A reindeer? Where?

Since I shall be driving home my packed-to-the-fullest car tomorrow, I owe some sort of progress report on poor, dear Blitzen. First he's the last reindeer listed in the Rudolph song, then he gets screwed over on my Christmas break. Things didn't go as planned. First, I got sick! I'm still really, really miserable and am slowly testing out cold medications to see what works. So far, I like Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom Nighttime Formula. Otherwise, I'm striking out. This means I spend much of my day moaning about how sick I am. I'd do this whether there were people around or not, which is good since my family has started to ignore me.

But...
Result 1. Health. So-so.
I did eat less than I could have, though there were days where it appeared the world would be ending at any moment and all the would save me was additional blubber. Cookies, stromboli, cheesy potatoes, a hamburger (yes, it had bacon too), breakfasts which were decidedly not yogurt, etc. But Blitzen did help a bit. Sometimes.

Chienne was forced to skip her walk twice. That's not bad considering actual holidays (we walked late on Christmas, I think) and my illness. Evening work outs were mentioned once. Never happened.

Result 2. Work. Reasonably good!
Project Q - abstract emailed and ready for submission as far as I'm concerned.
Project X - made progress on the busy work. Still thinking about how it all comes together. But I'm as far as I hoped I'd be.
Grant - Made Boss's specific revisions (which were few) and made progress on the general focus. It's...coming along. Really. Sort of.
Paper - A surprise addition to Blitzen's load, I finished all but 3 problems and have ideas on what I want to do when I get back to data at home.

Result 3. God. Pretty terrible, actually.
This is one area I didn't think I'd struggle and did. Only did a couple morning devotionals. Went to church for Christmas, but wasn't really moved. Prayed sparingly. I'm not sure what my deal is, but it's not particularly positive. So this is moving up the priority scale. Maybe a spiritual audiobook is in order to refocus so I can do some actual reading/praying/thinking.

Result 4. Family. Delightful!
I enjoyed them. Spent all kinds of time talking and laughing and just a bit squabbling. Mom and I saw a movie today and had lunch afterward. We also did more shopping. I watched a movie with my parents last night while working on my grant. It's been comfortable and wonderful. I'll miss them terribly when I leave, but I also think it's getting to be time to go. I remain sad that I'm so far away from them though.

I do not, however, feel any sadness at the thought of returning to a home with a bed big enough for me and Chienne without severe overcrowding. Or wireless internet from a cable modem. Or more than one route to walk in the morning. Or food that I'm actually supposed to eat rather than a continuous stream of new tasty treats. Or quiet. Getting to watch what I want on television...