Funny, work doesn't feel all that busy these days, but I don't seem to have any
time at lunch to post here. I still haven't settled in to the new job -- next week
I'll be back once again in grumblegrumble training. Actually, it's great training;
I just wish it came at more widely spaced intervals.
The holidays
have now officially hit. Normally there's some period in November where I realize
we have things scheduled every weekend until the end of the year. This time, we've
had busy weekends since the end of October, but we had a couple weeks' break
between regattas and Thanksgiving so that the earlier part didn't feel like
holiday season. Now I know we're into it because we have holiday-ish things every
day for the rest of this week. Fortunately, the friends we were supposed to meet
tonight, the ones I had totally forgotten about, emailed and canceled because they
got sick over Thanksgiving. Poor things; it's not just being sick for the holiday
itself, but I'm sure the trip back was miserable.
So instead tonight
we will shop, since we'd let the pantry empty out before our trip. Tomorrow we
have a meeting to plan how to light the boats for the annual boat parade; Friday
night there's an end-of-year rowing outing, Saturday we have a dinner cruise (on a
local in the mountains) from one of Rudder's vendors, and Sunday is the annual
holiday thing from my work. I am so looking forward to spending Christmas
at home with Rudder, relaxing and maybe painting and rearranging the house a bit.
There will be at least one day spent without getting out of bed, we've promised
ourselves. There will be a tree -- we never have one on years we travel for the
holiday. I've promised myself to decorate the family room nicely even if I have to
buy more things to do it (yes, it's severe penance). There will, I have vowed, be
a fire in the firepit I hardly ever get to use. And popcorn. And hot chocolate.
And hours and hours and hours to read.
And I'll have to bone up a
bit for some a class I have to teach just after New Year's but nothing is
perfect.
In other news, I'm once again attempting the holiday erg
challange -- 200000m between Thanksgiving and Xmas. That's almost a week less time
than last year, and I missed 5 days due to our Thanksgiving trip, so whether I'll
make it remains to be seen. I did get on an erg once during the trip, for 10K, so
only 175000m left to go. I can't wait.
Today I am thankful
for: my company's shutting down for at least a week over
Christmas.