Technically I have been on vacation since the 22nd, but I feel as though I've been working more than ever! Thankfully, these holidays have so far been the busiest in the history of our business and so Angelines has been working over time which means I am usually on my own with Emily for most of the day and it also means my mother-in-law and I have been spending much more time cleaning at the bar than usual. Don't get me wrong, I am by no means complaining; but the truth is that I have had precious little time to sit and blog.
Christmas was a blur, honestly. I anticipate conflict in our future as Emily gets more aware of the holiday and would prefer to spend Christmas morning opening presents and playing with toys as opposed to cleaning at the bar... We had a nice dinner at our house with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law's family Christmas eve. Emily was too tired almost even to wait for her mom to arrive from the bar (Angelines always opens in the afternoon, then closes for dinner and opens again in the wee hours). She ended up going to sleep around 10ish and was getting quite cranky toward the end. We'll see how she fairs tonight.
We pushed her nap back as far as we could in hopes that she'll be more awake and fun at dinner this evening, which will of course go until 12am when we eat our 12 grapes to usher in the New Year. We'll eat with all of my in-laws over at my sister-in-law's house; she has borrowed a baby camera so if I need to put Emily down upstairs we can keep an eye on her as we continue our merry-making.
...Anyway, Christmas, as I was saying was a blur of great food (too much, as always) and lots of sweeping and mopping at the bar. Emily was pretty cute when she saw her presents under the tree from Santa Claus, however. She actually did notice that they were new. :) She got three new books and a toy xilophone--which has since had to be returned because it was so out of tune I thought I'd ruin her chances at a musical career from the get-go. We've ordered a new one. But you can see she enjoyed it while she had it. ;) Santa brought Angelines a footstool and me a much needed new pair of jammies. It was a merry Christmas, indeed.And now the new year is upon us. 2016...doesn't that sound futuristic? I feel as though I say that now with each new year, but it does just sound a bit daunting to my ears. To give twenty fifteen a proper send off, my parents flew into Málaga yesterday. We are so happy to have them--especially Emily.
I was very interested to see how she would react to them since she does "know" them from Skype and of course we spent nearly a month together this past summer on our visit to the U.S., but I wasn't sure how she would take seeing these two dimentional, pixelated images come to life. It turns out that Skype is a pretty good second to real face-to-face time, because Emily was immediately talking and interacting with my mom and dad--something she does not do with just anyone, certainly not at first. They were of course tickeled and I was very pleased, too. Grandma is a new favorite because she will sit for hours and patiently "putter" (in her words) with Emily on her play mat.
So tonight we'll be all together, though I am missing my sisters who were here this time last year, to say good bye to the old year and welcome in the new.
I feel as though I should be posting something a bit more philosophical: a reflection on the year...but as is I am hurriedly typing while my baby and her grandfather nap and grandma studies Spanish verb conjugations, that will have to wait. Em has been down for nearly two hours now and is probably ripe for wakening at any moment so my time is limited.
Perhaps some quick highlights from the year...
- Our visit to the States, although rushed and a bit stressful in the moment, was really wonderful in hindsight. It was especially fantastic to be able to see so much of my family and so many of my good friends. For those of you I missed, I hope that 2016 will bring many visitors to this side of the Atlantic. ;)
- Just about every moment spent with my little Emily is a highlight for me, which means that this year on a whole has been pretty wonderful. Getting more comfortable with my new role as a mom has been nice, although I look ahead and am overwhelmed by the challenge of being a model for this intrepid little human.
- Finding a job has also been a wonderful change this year. Saying good bye to my students in La Roda was a tough decision to make, but in the end it has been the right one. My 20 hours a week fit perfectly into our joint schedule; I have time to spend with my girls and enjoy them, and can still contribute (though minimally) to the household income.
- Graduation! I can't even remember if I posted about finishing my degree. I suppose I did, but I was so thrilled when I gave my final presentation and defense of my thesis--9.1/10 was my final grade. I was so relieved to be done, and also totally over the moon about how enthusiastic the panel was about my topic. That hour in Madrid this past July, really was one of the best moments of the year.
In short, it's been very good year and I expect 2016 to follow suit. I hope that as all of you sit and reflect on the moments spent these past 365 days, that you too find the overall balance to be positive; and I wish all of you many more moments of love, fun, pride and wonder in this coming year.
Happy New Year to you all!
