I bought some exercise DVD�s today at Wal-Mart. The one has 15-minute workouts on it- I figure if I can spare 15 before I go to work and 15 when I come home every night� that�s half an hour every day. Good plan, no? I have been slacking off a little with exercising and my diet lately, so I�m hoping to get back on track now the holidays are over. All of the treats are gone from the house, and I am going to grocery store today and only buying healthy things. Soup, salad, fruit. Rice. That�s it.

My sister�s coming by today with her kids, and I have great presents for all of them. My oldest nephew and her new guy�s little girl get personal CD players� and my younger nephew gets Yu-Gi-Oh! Figures, and my little niece gets tub tints in a flower dispenser and a little doll I picked up this morning. Hope they like their gifts.

Okay, I know I was putting off writing about my holidays. I must do this and get it done.

The few days leading up to Christmas were very stressful. It got to be the 22nd, and I�d hardly shopped at all, let alone finished everything. I ended up going with one of the girls from work and finishing everything in one morning. We had a good time, and was I ever relieved.

Christmas eve involved having my sibs over and my mom� exchanging gifts and such. Much as I love them, I am glad I don�t have to have everyone here every day. It�s so much noise.

Christmas day� well, this was the most interesting part. I went to my aunt�s house with my dad and my middle brother for dinner. It was wonderful! Considering we really haven�t seen them much over the years and they don�t really know us that well, they really made a wonderful effort to make us feel welcome and comfortable. I got to see pictures of my dad as a kid, and I saw pictures of my grandma when she was young. I had never known what she looked like as a young woman before! I also saw pictures of my great-grandparents� I never knew what they looked like at all. I learned new things about my grandma and my father. In many ways, this filled in a few gaps in my mind. I�ve always wondered where certain aspects of who I was came from- I�m not much like anyone on my mom�s side of the family, and while I share a lot with my dad, we�re still very different. This gave me a better idea of where I came from, and was quite the experience. I can�t wait to visit again.