As the winter recess comes to an end, I thought it would be a good time to soak in all of the great things that I did with having so much time off.

Celebrating Hanukah wasn’t as much fun as it was when I was a kid, but getting together with my Jewish side of the family will never get old. We used to actually light our electronic menorah every night and say our prayer and then receive a gift every night for eight nights.

Now a days we don’t even light our menorah or receive a gift every night. Never the less, we still get a check with a sufficient amount of money to spend on what ever we chose, which is good enough for me.

Now Christmas is a different story, and the traditions are pretty much all there. Christmas Eve we always get together at my Nona’s house and eat one of the biggest meals of my life. Nothing on the table is healthy of course, but nothing my Nona ever makes is healthy. I don’t get to see my family very often so when we get together for a holiday like Christmas, no one ever runs out of things to talk about.

This Christmas was a little different then the others. This is the first year that we spent Christmas without my Nono. It was really hard for me at first, although no one really paid any attention to the fact that he wasn’t with us this year, which was better in my opinion. After dinner we opened our presents, which now that we are older isn’t really that exciting for us at least.

The older kids, like my self, my sibling, and my cousins from my uncle, get a check from each relative, and if we are lucky, a little something to open. We get more joy from watching our younger cousins open their presents then from us receiving presents. The joy and excitement on there faces makes celebrating Christmas Eve as a family all worth it.

This had to be one of the best Christmas’ ever. I am the type of person who is big on making memories and always going back to them. My youngest sister Margaret said one of the funniest things that I have ever heard her say probably in her entire lifetime that I will never forget.

“So were done with the whole believing in Santa Clause things right mom?” My mom has tried to make us believe for years that Santa is real and we always played in out for my youngest sister Margaret. Well, apparently she has known for years and we have all just been putting up an act for her when it wasn’t truly necessary. Christmas Day went on just like every other family’s. We opened our presents, had a nice family breakfast and then set the house up for everyone to come over and celebrate.

Celebrating New Years was a lot different this year than how we usually spend it, but I actually enjoyed this year the most out of all of the other years. We usually throw a big party and we invite all of our friends. Everyone would get super wasted, we would have a lot of laughs until the ball dropped and then every one goes home.

This year, we just kept to our selves. My dad made us a couple of drinks and we just hung out as a family and watched all of the New Years Eve performances. It was nice just being with the family and enjoying a nice quite evening.

I am always so busy for winter break, its like the celebrations never end. There is Hanukah, Christmas, New Years, and then my birthday follows right after. By the time my birthday comes around, every one is so sick of celebrating. That never means that they are off the hook to celebrate my special day. This year my mom and I went shopping during the day and then that night I wanted to do something a little different.

My absolute favorite food I sushi, but know one in my family really likes sushi. Fortunately there is a sushi and hibachi place in my town that just opened and on Tuesdays and Thursdays they have a special where you can order unlimited sushi and hibachi. I was so happy that my birthday fell on a Thursday this year. So my family and I decided to try this new restaurant and it ended up being so delicious. I will definitely go back there. The big 20 was definitely a year to remember.

Another thing that I did this winter break was that I got a new job at Ziggy’s Gymnastics Academy. I have done gymnastics since I was three years old but unfortunately I had to stop because I developed a terrible disease called fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a disease where one has over active nerves that cause widespread pain in your entire body. When I was told that I was not going to be able to do gymnastics anymore I was absolutely devastated. Gymnastics was my life and I didn’t know how to be a normal kid. When I didn’t have an extra curricular activity to fall back on, I was so bored.

When I did gymnastics, I also worked at the same gym as a coach. If you could only imagine how hard it was to work in a place where I grew up and not be able to participate. Sadly I was not able to work there any more because it just hurt too much to sit out. When this new gymnastics place opened up closer to where I lived, I jumped on the opportunity to apply. Thankfully I got the job and I am so happy that I got the opportunity to be back in a gym and to work in place that made me so happy.

My winter recess was definitely fun, but they don’t call it recess for nothing, I was always on the move, just as I was when I had recess. However, it was nice being home and spending time with my family before I go back to school.