The Opposite of Hibernation

Traditionally, January has been a month to stay in. We don't make plans, we don't go out. We just cover ourselves with blankets and enjoy being home. But that hasn't been the case this year.

Kevin's company hold sits holiday party in January instead of December, which definitely makes it easier to fit into the schedule. It was thrown on the same day he got back from three weeks in Hawaii. So instead of spending his first night back at home, we went down to the Ritz-Carlton in Arlington. His company was generous enough to pay for the valet and provide us a steep discount on the room for the night.

The party itself was pretty spectacular. I got to meet Kevin's new colleagues and their partners. They were a fun group of people, and between the open bar and that fact that we were staying at the hotel we had a lot of fun. The next morning was a little rough, as Kevin was fighting both a hangover and jet lag. It took us a while to get home, but the night was well worth it.

That Sunday, Zach and Sarah came over to watch the Seahawks and the Redskins in the first playoff games of the season. We had a lot of fun playing games and drinking beer while we watched football. And even though Washington lost, they made it further than I could have hoped for at the beginning of the season.

The next weekend we had planned to host one of my high school friends who was going to be in town for a funeral. I was looking forward to seeing her, but due to a mixup she had to cancel at the last minute. Instead we went down to Zach and Sarah's for another evening of games and football.

That week my aunt was in town for business, so we went out to dinner with her one night. It's nice that her work brings her out this way as often as it does. We don't get to spend much time with her when she's in town, but we always take the opportunity to catch up. This time we went down to a tapas restaurant in Clarendon and enjoyed sangria and tapas despite the freezing weather.

All in all its been a very busy month so far. It's been fun to be as social as we have been, but it hasn't left a whole lot of time for relaxation or recuperation. It's a good thing I had so much down time over the holidays. Our schedule doesn't look to be lightening up any time soon.