I'm not going to get all weird and mushy about December because of Christmas and all that.  I am going to get all weird and mushy about getting two weeks off though.  Dang - that can't come fast enough.  D is away in a very warm, dry, dusty part of the world drumming his hands off and learning to be the next croc-whisperer.  I am here in sun-less, wet, cold Toronto pulling myself out of the dumps.  Here are some of the things that have given and will give me purpose over the next two weeks:

1.  Me, Kid #1 and #2 got up embarrassingly early two days ago to take advantage of a Christmas tree drive hosted by one of our local tv stations.  You donate $10 to a local food bank and you get a Christmas tree.  The only catch... you have to get there early.  We were there by 6:45 a.m.  yeah... that's right.  But we got the damn tree people.

2.  Not sitting through another Christmas concert rehearsal for about 360 days is something that definitely brings a smile to my face.  I'm not going to elaborate beyond saying 4 down and 3 more to go.

3.  Learning that I don't have to sit all the way through a concert/show if I don't want to has been a most freeing discovery for me.  My BFF KT and I went to the Opera about a year and a half ago.  We had ludicrously expensive seats - if I had sneezed it might have thrown off the leads, at least they could've handed me a tissue.  Neither one of us are heavy opera fans so KT told me that if we had seen enough after a while and decided to go out for drinks instead then that was fine with her.  AND that's what we did.  We sat through an hour, got our fill and left... had a great evening with a couple of drinks and great conversation.  Now if a concert (especially the not too exciting ones) is going past the 1 1/2 hour mark I start to get antsy.  I almost feel claustrophobic - like I need to leave very soon, get out any way possible.

4.  I don't and never will understand why every single concert happening at Christmas must be obligated to perform only and exclusively Christmas music.


5.  I'm very much looking forward to making gifts this year.  Soon to come - homemade Chex Mex, homemade lemon curd and cookies and scones in a jar... what the hell let's throw some homemade crackers in there too.

6.  I've finally been able to start running again.  Plantar Fasciitis has had me down but not out for the last 6 weeks (!).  I've started small with 1 km and will gradually build myself back up to my regular routine.  I'm planning to run two half marathons next year.  In the meantime,  I'm still doing yoga like crazy, biking to work and rolling my foot over a little ball to encourage healing... it's finally working.


7.  I love that you all read this and wish I could send all of you some Chex Mex (well... if it doesn't totally bite) and Lemon curd.