Karen Shinkins: Holiday Catch-Up

“Sweetheart, I promise to try and not to get too white-trash. Living here is gonna make it hard, but I’ll do my best”.

Husband - Jan 1st, 2010

Not really the New Years Resolution I was expecting to hear out of Husband’s mouth and after the initial shock and horror of discovering that being nonwhite-trash is a constant, daily struggle for him, I was grateful for his honestly & trust and I promise, with all my heart, to be the perfect sponsor and work tirelessly to keep him on a path NOT bound for 8 Mile.

But lets deal with the obvious, my lack of blog presence this Festive Season. It really has been a jam packed Christmas with very little downtime. But I’m not complaining, not in the least. I got to catch up with my extended family in Boston, then my parents and younger brother flew over from Ireland for a week to hang with us at our new home. Time with family, no complaints there.

If I was one of those annoying voice-over disclaimer people you hear at the end of radio ads for new cars and bank loans, my Christmas would sound a little something like this (please imagine it read at high-speed, ala disclaimer dude)

Day before Christmas Eve, leave work, fly to Boston.
Christmas Eve start the morning off with a little cross-country skiing, cos least we forget, it snows in Boston at Christmas. Last minute shopping. Dinner with all my Boston in-laws. Meet newest nephew, 6 week old James and play lots of basketball with other nephew, almost 2 yr old, Paul.
Breakfast at brother and sister in-laws. Opening of gifts. Play a little more basketball with almost 2 yr old, Paul. Power walk before big Christmas Day feast. Relax the rest of the evening on the couch with mother-in-law watching marathon “Law and Order” episodes, perfect.
Day after Christmas Day, also known as St. Stephen’s Day in Ireland, fly back to Atlanta and wait the arrival of my parents flight from Ireland. But alas, delayed, delayed, delayed. Final arrival time, 1.30am, yes, the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Later, as in a much more reasonable Sunday morning hour, parents and brother meet Dexter, and re-met Fintan. Stroll around the house and surrounding areas. Power breakfast of eggs and bacon, then boat tip on the lake.
Monday & Tuesday Shinks had to work, but Wednesday I took my parents and brother to “Dialog in the Dark” exhibition. If this exhibition should come to a town near you, go, its amazing. The premise behind the exhibition is to experience life as a blind person. You are in total darkness with nothing but your cane, your 4 remaining senses and your guide, who by the way is an actual blind person, to help you navigate your way from room to room. It really is amazing and a big eye opener if you will, to the daily challenges of being blind. After that we drove to Chateau Elan for some lunch and a tour of the winery, complete with wine tasting, yummy.
Thursday, plenty of shopping and dinner to bring in the New Year.
Friday, parents and brother fly back to Ireland.

And there it is. The Christmas catch-up. Hopefully that explains my serious lack of blogging and my efforts to get back on track. It really was a great Christmas and I got to spend plenty of time with some of the most important people in my life. Now I’m looking forward to a New Year full of possibilities and challenges. My big wishes for myself heading into 2010 is to step outside my comfort zone more. To do things that scare and intimidate me. To take a few more risks. I believe I’m risk avert by nature so I’m working on dipping my toe in the water of risk a little bit more in 2010. I also want to be more positive. Believe it or not, most who know me will probably believe, but I am prone to a little skepticism and negativity. So this year I will be challenging myself to view things in a more positive way.

I wish myself luck and lets see how it goes.

Here are a bunch of snaps from my parents visit.