christmas weekend

i woke up on friday feeling...happy. i don’t know why. i can’t explain it. but i woke up feeling that everything was right with the world. i put on my ‘love actually’ red velvet coat, because that is what you do when everything is right with the world, and headed to work.

i knew it would be a bit of a joke, as my office had been mostly vacated the day before, and i was only going because i was out of vacation time, not because i would actually be able to gt anything accomplished. i am in the stage of planning future events now, that require other people; checkng availability, processing payments... and ‘other people’ all blew friday off.

so i pretended to work for a little while before running a few errands. i needed to replace my lost bluetooth headset, since i do not answer the phone without it, and friends were starting to feel ignored, and i had a couple of last minute christmas items to pick up. i did 90% of my christmas shopping online this year, and that worked out brilliantly, but i still needed a couple of gift cards and some items for my niece.

i wandered over to the mall, which was, in typical fashion, a disaster, but once in, i made short work of my tasks. i picked up gift cards, did some meandering, and spent a ridiculous amount of money on a pair of sunglasses, as a consolation for not being able to go to france for new year’s after all.

i was impressed that despite the mad rush of holiday shoppers, people were courteous and kind--in some cases, even thoughtful, and i was glad to note that not everyone had completely forgotten about the spirit of christmas at this late date.

after that, i headed back to the office to pretend to work some more. eventually i gave up, and headed over to justin’s place to meet up with him for our ‘date.’ typically justin and i try to do dinner once a month, but this has been one of the crazier falls i can remember. a couple of months ago, he had asked me to join him at the national symphony orchestra performance of the messiah. i love the messiah, and knew the company would be good, so i had eagerly anticipated this night.

it did not disappoint. while we both agreed that the women soloists were far weaker than the men, the chorus was outstanding, and overall it was an excellent performance.

we stopped for dessert after the concert, and i ate entirely too much. then it was back to justin’s for a private violin recital. i had not known he played until he told me at the kennedy center that his violin teacher was a member of the orchestra. i was duly impressed and determined my need for at least three children, so that they can play all the instruments i wish i could; piano, guitar, and violin!

all in all it was a perfectly fabulous day, and it would not be the end of my good mood. i was up early saturday morning, as i had forgotten to turn my alram off, and decided that i would just get up and finish off kendyl’s gift shopping. i also had a couple of items bought the day prior, for which i was feeling a bit of buyer’s remorse. not for the ridiculously expensive pair of sunglasses though!

i fought my way through the overwhelming traffic getting in to every shopping center, but had some fairly good luck throughout the day. i nailed some amazing parking spots that did not take long to find, and time after time found myself lucking into short lines in stores. in fact, while in macy’s, i was slightly frustrated that every register had a minimum of 15 people in line. assuming there must be a shorter line in a less popular department, i attempted to find one. it only took about 30 seconds before i noticed a clerk folding clothes on a counter. i asked her if she was open, she said yes, walked around the other side of the counter and processed my return. as i said, lots of good luck!

despite my early start and my good luck, the tasks for the day took several hours, so when i came home it was time to get ready for the evening’s activity. anne and i had decided that we wanted to see the new ben stiller movie ‘night at the museum’ on imax. we were both disappointed that it would not be playing at the natural history museum imax (since that is the setting for the movie), but settled on the udvar-hazy center imax.

i picked up deb who was home for christmas and met anne at the museum. we were later joined by cammi, elena, and joel.

the movie was completely silly, but totally fun, and i loved seeing it on that ginormous screen. perhaps it was my overall good mood, but i laughed throughout the entire movie!

after the movie it was time for bed. i dropped deb off, and attempted to get a good night’s sleep, as the ‘tara show’ would be performed the next day. i only half-jokingly call it the tara show. as you may recall, i was asked to write the christmas program for my ward. what i did not realize at the time was that i would end up serving as the narrator, as well as singing a duet.

we met early to run through the script, and i was having mixed feelings about it. i was equally wary of the song performance as there was one particular section i continued to struggle with. and that was without nerves. there was no telling what might happen when i got to the podium and my knees started knocking together!

the ward was bigger than i expected as there were many families of participants in attendance, and in a weird twist of fate, for the first time ever standing at a podium, that ridiculous fear of public-speaking/performing did not rear it’s ugly head. the program went beautifully, and while the song was not perfect, i managed to nail my part in it.

truth be told, i have felt the christmas spirit much more this year than in the past. i took greater joy in the giving of gifts than in the expectation of receiving them, and i know that being tasked to write and participate in this program was helpful in maintaining that ‘true spirit’ of christmas.

and the true spirit of christmas always involves lots of sleeping as well! i came home from church and passed out. for hours. when i woke up i realized that with the completion of the program, i had no major responsibilities left for the year, and in a way, all that sleep was a recovery from the last three months!

eventually it was time to get up and get dressed and head over to the chapman’s for our annual christmas eve celebration. this year it was definitely a bit different. the jon and kathryn may family weren’t in town yet, and kathryn is in taiwan. she was present via skype however, and it was highly entertaining to watch her father gingerly carry around the laptop so that she would not miss any of the goings on. it was both silly and endearing☺

christmas morning brought the usual. we were all glad to have kendyl, as there is nothing like a child’s excitement on christmas morning. i scored the big win with my gift to her. this is the second year i have won the ‘kendyl’s favorite gift’ competition, and i’m not relinquishing my crown anytime soon!

my booty included the things that i had asked for (an external hard drive and a gift cert. to have my car detailed), but the surprise gift (i was surprised to get it and surprised at how happy it made me) was a costco membership. that in conjunction with my new fortune cookie place-holders have made it impossible NOT to have a dinner party!

the rest of the afternoon was quiet, and in the early evening i headed over to deb’s, where we exchanged gifts. i was completely surprised (and elated) again. without ever having discussed it, deb managed to NAIL the gift-giving, and when i opened the wrapping to find a digital picture frame, i almost cried. i have been lusting after these for some time now, and am already completely addicted. i think i need one for each trip...mexico, ireland, belgium, london... how cool would that be?! for the time being, i have a mix of my favorite photos in slide show mode on my new toy, and i don’t think the novelty will ever wear off. eventually, i hope to move away completely frame actual frames and go all digital!

ironically, deb’s parents had found a gift that she apparently had forgotten to give me last year, in a closet. so i scored double and also took home a great scarf.

we spent the evening eating and talking. we watched ‘devil wears prada’, which i had forgotten how much i disliked (sorry boo). she had not seen it but was glad she had not paid to see it in the theater.

it was a low-key wonderful way to wind down the weekend. this christmas was the best christmas i have had in a long time. not because the gifts i got were better or cooler, but because i just felt happy. i was completely content, with (warning-cheesy phrase impending) a heart absolutely full of love. i found myself truly appreciating family and friends and being excited to spend time and share that gratitude with them.