It is back to silence in the house. The normal has resumed. The vacation is over.

Agam and Tara attended their first day of new job, and first day of school after a long and wonderful winter break.

Usually, in winter we travel to India, and come back and resume life just where we had left it. This time things are a little bit different. We had a whole week off as a family, with nowhere to go, and we could de-clutter, and plan for the year ahead. It was a good time spent together as a family, playing games, pillow fights, fort making, walks, and lots of food.

Before the holidays started I had made a short plan of things that we would like to accomplish. Stuff that we want to cook, eat, places to visit and people we want to e-meet. You know, just a sundry list of things to do. I am very pleased that a good lot of them were accomplished.

Our highlights were few – a quick trip to San Francisco to enjoy hot chocolate at the Ghirardelli Square followed by a drive around in San Francisco to see the beautiful holiday lights as they light up the buildings tall and mighty. And particularly the view of the Bay Bridge as the light turn on right from the docks of the Ferry building. These are some of the rituals that we have come to adopt as we have gradually established our roots in Bay Area over the last 12 years.

No holidays are complete without a sunset and in order to meet that little wish of mine, we went down to Pacifica’s Rockaway Beach to enjoy what was not quite as beautiful a sunset as one would have wanted. But metaphorically it definitely turned out to be a tune out for the year.

Our last highlight was a short stroll and a picnic with some friends in the Sanborn County Park on 1st of January. Now I don’t believe in the adage that whatever you do on January 1 you end up doing that all year through. But if that was to come true, hiking and being in nature was the perfect start to the year. We picked up delicious sandwiches and warm pies from the big basin café in Saratoga and drove up to the county park where there was as always nature just waiting for us with its tall and commanding trees.

This January much like other Januarys I am trying to put my will power to test. And looks like that the. challenge is a little bit more difficult this year. I have quit meat for the month of January. I will only focus on vegetarian foods with an exception of seafood. Eggs are allowed. It’s a challenging one. But that’s the purpose. To start the year with grit is always a good idea. No matter what the year throws at you, you are in the zone of meeting it head on.

Tomorrow I go back to work. And then we will run this mill for a few weeks, before a long weekend turns up. And from then it’s one long weekend to another, until it’s time to go home for Christmas 🎄

Activating normal in progress. Vacation mode turning off gradually!