My fingers need a vacation after working overtime

I know that I have been quite whiny about reaching the goal of 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo, but I will whine no more. I have finished! I am done! 50,133 words was my count when I last validated and I am thrilled to be done! The novel is rough and needs major editing, but that will come in the future.

Completing this challenge has given me so much appreciation for my time. When I would once complain about not having time to watch TV or go to the gym, I can now see how much time I actually do have and I think I am going to be much more useful with those hours. In fact, completing this challenge helped me see that gigantic goals that seem unattainable can and will be accomplished if you set your mind to it.  I am planning a few more challenges for myself in the coming months. For now, I am going to catch up the the TV I have missed for the past 29 days.

Holiday Blog Challenge! Day 2

 

Traditions are some of my favorite things about the holidays.

My family has a few traditions that we have taken part in over the years.

Tradition 1: The Christmas tree is always put up directly after Thanksgiving. Never before and never more than a few days later. My Mom takes great pride in her tree and she refuses to use any colored lights. We use only white lights and my mom turns the tree on every night to watch the lights glow and flicker across the living room. I am sad that I won't be there this year to see the tree until Christmas eve, but I did get the skype tour of her tree last night. It is bright this year!

Tradition 2: My sister and I have always opened one gift on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure when this started, but it is always one of the best pieces of Christmas Eve. That and the mini quiches. I love those things.

Tradition 3: This third tradition is from when I was a kid and it is one that I will recreate when I eventually have kids. Once all of the kids fell asleep on Christmas Eve, my mom would take red lipstick and leave a mark on one of our cheeks to look like Rudolph had left us a kiss when he visited. We used to argue over who would get kissed by Rudolph each year and it was always a surprise when we woke up. I remember always being so excited when it was my turn and I never really thought about how logical it was for a reindeer to come inside the house and up the stairs to kiss my cheek. Kids are so naive :)

It is really fun to have traditions to look forward to when I go home this year. I am sure that the tree will be wonderful and my sister and I will probably open a gift on Christmas Eve. I also hope there will be quiche (that's a hint, Mom) Those things are like crack to me. The cheese and spinach...so tasty.

I hope you and your family enjoy a tradition or two over the holiday season :) 

Holiday Blog Challenge! Day 1

I am a big fan of reading about the traditions and experiences that families have for the holiday season. It seems that everyone does things a little different, but I think that is why I am attracted to hearing about them. For the next ten days, I will be linking up with the fabulous ladies who also started It's OK Thursdays. They have come up with 10 different topics that relate to the holidays and each day I will be writing about the topic and and sharing my holiday spirit. Some days, I might have two posts, a regular post and a holiday challenge post.

 

Day 1: Favorite gift received EVER

This is a really hard topic for me to write about. I really enjoy Christmas presents and my family does an extremely awesome job at getting me gifts I like. I think that I am going to break it up into topics. 

Favorite from childhood - One year, Santa, gave me and my sister hamsters. I remember walking down my stairs and seeing the glass aquarium under the Christmas tree and being so confused on Christmas morning. My sister and I had those hamsters for quite a few years and it is one of the gifts that I remember being shocked about because I had never asked Santa for it. He is such a smart guy!

Favorite from the past few years - For the past few years, I have received many practical gifts from my Mom, which is expected and much needed as I grow up. I think the gift that now stands out as the most useful has to be my e-reader. I got it a few years ago, but I only got into using it after I moved to New York. It has really been a space saver in my purse and it gives me something to occupy the time on the subways and buses. I love borrowing e-books from the library and I have really stepped up my novel reading in the past few months.

Favorite from my sister - I needed a whole separate topic for my sister because we always take the time to give each other meaningful gifts at Christmas. I used to think that my gift giving skills were superior to hers, but my sister has stepped up her game in the past few years and has gotten me some awesome gifts. I have a pair of brown boots that she bought me when I couldn't find anything that I liked, that also fit over my giant calves. I have worn those boots so much and I still love them. It is my favorite gift because it means a lot to me that she took the time to get me something that I really wanted and needed and wasn't able to find myself.  

There are so many other gifts that I love. I love the little things like headbands and lip gloss and socks. I love giving gifts and seeing someone smile. I love gifts in general.