Ending and beginning

Some random thoughts, on Day 362 of the year.

• Christmas was cozy, and it was chaos, and filled with family: mine (Mom and Jim here from the 23rd through Christmas morning) and Ken's (the full Korean relative kid-stravaganza in the evening). It's taken several days to dig out from under the avalanche of Julia gifts and their attendant packaging. I think we had about a pound just of those stupid twisty tie things that attach toys to their cardboard containers. But this is as it should be.
• Santa did it again. He brought Julia a big ol' Fisher Price pirate ship and it was so awesome she almost ignored all of her other gifts. It has inspired covetousness in several adults. He was also smart enough to put an activity book in her stocking to keep her occupied for half an hour while we waited for Nana and Papa Jim to wake up.
• Having over a week off from work is better than new shoes. No, really. Scott shut 'er down after the lunchtime cookie bake-off on the 23rd, and we don't have to go back until Jan. 4. That's a week and a half of aaaaahhhhh. Getting up when you feel like it cannot be overestimated in its soul-restorative properties.
• Date Day! Tomorrow, Julia's day care reopens, and Mommy and Daddy both have the day off. A whole day together, sans child, to be grownups. Our first order of business is to go see Robert Downey, Jr. be Sherlock Holmes. And then we can actually have lunch without being interrupted. This is huge.
• Spa Day! And this is followed by Wednesday, when I am treating myself to the Blissful Escape at Jolie Day Spa in Bethesda. Five hours of alone time with nothing to do but be totally pampered and relaxed.
• New Year. Well, that's a whole post of its own, isn't it? Resolutions, or goals, or reflections, or lessons. New beginnings.

And what's on your mind?

Lite Brite in the night

Merry Christmas

As we get ready to nestle all snug in our beds, we wish you a season
of joy and peace.

Tinkering

Trying out Advanced Layouts templates in Blogger.

Next step: trying to make it a little more purty.

A day of empty

Ever wish you had one of those days when you didn't have to do anything at all? Or be anywhere?

The recent snowstorm gave me three of those days. The first two were on the weekend, so there was already an expectation of their general laziness. And I did fit in a little baking and laundry and the like.

But then the office was closed today, and so was Julia's school, and her daycare. A completely unexpected, totally free day.

So we did nothing. We slept in late, and took our time getting out of bed. I indulged Julia's desire to completely vegetate on the couch with some TV, some DVDs and some Wii. I sat and read the paper slowly, with a cup of coffee. Julia took a nice, hot bath.

As the light began to fade, I had a moment of regret when I thought to myself, "I could've been doing [insert anything from my multi-item Things To Do During Christmas Break list]."

Then I realized that today is also the winter solstice, the first day of winter, the shortest day of the year. It's supposed to be a day of quiet and stillness and rest. Getting ready for the sun to return.

It just so happens that my preparations were less about meditation and inward reflection, and more about, um, watching "The Fellowship of the Ring" and playing a little Wii Golf. In a totally soul-nourishing way, I swear.

Here's to our globe spinning its way back to sunshine and fireflies ...

Snowpocalypse, the aftermath

That's at least 18 inches of snow, right?

Snow day!

It started falling last night around 9. We woke up this morning to about 6 inches, and it's been falling ever since. Ken shoveled the front steps at 9, and by 11 they were covered with another 2 inches.

Best of all, it's a Saturday and we ran all of our errands last weekend, so we have nothing to do today but enjoy it, snow angels, fireplace, hot cocoa and all.

Julia gets the best of Daddy in a snow wrestling match.

Little Miss Snowsuit.

Yep, this snow tastes pretty good.

Iron Man Deuce!

OMG, how excited am I for this movie?

The Gingerbread Chef

Waiting for Tiana

Friday 5 #3

I think we're on number 3. It's not like I've been that consistent.

Or have I? Maybe I secretly have an every-third-Friday pattern now. Yeah, let's go with that.

Anyway ...

1. Working at home. I don't think I could telecommute every day because I'm too easily distracted and I'm actually an extroverted introvert (seriously, Myers Briggs says so) so I need to be around people at least partially. But boy does it feel good to have a day to turn off the alarm, not fight traffic, crank up the stereo (even if it's currently playing WETA classical at a rather sedate volume), and multitask with a little laundry. Especially when you're trying to kick the last remnants of fatigue, travel, strep-iness.

Can you tell I'm working at home today?

(While we're at it, we need to come up with a standard label for this. Is it telecommuting? Working from home? Working at home? Pajama Day?)

2. Photo books. It's not like I don't have anything else on the to-do list, but I got this genius idea to take the photos from our recent back-to-back journeys and make gift books out of them for grandmas far and near. It's a little effort, but not that much. The juice is totally worth the squeeze. Being able to do stuff like this is where the genius of digital photography and the internet come together into uber awesomeness.

I mean seriously: remember when we took some photos, and we didn't know if they were even any good until we paid to have them developed, and then we had to get double prints if we wanted extras, and then we'd have to manually put them in a scrapbook one at a time, and then we'd have a memory book? Those days are gone, baby, gone!

3. Month-long decorating. Usually I'm the Thanksgiving Weekend Christmas Decorating Marathon type. But due to the aforementioned being gone, we've gotten a slow start on things. And that's OK. I think Julia's actually enjoying spreading it out. At the rate we're going, the tree will be fully decorated by Christmas. Maybe. (Although for some reason Julia decided to put the angel on top this morning. Just gotta roll with it.)

4. Free holiday album on iTunes. Music. Free. 'Nuff said. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/itunes-holiday-sampler/id344104720

 5. Anticipation. I will cap off the happy craziness that is December with a spa day on the 30th. Booked it yesterday. Mani, pedi, massage, facial. Cannot wait. Can't. Wait!

And that's what Christmas is all about

Julia and I watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on TV tonight. (8 p.m., ABC -- anyone else remember when it was always on CBS?)

Sat down together, with hot chocolate, and watched it at the same time as everyone else tuning in.

Even though we also have it on DVD.

Because there's something worshipful and true about watching this special, above all others, in a communal way, along with a few million others somewhere out there, across the country.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown.

Checklist for this evening

Tonight consists of the following

• Heavenly fleece
• Cup of French press coffee
• Family on the couch
• "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
• New episode of "Glee"

It will be capped off by collapsing under flannel sheets and the down comforter.

Ahhhhhh ....