the week(s):
We celebrated an early holiday last week with a big Christmas dinner and champagne and exchanging of gifts at home. It was nice to get some time to ourselves and have fun with the cats before the chaos of traveling. I was able to visit with most of my family while I was in Ohio for a few days — and greatly enjoyed the extra PTO days.

weekend(s):
CHRISTMAS!

Have a Happy New Year — and I hope there is spiked eggnog or bottles of champagne in your immediate future. 😉

seven things, seven(ish) days:
1. My mom gave us a vintage bowl and drink glasses set to make Tom & Jerry’s. I cannot wait for future holidays to serve these!!!
2. One of our cats had to get a tooth pulled this week. She’s OK but I was a nervous wreck since she was at the vet for almost the entire day. 🙁
3. I never realized until this week how many animals have a sound that is similar to a woman screaming bloody murder. Plenty of youtube videos out there too, if you’re wanting to go down that rabbit hole.
4. An older article but a goodie: The Spiritual Life of the Long Distance Runner
5. Why this guy quit his job to run 59 marathons {via The Muse}
6. Willpower to achieve goals is overhyped, so say psychologists. Re: self-control: “It’s no different than any other decision making.” And looks like the ego depletion theory has been debunked. {via Vox}
7. The impact of running on the brain. NEAT! {via PsyPost}