A little R & R

President's Day Weekend.

Possibly my favorite holiday of the year.  Why?  Because January is filled with holiday anticipation letdown.  Oct-Jan 1 are filled with four over-the-top holidays.  Each with their unique decadent dishes and cocktails.  Some with gifts.  Others with an abundance of parties.

But President's Day?

It comes when you're not looking.  No fanfare. No desserts.  No decorations.  No black dresses. But a whole day.  Yes, a whole day off from work that is not used to shop or bake.  A whole day off to DO. NOTHING.  Amen.

How'd we spend our President's Day weekend?

We had tons of plans going into the weekend.  We were supposed to meet friends for celebratory drinks on Friday night.  I had a bit of a head cold so I stayed home to catch up on my shows, but Eric still went out.  We were also invited to do a few different things Monday night, but we canceled all of them so we could have dinner together at home and to go see Alex's new house.

(this is not my photo. i found it on google image)

What did we do in between?  Well, Saturday we slept in.  Until 10.  We slept 11 hours each.  AMAZING! Had a lingering breakfast. Played Words with Friends (which is now on Android!!!!).  We took the top off the Jeep.  Got Mr. Taco take-out and went exploring at Morgan Falls Dam.  There is a new park there, so we picnicked in the grass over looking the river and then went for a hike in the woods.  Somewhere during the hike Mr. Taco took a turn for the worse.  I spent the rest of the day, um, "unavoidably detained"  The night concluded with the documentary Tapped on Netflix and cookies and pizza rolls for dinner.  Eh.

Sunday was slammed with Mass in Sandy Springs, Five Guys, Trader Joes and REI.  Talk about an awesome Sunday morning!  We went straight to Saint Brigid to help everyone set up for the Life Night.  I did not have EDGE due to the long weekend (the middle school kids seem to have a different schedule because they're at the mercy of their parents, so I canceled). It was fun to hang out with everyone and not have the pressures of running my own night.  Eric asked for the rest of the night off from volunteering for the youth group and we headed over to my parents house for a Canasta Tournament.

(My family has a rite of passage, if you will, of learning to play Canasta.  One quiet summer afternoon, my grandmother will take you aside and teach you how to play.  After that day, it's game on. You better hold your own. Bring. It. On.)

We usually play tournaments on Thanksgiving Day.  Yes, $5 buy in, marker board, brackets and trophy included.  But this Thanksgiving we weren't together, so this Sunday we played our rounds and mixed in salads, chili, cornbread, red wine and desserts.  I lost in the first round. I had to play the Queen Bee herself, Nannie, our grandmother. Who can compete with that?  Eric lost in the first round as well.  Katie and Sam each went on to the second round, where Sam had to face my Dad.  Sam is an incredible card player...he had my dad sweating bullets, but alas, Dad pulled through!  Alex's new girlfriend came over and she picked up the game just from watching! She might be a keeper ;-)  Alex and my dad went on to play each other in the final round. Because it was so late they agreed on a sudden-death one-hand match.  And in minutes, Alex became the new champion. $60 and the winning discard to put on the trophy. Way to go!


I hope you had a fantastically restful President's Day too :)