Category Archives: Holidays

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Getting Back to Normal

First off, before I forget, huge thanks to everyone who sent well wishes (both on my own website as well as the LJ crosspost). I think it really does help the healing process to know that people actually want you to get better. (Even if it’s just so they can then tackle you with impunity.)

But yes, things are definitely on the mend here. I’m back to normal foods (although with this hideous cold that’s blanketing a lot of the country right now, a soup diet is not such a bad thing!), although still being careful with what I injest. Hey, a little extra care on what I eat isn’t really a bad thing now. Friday was definitely the turning point of going from “I still feel awful” to “I am starting to feel like I am actually getting better.” By the end of the weekend, I was thinking, “I can’t wait to go back to work.”

At this point more than anything else I’m waiting for the Steri-Stripsâ„¢ to fall off of my four incision points (a process that takes “1 to 2 weeks”), and to hopefully get the all-clear next Monday to start exercising again. Honestly at this point I suspect that tackling the full National Marathon at the end of March is probably a no-go, but if I’m allowed to start running next week then we shall see how it goes. Until then I am being good and not lifting heavy objects, or going to cycling class, or using the rowing machine, or anything else of the sort. It is, of course, driving me a little insane.

Still, easy does it, so it’s just as well that I am having a pretty low-key Christmas. Charlie is visiting his family in Alabama, and my older sister’s visit was right before my surgery, so it will just me my parents and Suzanne (plus the adorable canine Bruno) during the day, and then relatives and family friends over for dinner in the evening. I did receive a tripod from Charlie as part of my Christmas present, so maybe this weekend I can finally try out some night photography that doesn’t involve the camera being perched on top of my car or a ledge. (Dear weather: please cooperate.)

Oh, and as a get-well gift to myself, I am now the proud owner of an Xbox 360. It came with two free games (Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones) but so far what I am really playing on it are two games I purchased on the XBLA online store—Braid (a platform game which plays with the flow of time and is mind-bendingly wonderful), and Uno. No, really. Tod and Ed have been raving about Xbox Uno and yeah, it is awfully fun. So I certainly have things to keep me busy. (Oh, and my Xbox Live gamertag is “Greg McE” if you would care to add me. You can chortle at my pitiful number of Achievement points so far.)

It’s all good!

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Christmas Giving

At the start of the month, Raina mentioned that she’d signed up with the New York Cares Winter Wishes Program, where they send you a New York kid’s Santa letter that would otherwise end up with nothing, and you send them a gift or two in return.

I immediately signed up, but the actual letter didn’t arrive until today (and the stuff is supposed to get there by the 15th!), so I ended up doing a little online shopping. I have to say, though, that the letter just made me feel so sad. I got a 12-year old girl who mentions that she has good grades, and would like some clothes. And all I could think was, “If I was only going to get one thing for Christmas, it would be awfully hard for me to think logically and ask for clothes.”

I ended up sending about twice as much stuff as the suggested amount, but I don’t care. (And yay for some killer sale prices at Old Navy online.) I put a little extra money in to get it shipped ASAP, so it should still make it there in time, happily. But… I was thinking about it… and I ended up going to Amazon and sent a game and a book as well. I just wanted something her to get something fun, too. I hope this is a good Christmas for my letter writer.

I have to say, though, that this is probably the best I’ve felt about Christmas gift buying in a long time. I normally give gifts to Toys for Tots and Child’s Play every year, but they’re never for a specific person. Knowing what she asked for and being able to fulfill that and then some? Totally different. I definitely want to do this again next year, and hopefully with a little more advance time too.

Yay for Christmas!

(Oh, and the book I got her? Let’s just say that not only do I think she’ll like it, but it felt right knowing that the author is the whole reason I signed up in the first place.)

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Friendpalooza

I’m not entirely sure how it is that I can go several weeks at a time without seeing anyone, and then over the course of a week and a half I see something like nine zillion friends. I feel like I’ve just finished up the latter, between Thanksgiving and now. It’s the holiday season, certainly, which accounts for a lot of it. People start having parties, or brunches, or dinners, or all sorts of other things. I’m always in favor of them, up to a point, and it is great to see everyone.

(I say up to a point because I have learned that I do have my upper limit and I can’t go beyond it or I start feeling overloaded. It’s been an important lesson to learn.)

But yeah, it’s one of the things that I absolutely love about the holidays. There are friends that I don’t see as often as I should (well, to be fair, that’s all of them) and this lets me feel like I’ve made some progress in that direction. From movies and tree-decorating-parties to watching them carve bears out of cake for shoppers’ amusement, it’s all really good.

