This year’s Christmas and New Year holidays provided back-to-back long weekends which gave us a chance to venture through the Commonwealth wastelands, reminiscing about Boston while taking screenshots along the Freedom Trail. We also welcomed more furniture including a Crate & Barrel sideboard and a BDI media cabinet, while selling our old light fixtures off Craigslist. Sadly, the new dining table from Saloom was not what we expected, so we went to McCreery’s to order another one from Canadel. Our new spa cover also created the dilemma of disposing the old one. Rather than paying to have it hauled away, we decided to chop it up with a reciprocating saw, leaving our driveway covered in drifts of styrofoam particles, evoking memories of inclement weather back East. Meanwhile, I received more good news about another grant that was successfully funded, giving me good reason to celebrate the holidays with new toys including a PS4 system and a nice Def Tech soundbar. For the New Year’s weekend, although I did have to go in a few times for call, I was able to spend a quiet, relaxing New Year’s Eve with Melody back home.