This weekend was spent in Connecticut. We drove up early in the day on Wednesday and came back in the wee smalls tonight.

I got to spend time with my folks, making Christmas cookies and watching movies and playing pool and sitting in front of the fire and baking scones and listening to music. We got a few tasks accomplished — like hauling some wood and setting up (but not decorating) Christmas trees — too.

There was a lot of napping — on the drive up and during the parade on Thanksgiving and during CBS Sunday Morning and when I went upstairs to get dressed yesterday afternoon — and some reading and a little knitting.

My best friend, Karen, and I got to spend some time together, which is always wonderful, with the bonus surprise of getting to see her kids for the first time in ages. They change the dynamic of the visit and it is definitely less restful for her, but it was really nice to see them.

It was the first holiday without Gramma, which was sad and weird. For the first time in a decade, no one stole the doughnuts Rudi and I were coveting most for Thanksgiving breakfast. No one did any crossword puzzles. No one wandered out midway through Thanksgiving afternoon to tell Mum “it smells good enough to eat” and to inquire if we’d be dining anytime soon, forcing us to have a snack of cheese and crackers. And no one trundled off to bed at ten with a warm mug of milk and a “Well, I’m going to bed!” I missed her, and her absence was felt all weekend long.

Weekending along with Karen at Pumpkin Sunrise.