Okay, last holiday post

So, the holidays are almost over. I really really hate when this happens. January, in particular, sucks the big one when all the eating, drinking and being merry we’ve done for the last 6 weeks is no longer acceptable. The only thing we have to look forward to is cold and snow and… more snow and cold. And MLK Jr. Day.

All in all, it was a good Christmas. Our boys, who have not been able to sleep apart for the last year or so (even though they have their own rooms), received a bunk bed from Santa. Their response?

“Gee, thanks, Santa. And... where are the Legos?”

And, after I attempted to put the sheets on the top bunk, I was asking the same thing.

My Christmas traditions haven’t changed much since getting married and having children. Aside from missing Christmas Eve with my extended family, things have pretty much stayed the same. I still spend most of Christmas Day in my PJs at my mother’s. We still eat Eggs Benedict for brunch, we still joke about how the hollandaise curdled that one time, we still have assigned seats for present opening, and, even though my mother spends most of the day complaining, it’s still a little slice of heaven.

Since I am not the Great Giver of Gifts (my mother had previously held that title until she gave the boys bedding as a gift [my sister currently holds that title as she presented them with Nerf guns this year – and thank you, Meemee, for that one]), the boys like it at my parents’ just as much. The place where they get more than just underwear and socks. And educational toys. Their bounty is… bountiful plentiful at my parents’. So much so, I don’t know where we’re going to put it all once it is out from under our Christmas tree. And, even though I expressly instructed my family, “NO MORE LEGOS,” we are, again, knee-deep in little plastic jagged-edged pieces I can’t seem to not step on.

I wonder if the boys would notice if half their gifts disappeared by the new year?

Because I work in an office above a shopping center, I shop for myself. Often. So, I gave my husband a much needed break and asked for only one thing for Christmas: P90X2. I have been pretty lax about exercising for the last, oh, 3 or so months, knowing I’d be getting the P90X2 for Christmas. And I had plenty of rationalizations for skipping exercise:

• I’m getting P90X2 for Christmas. I start my new workout regime in the new year.
• I’ll just sit here on the couch and do butt clenches. That counts as exercise, right?
• It’s too cold (warm, rainy, snowy) to get to the gym. I’ll do 100 crunches before bed. (I didn’t.)
• My yoga instructor took the last 2 weeks off from classes. Surely, I can, too.

But, now that the holidays are almost over and I did get what I asked for, it’s time to start P90X2. I watched the “Watch This First” video yesterday and, I have to admit, I’m scared. I’d never seen so many warnings on an exercise program. I feel like I should get a full body check-up (including blood work and body scans) before putting the first DVD in the player. How’s my heart?  Have I updated my will?  Will it all be worth it if I never see my children graduate?

But, I’m going to do it. I enjoyed tolerated did the first P90X and now kind of miss Tony, so I’m looking forward to doing it willing to do it again.

I hope I survive.

Until then, we’ll be hosting New Year’s Eve at our house. A fun group where the kids outnumber the parents, we’ll all be in our PJs, eating, drinking and being merry one last time before I quite possibly end up in the hospital for liver strain.

Let the games begin!