Last week went much better than I dared hope it would be. I managed to catch some parts of the Presidential Inauguration and the evening program, and just the realization that the administration is really, truly, definitively changing has just sunk in, I think. I haven't spent more than about 5 minutes each day on the news (didn't feel the need to) and I hope to keep it that way for as long as possible. Life Yep, another busy work week. I know I hoped for a lighter work week, but who am I kidding. Work has been a different kind of busy each week this whole month and it will be nothing different this coming week. I just hope to figure out how to get my lunch hour freed up and use it to recharge. Not much happened in life this week - kids are loving being back at school, and I am loving my uninterrupted time, something that was only a luxury for much of last year. Reading Even if life was busy this week, I did read quite a bit. I'm slowly reading So You Want To Talk About Ra
Good morning fellow readers! Well, today is the last day of my two-week holiday/vacation and it pains me to think that it is a whole year before the next one rolls around. I much preferred my days of graduate school, when I had bigger chunks of holidays in the winter and the summer. Oh well, that stipend I earned then wouldn't be enough to sustain a decent lifestyle, other than to just pay bills, so no complaints. Still, it is going to be hard getting back to work tomorrow, though thankfully, everyone may also be in a similar boat.
The husband and I just just got back last night from our three-day low-key staycation in Northern VA. We visited the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond on our drive there to check out their GardenFest. They had lights set up for the holiday season, mostly decorating the trees at the garden and in places, mocked up in shapes of animals and fairy tale characters. The decorations were very beautiful and colorful, though it was also very cold that night, and that affected our enjoyment a little bit.
We spent most of our time in NoVa shopping but we also spent an evening watching Interstellar at the IMAX theater in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Museum in Chantilly. We had already watched the movie and were going this time for the 70mm IMAX experience. In my opinion, 70mm is really just an overkill. I much prefer the smaller screens that stay fully within my vision range, than the 70mms that seem to feel as if a portion of the screen is floating up in the clouds. But that's just me. We weren't expecting to see many people there at all, since the movie has been running for two months already but both shows were sold out. It was quite shocking to see so many people sprint up to get tickets and I thought we may not get any seats but luckily we made it in.
For today, we don't have any major plans. I have some office work to finish up before heading in to work tomorrow but the rest of my day is completely free, which is how I like it. I finished my first book of the year, Letters in the Attic by Bonnie Shimko two days ago, and am now looking forward to starting my next read. My library membership had expired sometime during the past month so I need to get that sorted out tomorrow.
How is your Sunday shaping up? Are you upset about the end of the holidays too or do you have some more days before you get back?

Comments
Whoa. Just looking at those pictures again. Stunning. Thanks for sharing.
Technically I should be also going back to work tomorrow but I still have a bit of maternity leave left, so I'm not back until Feb.
I took the whole of last week off so that I didn't have to go back to work soon. But I know what you mean - some of my colleagues did work last week and I am sure it wasn't something they wanted to do.
I go back to work tomorrow to a new boss. I'm sure it will be fine. I've been there so long, seen so many bosses. Still, it's an adjustment. This weekend I spent goofing off with my family.
Have a great week!
Hope that work has gone well so far. I know it's been tough for me to get back into the routine! Will be glad for Friday. ;)