The holidays are officially over now, though I’ve been keeping the yule-tide spirit going at least until Epiphany this season. That means keeping the tree up and the Christmas lights on just a few days into January, as well as helping to finish off the last of the eggnog (and eating the last piece of mincemeat pie). I’ve also been trying to stay active and burning off the holiday calories, but the city isn’t making it easy, as they keep destroying sections of the Keystone Trail that I normally use for bike-riding or jogging.

I made some special things for breakfast as Hannah and Aaron headed back to school this week — some french toast made with eggnog instead of milk one day, and then some of my mom’s coconut toast the next. Hannah’s school started one day before Aaron’s did, so that meant Aaron had a day alone with Vivian, during which time he invented some kind of game building little character with some of his connecting blocks.

On Thursday, I had a luncheon with Omaha city council member Aimee Melton, who came by to talk about an affordable housing action plan and the streetcar project. I was once again able to live-stream the talk and do a write-up on my political blog. I’ve been doing this regularly as “practice” before potentially covering Presidential candidates who will be coming to visit Iowa soon. (It was also the chance to chat with people about politics over chicken and pizza for a bit.)

On Friday, Vivian and I celebrated Epiphany with a breakfast date down at the Village Inn. I’d gotten a gift card for Christmas and put it to good use rather than letting interest eat away at it for another minute. We both had some ultimate skillet and kid-free conversation before finishing off the week.

That evening, Vivian and I went to a parents’ night event at Hannah’s new school, where she and her classmates put on a presentation for us. They took turns singing various hymns and folk songs that they’ve been learning, as well as showing us video from one of their Friday nature walks. Then afterward, the parents went downstairs to see the students demonstrate various science projects at tables in the basement, including the classic erupting volcano (with Pop Rocks). Hannah also helped put together the snow globe centerpieces for the event, and she treated herself afterward to some Sprite — with a Twizzler as a straw.

We returned home that evening to close out the Christmas season with some extra presents from the kids, courtesy of their Aunt Sandra. Hannah got a necklace, some socks, and a “snow baby” figurine, just like the kind mommy has in our curio cabinet. Aaron got some die-cast metal planes and vehicles, and both kids also got a new bird-feeder, which we’ll have to find a place for somewhere in our yard come spring.

On Saturday, I spent a good portion of the day at my parents’ house, helping to put away (and photograph) my grandma’s Hummel figurines for the season. My dad also presented us with a printed copy of his memoirs, which he’s been working for a couple years now. We had some lunch from Sonic, courtesy of Uncle Jonny. I looked through my dad’s portfolio a bit, which included a photo he’d had published in Time magazine and an original cartoon from the late Wayne Stayskal, who drew it based on an idea my dad gave him (they shared an office building at the time). My mom also showed me the “family tree” that shows how our branch is related to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Later on, I invited Hannah to walk from our house to grandma and grandpa’s by herself for the first time. She got to watch some home movies with us and look at some slides with the help of Uncle Nathan’s iPhone (which he screen-cast to the TV) before we headed home.

The next day, I showed Hannah and Aaron a bit of their grandpa’s memoirs before we headed off to church. Then that afternoon, I spent some time taking down our Christmas decorations. The weather was nice enough that I walked all the way to Aldi with Hannah and Aaron (who stopped every few minutes to dance on a manhole cover) and pick up a pizza for dinner, among other things. Then we had a family movie night watching Tron (1982), which the ids enjoyed more than I thought they would.

Then on Monday, I forgot to bring my lunch to work and decided instead to attend the Pachyderm luncheon down at Ahmad’s Persian Cuisine. The guest speaker was State Senator Suzanne Geist, who’s running for Mayor of Lincoln, but she was stuck at the Capitol in a filibuster and had to appear courtesy of Theresa Thibodeau’s cell phone. Geist spoke about her campaign for Mayor of Lincoln as well as some of the legislative issues before the unicameral. You can listen to what she had to say here.

We also had one special guest — now-former Governor Pete Ricketts. He came with his son Roscoe and had a few comments about the Lincoln Mayoral race. I was able to ask him about current divisions in the Republican party, which we’d seen play out in the fight for Speaker in Washington DC and the upset at the NEGOP state convention last summer. You can read more and watch my live-stream video over on my political blog.