update: what I did on my winter vacation...so far...

Not much.  I went to New York to visit my family and friends.  I had a great time relaxing, eating, drinking, catching some type of sore throat ick and getting over said ick.  I only get to see my family once -- or twice, if I'm lucky -- a year, so I really like going back for Christmas.  This year the cheapest airfare was if we stayed through New Year's, so we ended up there for two weeks.  I actually didn't think (too much) about work related issues -- unless I received the "why did I get this grade?" email from a student or two.  I only started to feel anxious about everything I still have yet to do until the last day or two there.  In some ways it didn't seem like I was there for two weeks, but in other ways, yeah.  It did.

The first day I was there I checked my email and I received a response about the proposal I sent in November.  It was the nicest rejection letter I've ever received, but a rejection, nonetheless.  Bummer.

I caught some throat ick when I was there, and the only thing that helped me get over it in about three days was Bragg's Apple Cider vinegar.  Ever use it?  My mom turned me on to it years ago.  Whenever I have a sore throat I always gargle with it (cut with some water) and it's amazing how instantaneous the relief is.  This time around I noticed that the relief lasted longer when I made what I call a vinegar cocktail.  It smells worse than it tastes.  I know that's not a very inviting statement, but it is what it is:

• 8oz or so of warm water
• 2 tsp Bragg's Apple Cider vinegar
• 2 tsp of local honey
• Mix well and chug

 No other apple cider vinegar will do -- this stuff has "the mother" in it -- it occurs naturally as strand-like enzymes of connected protein molecules -- and this is the stuff that kills all the ick in the sore throat.  It's also supposed to be good for cleanses.  If you're into that kind of thing.  I'm glad that I drank this a few times a day -- a friend of mine had similar sore throat symptoms and she developed pneumonia and my sore throat went away in a few days.  Whew!  I whip up a vinegar cocktail when I think of it -- I try to do it every day, but that doesn't always work out.  =)


Like what happens to most people when they visit family, I ate a lot.  A lot.  I also ate a lot of red meat.  I ate more red meat in two weeks than I usually do in a year.  Oof.  My parents recently bought a 1/4 of a cow from a local farm.  We made Guinness Stout beef stew, goulash with ground beef, and one night we had big, fat, thick sirloins.  Then there were leftovers.  You get the idea.  I won't be eating red meat any time soon.  Oooooh, my tummy.....



I spent time with mom, dad, sister, nieces, nephew, grand niece (!!), aunts, uncles, cousins and old friends.  Of course I never get to see everyone that I want to -- it doesn't matter how long I'm back -- there never seems to be enough time.  Oh well.

Bill the cat was NOT happy that we were gone for two weeks, even though we had a friend come over daily to check on him and give him smooches and scratches.  We've been back for four days and he still will not stop meowing, YEOWLING, yelling, and complaining.  He follows us everywhere and insists on crawling all over us whenever he can -- day and night.  I had to lock him out of the bedroom the other night and he's getting tired of being pushed off the bed, but I need to get some sleep!  He gets so excited to be with us that he drools stinky cat drool all over himself and us.  I appreciate the love, dear kitty, but c'mooon.......


I'm also revising and prepping for the semester as well -- but I will not bore you with those details.  I may be teaching an online class this semester.  If that's the case, I'm sure I'll be including updates on that experience since I haven't done that before.  Happy New Year everyone -- I hope it's a good one.

Update:  My friend Fran reminded me that I participated in a marathon game of dreidel -- and I won!  John and I helped our friends Barry and Fran celebrate Hanukkah!