You guys! I’m officially on vacation. This is my second day off of the month, and I slept in (even though I think I woke up because of a knock at my door, but I didn’t answer.) I haven’t slept in in a long time—I actually slept till about 10 am which is frankly, outrageous. I have some house things to do today, and one violin thing to take care of, but basically I have a day ahead of me and not a whole lot to do, and I’m very excited.

I had a very nice Christmas Day. I played a Mass in the morning (I normally don’t work on Christmas Day, but since Louie was traveling anyway I thought it might be worthwhile), and then after a nap, went to my friend’s Amy and Ana’s and had a delicious dinner and good times hanging out with them and other friends.

We opened a bunch of Christmas Crackers, so I tried on a few crowns. And I brought a nice plate of cookies.

It was a really nice day! I’d been sick (with a cold) for a few days leading up to Christmas, so I was happy to have a low-key celebration.

Working backwards, the night before was Christmas Eve, which is traditionally a day on which musicians can make as much money in 1 days as they normally make in 4-6 days. I played two very nice Christmas Eve gigs which were the same as last year. If I played them again next year I’d be very happy. I know it sounds a little greedy, but for performing musicians, you have to push hard through the holiday season because there is a lot less to do in January. Teaching for me helps even my income out, but there’s still nothing like the month of December for gigs, usually!

Another fun thing I got to do was hang out with my friend April! I saw her on Christmas Eve Eve and we went to Rooster for brunch with her and her boyfriend, and then made cookies all afternoon. I progressively felt worse as the day went on and had to skip a party that evening I had been invited to and instead went to bed early, but it was so wonderful to see her. I definitely miss having as many close female friends as I used to!

I made a fun Christmas Card Tree on a door. I sent out quite a lot of Christmas Cards, and hope to continue that tradition next year. I received a lot back and especially enjoyed seeing a few personal notes and Christmas Letters, along with some nice pictures and that sort of thing. In today’s digital age, there’s still something about an old-fashioned card, isn’t there?

So I’m off to do a few things around the house (laundry, trash), make up a few tunes on the violin, do a workout, and read a cozy mystery or two…hope you aren’t having to work too hard today (and if you are, don’t be jealous, this is only my third day off since early November).