It’s been a lovely weekend – spending time with family, going to the movies (between the 10 of us on Friday, we saw “Skyfall,” “Lincoln,” “The Rise of the Guardians” and “Sessions”), doing sone local shopping and visiting the Museum of the Moving Image, a gem of a museum in Queens that has a little something for everyone.

Sophie had a sleepover at her favorite local babysitter’s house last night and Chloe is just dying to know if we bought her a new iPod Touch for Hanukkah/Christmas. My husband and I went to my cousins’ annual family holiday party yesterday, where the girls’ absence was felt much more strongly than our presence, and where I often feel my father’s presence most acutely – in talking to the cousins he grew up with and their children, whom he helped when they first started out in their careers.

And here we are, the morning of the last day of the long weekend, and I am determined to enjoy it, despite the work that’s on the horizon tomorrow. What’s on tap? Some errands, some cleaning and perhaps another movie. Lots of distractions to avoid thinking about Monday and to savor the final hours of my favorite weekend of the year.