Letter to Santa - Eclipse/Solstice

Even though I wasn’t out of bed until 550a, I didn’t consider it late because it’s the time I wanted to get up. Late implies missing a predetermined deadline. Considering I didn’t get to bed until after midnight, I felt pretty good. It was cloudy overhead. Because of that, I didn’t even bother getting up at 2am to watch the lunar eclipse. Too bad, too, because this was one of the rarest, a full lunar eclipse on the winter solstice. I slipped into my exercise shoes and started my regimen. Like most days, I did 55 sit-ups then 55 push-ups. All but gone is the stiffness in my left shoulder that had bothered me for the last few months. If memory serves, it started during the building of the tree house. I let Frankie out of her pen around 6a, and then took her out a few minutes later. She peed but that’s it. I gave her ample time to change her mind but it became obvious she had no further intentions. Inside, I gave her treat then took Mindy her coffee. Like the day before, it was already after 630a and I hadn’t yet done a meditation or stretch. It was 645a by the time meditation and stretching was behind me. I dressed and left for a run by 650a. It was noticeably warmer, about 25 degrees. There were a few snow squalls but not much accumulation, maybe a ¼”. I ran the full 4.1 miles without much effort. Came easy. Like the day before, Mindy and the kids were already gone by the time I made it back home. Today, the kids were going to stay with Grandma Sharon, something both were looking forward to, especially Bella. As soon as I stripped off a few layers I sent my boss and peer an email sharing that I’d be about 90 minutes late. I planned to use the time to wrap Mindy’s Xmas presents. For some reason, I was a tense ball of stress. If I had to narrow it down to one thing I’d say it’s the holiday/winter clutter. I feel like it’s eating me alive! Everywhere I look there’s Xmas excess taking up space. Then, parked by the back door are everybody’s snow boots. I feel like we need a bigger house. I sought out the materials I needed then retrieved all the gifts from the various hiding spots. It took a while to get into the swing of it but eventually did. At first Frankie was following my every move at my ankles. I hollered a few expletives that I believe finally sank in. Sorry Frankie! I felt considerably better when I finished the wrapping, but I still needed to dress ‘em up, stash 'em, then pick up my big mess. By then, it was already 945a. I had to send another email indicating that I’d be yet another hour late. I decided not to cut corners simply to save time. Instead, I took my time dressing up the packages with bows and curling ribbon. After clean-up I even took the time to fry a couple eggs. Glad I did. I felt much better after eating. By the time I was showered and dressed, it was 1030a. I still had to load my team’s gifts into the Trooper, so bottom line I didn’t arrive at work until almost 11am. That was a fast morning. I spent the first hour checking on a few pressing work related matters then an hour later my boss, peer and I left for our previously planned holiday lunch. A couple of us needed to be back for a 2p meeting, so we couldn’t make an entire afternoon of it. We decided to keep it simple and went to Wind Chimes. We’ve been there a number of times past. Wind Chimes was boppin’. We had to wait about five minutes for a table, but it didn't seem that long. I ordered the same thing I get every time I go, War Su Gai combo with a bowl of Won-Ton soup. I drank only ice water. The food was good and filling. I was hungry and was a clean plater. We were back in the office before 115p. I ended up gifting only one of my team members, the rest I agreed to hold off on until Wednesday so my peer didn’t look bad to his team.  Too funny. The afternoon went fast aided along by Mannheim Steamroller from my iTouch. I talked with Mindy soon after leaving work. She reminded me that she’d be taking Bella to gymnastics and that Jacob was going to the Blue Jackets game with his dad. I reminded her that I had to run three Xmas related errands including a stop at Kroger to get a ham for tomorrow’s holiday potluck, then to Kohl’s to get Stephen’s gift, and lastly a stop at Target for more holiday gift tissue. I was in & out of Kroger in no more than 10 minutes. Traffic to Kohl’s turned out being less snarled then I presumed, which is always nice! After looking hard, I found the gifts we wanted to get for Stephen. Leaving there, I bounced across the street to Target where I got some of the last Xmas colored gift tissue. It was only 615p. I made great time. I was a tad surprised to find Mindy still not back from dropping Bella when I pulled up at home at 630p. I was able to complete all of my after work chores before she finally returned at 640p. She wasn’t home long before she needed to head right back out to get Bella. She asked me to stir the chicken & noodles left boiling on the stove. Sure, dear! I played on the internet and watched the noodles. Mindy was back in what seemed like a minute. In reality, it was more like 10. The three of us ate chicken & noodles together, although Bella did little more than play in hers. Wasn’t real excited a bout ‘em. And come to think of it, she wasn’t in the best of moods. Complaining about everything. After dinner her mood was elevated a bit when I suggested we edit the final version of her Xmas list by adding a note to Santa. We printed it off, addressed an envelope to his place in the North Pole, then Bella took it to the mailbox. And we’ve got pictures to prove it!  We were expecting Jimaken to return for Bella around 10p, or right after the Blue Jacket game. He’s keeping the kids until Friday (Bella until Thursday when she and Mindy go to the Nutcracker). I ended up falling asleep on the sofa while Mindy wrapped gifts from her make-shift wrapping center in the basement. I woke briefly when Jimaken and Jacob arrived to get Bella. I didn’t budge. Too tired. I can’t recall the time when I finally got up off the couch and headed for bed.