The holidays

Grandma Mimi is on the plane and making her way here. It's a miracle she got out considering the blizzard that is hitting a huge swath of the Midwest and East Coast. Normally she changes planes in either JFK or Atlanta (which would have really been an issue with today's bad weather) but this time she's changing in Paris - and Paris was a mess through Friday with over 50 percent of flights canceled. In any case, her flight out of Cincinnati took off on time and she is scheduled to make her connection in Paris in the morning. I just checked and she's flying over Maine as I type. Fingers crossed that her travels continue to go smoothly!

Below is a slideshow with some pictures of our holidays. It was a tiring holiday weekend with three long days dedicated to eating and long tables full of extended family. I don't know if I've mentioned it before but I like Italian food 362 days of the year, but I'm not a huge fan of Italian Christmas food. There are not many "Michelle-friendly" dishes, and even the desserts are kind of boring. Somehow I still end up eating too much (potato chips, olives, sundried tomatoes, pandoro and other snack crap), and go heavier on the vino since the food portion of the meal is not particularly to my liking. At least I have a slice of America headed my way just when I'm falling into my usual far-from-home, post-holiday funk (not to be confused with my far-from-home, pre-holiday funk). I'm excited for my mom to get here, relax, watch movies and play with Dylan. Then after New Year's we will go away for a few days but we have yet to decide where we are going. It will be an adventure!