A Week Undefined

The week between Christmas and New Year is like no other week of the year. After the whirlwind of getting ready for Christmas and the day itself is over it becomes a week undefined when you really do have trouble knowing what day it is. It takes a day or so after Christmas to realize that I am on vacation from school and should take advantage of the time to do all the things I never have time for when school is in session. Then comes the panic that the week is flying and soon I will be returning to school without having done all (or any) of the things I had been thinking of. This year I decided to try and just enjoy the time. I took the day after Christmas to just relax. I worked on a new puzzle I received as a gift from my daughter (picture below) and did some reading. The next day I had a lunch date with a friend that I have not seen since the school year began. It always so nice to catch up as we enjoy so many of the same things.
One book I was able to finally get to this week was The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. It is a young adult book that has been receiving quite a bit of press. It received the 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Written in verse it is Acevedo's first novel. Xiomara is fifteen and, faced with more than her share of teenage angst including first love and an overly strict family life, she is trying to navigate her life through her poetry. It is beautifully written and I already have a couple of students in mind to share it with when we get back to school next week.
Two days ago we took a ride to view the beautiful Christmas light display at The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Attleboro, MA. Their Festival of Lights display really is amazing. I hadn't been to it in a number of years. Our unseasonal warm(ish) New England weather made it even more enjoyable to walk around and enjoy the lights.
The week has also included lots of eating. Tomorrow I will be back at WW to try to get back on track eating healthy to at least start the new year. Probably should try to get back to the gym sometime soon too. Although I've been pretty good about attending the WW meetings since I reached goal in November, the gym has been a distant memory. Might as well get a jump on the hoards of people who will be flocking back to both in early January.

My "Nevertheless, She Persisted" puzzle.