Christmas/New Years/Winter Break Plans 2022 edition

[clean]

Winter Break has begun.
Christmas is in the countdown (single digits away).
New Years, not far behind.
Classes resume in about a month.


What are your plans?

We looked into driving to My Parents' house (an 1100 mile drive), but I have to finish some work to get my spring classes ready for Blackboard, and they prefer that the entire class is ready on day one (They being the students, and me too, as I dont often have time to deal with problems in the middle of the mini term).  So we have delayed leaving until those tasks are finished.

Recently looked to flying instead, and as we have points, we decided that we would drive 250 miles to the BIG CITY airport. From there it is a direct flight, with few point requirements.  Unfortunately, car rental prices are now about $100 a day!! 
Not too much a problem as my parents can pick us up from the airport and we really wont need a car for much while there. 

We will stay until the first week of January, and then we have to be back on campus for 'joyful meetings' about the 10th. 

So we will be with Family from 12/21 to Jan 1 when most leave, and then til 1/5 with my parents.

What are YOUR plans?
Any fun New Year's plans? 
How far will you travel?
How many people will be included with the biggest gathering?

[sinenomine]

Our campus was scheduled to close December 24th, but the President just made the 23rd the start of the holiday. I'm definitely looking forward to the week and a half off — my calendar is already filling up starting January 3rd. I'll use the downtime to relax and to visit with friends. I expect the biggest crowds I'll see will be horses or cats!

[Langue_doc]

Traveling northeastward on Christmas Eve, so keeping an eye on the weather because of the forecast for next week.

It's a 230-ish mile drive one way, mostly interstate. Other than that, I'm looking forward to the usual good company, good food, Christmas Eve service, and other Christmas-related festivities. I'm taking along multiple desserts none of which I have to cook.

I like to stay home on New Year's Eve, especially here in the city. Pre-pandemic, one of the conservation organizations would host a walk in the wildlife refuge, following which we would be treated to good food and wine/champagne. This year, the walk is on, but we've been advised to bring along snacks and drinks. The person who used to lead this organization is now in his eighties, so the new leadership most likely is unable or unwilling to use personal resources for this event. The local outdoors/hiking organizations have walks, but I'm not registering for anything unless the weather is tolerable. There's always my local (15 minute drive) peaceful nature preserve, where I like to walk and also birdwatch.

[apl68]

Just planning to go home and spend some time with my parents.  I should be able to have a four-day weekend, as at Thanksgiving.  And the forecast is actually looking like real, honest-to-goodness winter weather!  Probably no winter precipitation (just as well), but the extended forecast calls from next Friday to stay below freezing all day--nearly unheard-of around here any more--and the next couple of days not much warmer.  A Christmas that feels like winter!  Haven't been having those much lately.

[Juvenal]

Staying home alone, avoiding a day's trip to NYC and a hotel stay for a two-hour (all I can stand for something that goes on and on) Eve party in Brooklyn.  Nice people (near family), nice food, but all that angst (think the horror of home-wending LIRR) and I'll buckle down, solo.

[Puget]

Leaving Monday for 10 days in southern Arizona with grandmother (turning 95!) and parents (who are already down there and staying for month this year to spend more time with grandma). Looking forward to sun, hiking, too many sweets, and trying not to work too much (though I will have some PhD admissions committee work to do and a few other things that can't wait).

[Harlow2]

The holidays themselves will be local-ish; looking forward to spending some time with family I see only a few times a year. Also heading out for a few days to do some hiking in a place that should be warmer than this one. The rest is grading and course prep.

[poiuy]

I am staying home this season, absolutely no travel, yay!

For the past many many years, I have traveled to (very faraway home place) twice a year, with children in tow in the earlier years but by myself in recent years, to be with my aging parents.

At the end of last year's holiday season, one parent left us. I took FMLA over the Fall to spend time with the other parent. So no traveling now. Just preparing feverishly for the Spring semester.

But so grateful not to be traveling now.

[hmaria1609]

Getting a 4 day weekend for Christmas too! Staying local too.

[FishProf]

Smolt has Covid, our remodeling is done, so we will stay home and I will put our word back together.

Which is exactly what I want.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Visiting family as I type. Going home tomorrow and then hanging out there through Christmas day. Will take a short road trip with my wife between Christmas and New Years to visit some wineries a couple of hours away.

[onehappyunicorn]

Flying out to visit in-laws, it's been five years since we were there for Christmas. We normally go visit them during summer but we wanted to have a summer vacation to ourselves this year.

[Vkw10]

Driving 1100 miles to spend a few day's with brother's family in SC, then back to finish a paper. Looking forward to seeing family, but the paper is at that almost ready to submit stage that makes me want it done and gone.

[clean]

My 1100 mile drive was substituted for a 250 mile drive and 2 airline tickets on credit card points. 

I have spent most of the day glued to a chair (a nice lazy boy chair, but still a chair!).  I have been trying to get one of my Spring classes Blackboard page redone.  The book changed. They didnt just 'update' the chapters, but hacked, shuffled, and redid several of them!  And then I changed from a base of 10 modules to 7, so that each module is 3 chapters and will be easier to deal with in either a 7 or 14 week term. 

I have not started on the multiple choice issues and the exams, that will have to wait until at least Monday. 

The support for this text and publisher is not what most are used to. There is a test bank, I think, but it is in word format and I will have to use Respondus to get the questions in a format to use in Blackboard, and that requires a lot of work to do first. Then I will have to adjust the questions, as I am sure that they are all published by Check or Course Hero or someone online.

I hope that I can get some progress done on it Monday, but I may have to take it with me and work on it at my parents' house a few hours a day until it is done. 

[Hegemony]

I have a book due to the publisher on December 31. The publisher has already sent three threatening emails about what will happen if the book is not in on time. It will spell the end of civilization, apparently. But I want the book to be in on time as much as the publisher does, because I don't want it hanging around my neck when the new semester starts. I have about 4500 words to go. (I can't cut the last bit because it needs to cover certain topics, and one of the most important topics has not yet been covered.) I will probably get it in by the deadline, but a lot of misery will be involved.