I am officially done with my Christmas shopping! Hooray!!! Not that it’s been bad. I’ve enjoyed shopping this year. That’s probably a reflection on my overall feeling of serious holiday cheer this year, but anyway, it’s been nice. Today I even stopped to listen to some carolers singing Sleigh Bells at the outdoor mall here. They had quite a crowd gathered and it was really lovely. Still, it’s nice to know that I have everyone covered, and now I can just window shop and enjoy looking at everything without worrying that there’s still someone whose present I have yet to find.
Paul is halfway through his Austrian trip, and while we’ve been able to Skype a few times, I have decided that two weeks is really just too long to be apart. I hope we can manage to never do this again. I have been spending as much time as possible cozily ensconced next to my Christmas tree, usually with Jasmine curled up next to me – she seems to be enjoying the tree as much as I am. And who could blame us?
Pretty, huh? :-)
I only wish I had more time to spend next to it during the dark hours. I’ve even been getting up early on weekday mornings – around 5 a.m. – so that I can spend 1/2 hour next to the tree before I go to yoga at 6 a.m. I won’t go into how fantastic my yoga practice is going – for that you can always check out my other blog, if you are so inclined – except to say that I’m sure it’s adding to my general good mood these days.
Last night was the HCTR (my trail running club) Holiday Party at Dart Bowl. In past years we’ve had a party at someone’s house, so this was a really fun change! It was great to see some people and catch up with friends. I’ve made myself a bit scarce where the club’s concerned lately … which is odd I suppose given that I’m still the club president. Of course, that’s exactly the reason. The truth is that I really am not enjoying this position at all. The people are great, and I think I’m actually a pretty good leader … it just turns out that I don’t particularly LIKE being the leader. That’s an understatement actually. And so it’s been hard to be a part of things, when it’s just not something I’m deriving any pleasure from at the moment. It makes me sad. But the club is important to me, and I made this commitment and I’ll see it through. And I am really looking forward to the day when I can go back to being just a club member. But last night was a great reminder of why I decided to take this on in the first place. Because this is just a terrific group of people, some of the best ones I know. And it was great to just be with everyone and hang out and have fun. Gives me something to look forward to in a few months.
In the meantime, I am quite occupied with wedding plans. I’m going to try to take care of several details, like florist, photographer, cake, etc, when I’m home for Christmas. I don’t know if I’ve actually written this anywhere public, but we’re getting married May 21st, back in Virginia, at one of my favorite places in the world, The Ashby Inn. I didn’t plan it for this reason, but I do think it’s fun that Paul and I will be able to say we got married in Paris … it just happens to be Paris, Virginia. :-) If you’ve never been to or seen The Ashby Inn, you should check out some of these photos … it’s just beautiful, and the food is amazing. I am so excited that we were able to get it during the narrow window of time we had. It’s going to be pretty small, and mostly family … I know lots of people do the big production, but for me it’s such an intimate moment, I can’t imagine having hundreds of people there.
Of course, the most important thing is that at the end of it, Paul and I will be married … and I just get this really nice warm feeling all over every time I think about that. How could I not love this man? He does things like this when I’m sick …
Sigh … sorry, I’m a little mopey on my own. Thankfully, I have a multitude of cheesy holiday movies to keep me occupied, ones that Paul would have to be hog-tied with this eyes forced open before he would watch. So perhaps it’s best this way.
This week brings more holiday celebration … my office party, going to see Elf at Alamo Drafthouse. I am so excited for that one! I have also scheduled some time to catch up with friends, over runs, food, drinks, and shopping. Only 13 days till Christmas … I’m almost sad it’s so close. I love this time of year so much that I hate to have it over with too quickly.
And so I had better get back to it, finishing off my week with a glass of wine and one more holiday movie before bed …
