in the new year

I've been off work so long my sleep schedule is completely out of whack.  Example: I just had a 2+ hour nap and have no interest in going to bed, even though it's past midnight.

And last night I was feeling restless about work not done, and so I tackled my planning at a similar hour, and ended up working through the night.  Oh, I slept on and off, but I never actually got in bed.  By rights I should be completely exhausted by now, but that nap...

My last post was in that breathless moment before everything: DS2's recital was lovely, the robotics tournament went better than expected, Christmas parties were lovely, Christmas presents both given and received with joy and gratitude.  Mostly this vacation has been a blur of cooking (duck confit cassoulet for Christmas Eve was a tremendous success) and eating and enjoying the company of my family.  DD's little black kitten is growng by leaps and bounds, and he's very entertaining to have around.  He definitely gets on the older cats' nerves, though! Here he is waiting for our old ginger tabby to wake up from his nap:

It has taken a while but the cats are finally all used to each other and the older cats will actually play from time to time.  Mostly they just tolerate the young one briefly and then walk away to sleep somewhere else, undisturbed.

It's nice to have everyone around, but odd, too, because usually when they're home they're out and about and doing their own things, but for various reasons, they've all been homebodies, mostly.

Me, too, except for a quick overnight with DH to Cottonwood, which was lovely except it SNOWED. A LOT.  It was really beautiful (I actually had proper gear to deal with it) but then it didn't stop, and our trip home was nerve-wracking until we got far enough south and it turned to rain.  The first hour or so looked like this (mind you, this is at about 2pm):

It really did look like we were driving off  the edge of the world. Once we got out of the fog, the scenery was rather spectacular.  Snow on cactii is something I rarely see.  Of course it was impossible to photograph well, because by that time we were up to our usual cruising speed of nearly 90 mph. (Still amazes me how fast everyone insists on driving through those mountain passes!)  Anyway, here are a couple of horrible but still evocative views:

Further south, below the snow line, very dramatic clouds:

I am happy to have caught the cloud moving over that outcropping. It was stunning but not easy to snap!

Last night's ambition carried over to today, and I finished my planning, nagged my (many) students about their science projects, and finished another chunk of grading.  I'm trying to get my school work done before the weekend so I can relax before heading back.  This is one of those good intentions that seems likely to fall by the wayside, but at least I'm trying.   DD has drawn me into playing Words with Friends again, and it's amazing how much time that can consume.  I've read a couple of books and seen a few movies... and would like to do more of each before I go back to work!  Where does that time go?