My first day of vacation

This is my grandson, Nikko -- isn't he gorgeous? He's evidently enjoying the snow storms in Europe a lot more than most people.
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I am on my my first day of winter vacation today. It felt so good to be up and not in a hurry! I have lounged around visiting the children on Facebook, washing the dishes, and gathering laundry at a snail's pace.

Speaking of Facebook, I am amused at the folks who fill the comment section of any article about Facebook with derisive comments. They're so sure that only narcissistic idiots would bother with FB. I have to agree that there are certainly plenty of narcissists and a fair share of idiots there -- but I tend to unfriend them pretty fast. But my whole family is there -- my mother, my brothers, my kids, cousins and inlaws are all usinf FB. Nope, they're not posting things that are are of monumental importance, but because of Facebook, I know that my daughter-in-law isn't enjoying winter, that my granddaughter got her third belt in karate, and that my mother is going to visit my brother and nephews in Florida for the holidays. Could all of that have been communicated in letters or e-mails? Sure, it could. But it never was. I feel so much more in touch with what's on everyone's minds these days. Even the stupid stuff. I love that.

The house is still pretty good from last weekend, so I will whirl through making it sparkle again, and then Jack and I can go out for a nice walk. I want to get some snow pictures, but Jack's boots have a hole in them, so we'll have to stick to the roads today.

The photos Jack chose arrived yesterday! Hurrah! The timing is perfect! When we get cold, we can come indoors, make a cup of cocoa, and then have a look at starting to put together our first page.

Rod will be out shopping this morning and I will take a turn this afternoon. As Jack mentioned last night, we didn't get time to shop before this, so we agreed to wait and celebrate Yule on the weekend. That means a lot of rushing around at the last minute along with the rest of the crowd. Oh well. Maybe we will be less busy next year.

And I have promised Jack that we will spend some of every day (he said all) hitting the books -- he wants to do a lot more schooling than we've had time for lately. I love this boy!