After a year of big trips, it was nice to be home for the holidays. Both Christmas and New Years Day were on Wednesdays, which made the rest of the two holiday weeks rather unproductive. We hunkered down with beef noodles, spaghetti, onion soup, and hot pot to keep ourselves warm while enjoying board games, video games, and gunpla. For board games, Westley was less enthusiastic about Ticket to Ride than the cooperative albeit more challenging Pandemic Legacy Season 1 campaign that we got him for Christmas. For video games, we gave him GOTY Astro Bot, which was no surprise after his months of anticipation and dressing up as the title character for Halloween. I reached the final boss of Shadow of the Erdtree, although young Radahn put up such a tough fight that we turned to Carbot Animations to make us feel better. Our last gift for Westley was a RG GaoGaiGar, which we are holding off while tackling a large MG Ver.Ka UC0093 unit together. The tiny stickers did require me to break out my new progressive Ray Bans, as I learned the joy of eyewear ownership. Melody spent her holidays tracing ant trails, and got Remy and Nico some food puzzles to engage their little brains and stave off obesity. We pigged out with the in-laws on Christmas Day over prime rib, velvetized hot chocolate, and an Overcooked marathon. Otherwise, we stayed home to complete the Star Wars ennealogy and embark on the Harry Potter heptalogy to prepare for a possible LA trip for spring break. I also completed the first season of Pachinko and second season of House of the Dragon. With grants and papers waiting for me in my inbox, I wished I had a bit more holiday family time before returning to the grind.