up 10-14 hours a day, but still have enough things to do to fill an entire day with activity?!?  Seems odd.

When I grabbed the mail that had amassed while I was in Europe, I had about 60 Christmas cards to look through and read.  For those of you who don't know, I LOVE getting mail.  It is literally one of my favorite things.  Christmas is the best mail-related time of year, followed closely by my birthday!  :)  I have been fortunate this year to see many of my friends over the past 4 months, so photos of their kids (and how much they've grown) weren't as much of a shock as they have been in years' past.  Regardless, it has been so much fun to get each card, look at the photos and read the notes.  It's wonderful to know that everyone is doing so well and prospering in 2012.  I have to give special recognition to my friends Jason and Frank who made personal cards for each person.  Well done, boys.  Well done.

Jason and Frank's card with personal photos of us together from 2012!

Cille, Sue and I got together with Stacey on Sunday afternoon/evening as an official send-off for her move to Savannah.  It was so nice to have a small group of friends get together to wish her, Jason and Jack well with their move.  While we all knew how excited they were to get closer to Stacey's family and raise Jack with his cousins, it was sad to know we won't get to see them as often as we are all accustomed to now-a-days.  Jack was loving being one of the only boys amongst many girls, showing off his muscles while changing into his pajamas.

Jack showing off his muscles before putting on his pajamas!

On Monday a group of friends and I volunteered at Project Open Hand for the day.  We were lucky enough to work in the kitchen instead of the production line which meant we got to marinate ~1,500 chicken breasts, season ~1,860 fish fillets with lemon pepper and prepare ~2,000 vegetables for cooking.  It was really great to know the work we did would immediately (next day) have a positive impact on people who have needs that require nutritionally sound meals be delivered to their homes.  I hope to volunteer there again in January and would love for anyone reading this to join me.  Just shoot me a note and we can go together.

I am smart enough to put a picture of someone else (Cille) in a hair net on the blog!

(Yes, you do have to wear a hair net when volunteering at Project Open Hand)

The rest of my week was spent catching up with friends I'd been missing while in Europe.  I was lucky enough to meet up with different people for every single lunch and dinner of the week.  I also swam at the Y every day and found the last few Christmas gifts I needed to purchase before flying to my parents on Friday.  I had breakfast with the Goodman's on Friday morning before heading to the airport, as they were flying to Norway at the same time I was flying to NJ.  We played for a bit, ate some bagels and hugged/kissed good-bye since we wouldn't be seeing each other for nearly 2 weeks!

Cream cheese faced, Nora!

Cream cheese faced, Annika!

It's hard to believe 2012 is coming to a close already.  I'll write one more post after Christmas with updates on all of Parker and Evie's loot from Santa.  My parents and I leave to go see them tomorrow in Boston and I simply can't wait.  Merry Christmas...