What does this overworking woman do on the winter holiday break

Quirky thing about this academic:  I like to travel so much, but I also really like my home.  I'm the ultimate homebody when I'm there.  I'll be doing the work all day, but if I have my druthers, I'd rather working from my very comfortable couch with my dog snoozing at the end of it. 

Last winter and this one, Matteo went off to Italy and I stayed home, primarily because I was doing some major travel with students soon after the Christmas holiday and didn't want to be bouncing all over the world.  No one needs double jet lag when on 24-7 (or close enough) with college students. 

Last year was hard as we were getting ready for fertility treatments as well.  It was a good thing I had to keep the dog alive.  I might not have moved much from that couch for two weeks. 

This year was different.  Sure, I watched so many court shows, I think that I may have reached my limit (I didn't think there was one).  And yes, keeping the dog alive also helped me to not spend too much of my day napping, eating yogurt, and watching court shows.  I also read a bit, shut off the social media for a good while, watched a lot of movies, started organizing my house, moved furniture, went on walks with the dog, did some dog training, continued to try to train my dog to run with me (to mixed success), cooked a LOT, did a lot of planning for my Jan Term class, wrapped up a few work things, made a list to wrap up the others, and just relaxed.    I shut down for a bit. 

I may only get to do this once a year, sometimes twice if Hawaii is involved, but it's absolutely what I need in the world:  shut down and just be. 

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