the thrill of hope

the thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices

for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn

this christmas, I feel like I have grasped a new meaning of christmas -

hope in a time of the greatest darkness.

hope for the weary.

as one who has truly joined the ranks of the weary this year, I am feeling more and more touched by the spirit and wonder of christmas.  chris and I are back from hawaii with his family and up in the northeast with my family to celebrate and rejoice for the next week. just this morning, my dad and I picked up antepaste for the coming feasts and the line at our favorite italian market in town was literally out the door.  no worries though, as the ten guys and ladies behind the counter were pros, the guy took my order (of about 10 different things) and got it all just right. ofcourse, while we were waiting, I also got to hear about what was in the stuffed peppers and sample christmas cookies and sopressa that the woman next to me offered straight out of her basket, saying I just must try them.  I love the holidays.  family, joy, hope.  so much hope.

speaking of which, enjoy this beautiful flash mob by berklee students at the MFA in boston:

On Holiday

I made it! I am halfway through intern year as an ob-gyn and I finally have my first vacation!  

My plan was to try to take two weeks in a row over the holidays because this way we could spend time with Chris' family and my family- but it meant a lot of waiting for all my days off at once.  Now that I'm here - in Hawaii (!!) and on vacation with no near end in sight, I'm so glad we did it this way.

This is my early morning view from the hotel balcony.  Pretty sweet, huh?  I've been getting up earlier than everyone by several hours because not only am (was) I on east coast time, I was on residency east coast time, meaning up at 4:45, asleep by 10:30.  It has actually been great though, as it has given me a few hours to myself before the rest of the day starts to reflect and get a bit of studying in.  

But the days have been just perfect for vacation for me.  Wake up with hours to reflect or work our by myself. Breakfast and then heading out - to a beach, for a hike, something active! Then by he time the rest of the world is up and crowding us, we are ready to head back for lunch and calmer afternoon activities like swimming in the pool, playing board games, and reading on our own.  It's a bonus that my niece (5 yo) and nephew (2yo) are here, as they provide oodles of entertainment!  We have definitely had all sorts of vacations in the past but right now this balance of play and rest, balance of together and solo really works.

How is your ideal vacation time spent?

Since not only us but also my future brother and sister and law are planning a wedding, we have been talking a lot about how to organize future family vacations.  My other brother and sister and law (the ones with the kids) said they have just decided to alternate thanksgiving and Christms between their two families each year, and now have coordinated with his whole family so they all do the same thing.  We decided we should just all coordinate with them.  That way, we can all plan with our other families well in advance.

How do you organize the holidays with your families?  

As mine gets bigger and more wonderful. We are still finding new ways to navigate it so that we get to revel in everyone's company.

That's all for now, got to get back to he vacationing! 

Happy and Merry holidays!

e