back to life...back to reality

The Koppelman house was a tough place to be this morning. The morning came earlier than it has for two weeks. It was colder than it's been for two weeks. My six-year-old actually cried about going back to school which he's NEVER done. No one could find socks, snacks, etc. despite our organizing last night. Even the dogs were a little freaked out and annoyed about waking up. I feel bad none of them even drink coffee. At any rate, we finally got them up and out and in pretty good spirits even after all that.

I am glad to be back to work this morning. I actually ended up writing quite a bit yesterday, but it's good to hit it hard today. This month is going to be a busy one, so I need to hit the ground running.

We had a wonderful holiday break with lots of travels, the 'please everyone' tour, but it was good. My DH took the whole week after Christmas off for the first time and that was really a treat for everyone. We had LOTS of precious family time with our nuclear family and lots of extended family. It reminded me of a favorite children's book THE RELATIVES CAME by Cynthia Rylant. Check it out if you haven't read it. You'll want it on the shelf at your house and Grandma's, too.

The Christmas hit of the year was DEFINITELY the darn Snuggies. Who would have thought? But I have to say, the kids love them and wear them all the time. It's hilarious. On all the road trips, they would wear them in the car, and it looked like we had a little army of yodas in the back seat.

The other big hit was the CD set of the entire season of FREAKS AND GEEKS. Chris has asked for it for years, but #1, it took forever to be released, and #2, it was sold out a LOT before I finally got it for him. Anyway, ALL the kids loved it, especially the older kids, and it's been a really fun family thing. It offers a springboard to a LOT of interesting topics of relevance in a teen's life. If you've never seen Freaks and Geeks, you MUST check it out. It's a must-see for anyone who went to high school.

The other reason I'm glad to be back on schedule is because we all need to get back to eating like normal. I kept putting out plates of raw veggies this week-end to wean my kids back into real eating.

Here's what I had too much of over the holidays:
1. fudge (and all things chocolatey)
2. peppermint patties (they were in the stockings and therefore all over the house)
3. Bud light lime
4. little ham biscuits/regular and sweet potato--mmmm
5. Jo Jos (peppermint oreo-type cookies from Trader Joe's)
6. sweet beverages like iced tea, cider, eggnog, mimosas, orange juice and cranberry juice, gingerbread coffee, peppermint mocha from Starbucks
7. chips and salsa/mexican dip

So LOTS of things need to come to a screeching halt today. Turns out a diet of coffee, fudge, pizza, little ham biscuits and Jo Jos doesn't give you much energy. Go figure.

Have a great day back to reality, folks. It's good to be working again. xox