Where were we?

*Ahem.*

Christmastime!  That's really all there is to say about that.  Hosted a friend and some family, went to Germany, cooked everything but the kitchen sink, explored Amsterdam restaurants, won a 10k, stared at the rain, and had a lovely Christmas and New Year.  Let's summarize the holidays with a photo or two and bring this blog back up to speed.

Amsterdam snow in early December.

Monrads navigate Köln Weihnachtsmarkt at the Dom. 

Köln seemed just as cold as it did eight years ago, when I was last there.

Our venue for Sinterklaas and New Years Eve.

All right, fast-forward to 2013.  We've met some neighbors, scoring a once-weekly babysitting gig for me and two new board game buddies just down the hallway.  I've officially, meaning I've paid for it, joined Phanos track club.  I had a great time volunteering as a course monitor yesterday at the Phanos-organized Boscross, the muddiest cross-country race I've ever seen.  We joined our friends for a movie (Argo) yesterday at the oldest movie theater in Amsterdam.  I went for a long run last week with a friend from Running Holland run club who lives nearby.  The boxes sent by my parents and sisters finally arrived in the mail, and I've been eating peppermint-chip chocolate cookies and spicy-cinnamon walnuts and pecans like it's my job.  And, correspondingly, feeling like *ugh* during workouts.  Will work on that.  Next run is a golden opportunity for a new 10k PR... a fast course in the Vondelpark on January 20.

All in all... off to a good January.