(I have to say, speaking of movies, I am entertained by the fact that not only did I end up in a group of 10 people to see Milk on Friday night, but that I ran into no less than five other people I knew at the movie theatre that night. That never happens for me. Just goes to show how in-demand the movie is right now. And yes, it was pretty good.)

I’ve got only two things during this upcoming week, and then starting with this next weekend it’s going to be crazy all over again. My family is having “mini-Christmas” (which is the only time all of us will be here for it, although Christmas itself will be celebrated too) on Saturday and Sunday, and that should be really nice. On Monday the 15th, I get the gallbladder removed, which I’m looking really forward to. Considering that the middle of last week finally ended two-and-a-half weeks of mild to major nausea at any given moment, I’m all in favor of that sucker getting out of me, even if I do finally have that lovely side effect finally under control. Actually not worried about it at all, honestly.

Of course, this does mean that I really need to finish up the Christmas shopping; I’m so glad it is about 90% done already. I suspect a lot of next week will have me out of it, based on the experiences of just about everyone I know that’s had their gallbladder removed. (Who knew it was so common? Not me.) And beyond that? There’s a trip up to Sag Harbor for New Year’s, and I’m still vaguely contemplating tackling the National Marathon at the end of March. I sketched out a running schedule to start with the new year, and we’ll see how that goes. It will be a tight schedule but if I don’t act like a big wimp when it comes to cold weather (and provided we don’t end up in a world of snow and ice), it’s doable. Hmmm. Because right now, I have been a big wimp about running. Brrrr.

But anyway, I have to say that this time of year reminds me what great, great friends I have. It’s so wonderful to see them as much as I do, even though it sometimes just makes me feel bad that I haven’t seen all the rest of them as well. (So many people, so little time. *sigh*)

And now, time to haul out the flannel sheets and switch over, because I am sick of this cold. Consider this my way of getting us a nice little heat spike later in the week, ok?

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And So That Was Christmas

Christmas came and went this year not with a bang, but with a slight murmur. We’d “split” Christmas this year, due to not everyone in my immediately family being able to come home for the holiday-the first time ever for us. So we’d had what I’ve been calling “mini-Christmas” a week and a half earlier, then the actual event again on the 25th but absent some key participants.

While the experience was certainly enjoyable both times, somehow it seemed to lessen the overall effect of the holiday. Maybe it’s because the holiday for me has strongly leaned towards everyone being home and together, and even at “mini-Christmas” that wasn’t really the case, doubly so since everything was still open and there wasn’t that day where we were all together and doing things and generally driving each other crazy.

Christmas Table-SettingBut don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed myself. In some ways this muted holiday was the best one I’d had in a while, because the different circumstances seemed to rob any opportunities for drama. (Well, not entirely true. But close enough, at any rate.) It was definitely stretched out, though, and of course while the holiday isn’t just about exchanging gifts, the fact that even that got moved into three days (some with family on the 14th, more with family on the 25th, then with Charlie on the 28th) made it feel a bit odd.

Happily, though, people seemed to like what they received. I sometimes find myself really worrying about what to get people, because I want them to really enjoy the gift, the idea that they’ll know that they’re important to me and I thought about them for a while before making a selection. (Even choosing off an online wish list is something that I try and do with care, and if necessary I will abandon said list and go in an entirely different direction.) I got some lovely gifts in return as well, some fun games for the Wii and PSP, a few books I’ve been coveting (and how fun is it to get a coffee-table art book where you actually own one of the pieces spotlighted?), a couple of DVDs, some CDs, some refills on products I use (like cologne and body lotion), a piece or two of clothing… all things very much appreciated and enjoyed.

On the whole, though, it’s been a little quiet. Charlie and I had tickets to see Avery Brooks perform Tamburlaine at the Shakespeare Theatre for the 27th, only to have the production cancelled due to Brooks being injured (and the original understudy having to suddenly leave the production due to a family emergency). Thankfully, after two weeks of cancellations, it is now resuming and we’re rescheduled for next weekend on closing night. Hopefully Brooks will be able to resume the role then, but I’ll just be happy to finally see it. I spent part of the holiday just feeling tired (although a 6-miler on Christmas Day helped shake the doldrums), and a little wistful that due to both of us having family engagements, not spending the day itself with Charlie. But we’ve got plenty of time for that down the road.

Really, though, when it all comes down to it? While Christmas dinner was pending one final arrival, I remember sitting downstairs in the living room with one of my sisters, four cousins, and a close friend while we discussed the movie playing, Christmases in general, relatives who weren’t there, and any other conversational tangent that jumped out. And it was really nice. So there we go, really.

Only 361 more days until Christmas.