Christmas? My favorite holiday that I over-decorated our apartment for and spent way too much money in preparation for and got so, so excited to go home for the holidays in anticipation of?
It's gone. Over. Done with. FINITO. Au revoir. Arrivederci. Adios 'til next year, my friend.
It feels like the last few weeks have been a whirlwind, and after all of the build up I'm kind of looking around, confused, wondering where a) Christmas went; b) December went; and c) 2011 went. Even more overwhelming are ALL OF THE PLANS/IDEAS/GOALS I've started to make for myself for this upcoming year of 2012. (Sidenote: I think I've blogged this before, but does anyone else out there ever read something with a date of like... 1999 and think "Psh, that was just a few years ago... oh, um... or thirteen. A child has become a teenager and my mind still thinks it was just a few years ago." Also devastating-- hearing some of your favorite songs start to make the rounds on a radio station's Wayback Wednesday playlist.)
(If you're still following this jumble of random, bless your heart. I've just inhaled a large coffee and my mind? It is racing.)
The funny thing is, one of my goals of 2012 is to NOT plan so much and to not be overwhelmed. Planning to stay organized is one thing; planning to an obsessive extent is completely different. I'm an "it's all in the details" kind of person, yet I know it's time to take a step back when I'm laying in bed at night mentally practicing how to tie the perfect bow with my ribbon, perfectly color-coordinated to my wrapping paper and how I'm going to attach the color-coordinated initial ornaments that I bought for each gift. Brian sometimes says my mind must be a scary place at times-- agree.
So anywho, I need to lay off of the details. By nature I will always plan and over-plan and worry afterwards if I planned enough, but my goal is to try and start to enjoy the results of my planning, because I really do not do that as often as I should.
To wrap up the last few weeks, I'll bullet:
*I went home to Texas for Christmas. While there, I drank a lot of wine and sweet tea; ate my weight in sausage balls, Trash (snack mix), Chick fil A, and Mexican food; walked our boxer, Lucy; spent time with my family (extended and immediate); and had the best girls night in ever with the best of my best friends. My shopping was done so I got to relax and sip coffee in the mornings and go for runs at 10am if I wanted to... and it was just lovely.
*My parents completely surprised me with a Kindle Fire for Christmas. As anti-eReader as I was forever (hello, desire to work in the PRINT publishing industry)... I'm hooked. Like, it is my precious baby and don't come near it. We're one in the same. The bond? With my Kindle? It is powerful. Truly though, it is SO handy on the train/shuttle and weighs much less than the three books I routinely carry for my daily commute (a girl's gotta have her literary options). So... Kindle Fire. It's good, pretty stuff.
*Our tree is so dead I'm afraid to turn the lights on, but am crossing my fingers that it can pull through to 1/1/12. Then we'll bid it farewell.
*We got a Keurig for Christmas. Sticking in the K-cup is easy. As for the estimation of how much water to use... I'm still learning:
*I cannot wait to make black eyed peas and cornbread on New Year's Day.
*Pinterest Check: I made melted snowman cookies while I was home! They're adorable! I'll share pictures (I promise).
*My flight to Texas included an aisle-mate who played percussion on her lap and aggressively tapped her feet for the entire. four. hour. flight. I shamelessly snapped a picture as proof once we landed and before I bolted to get the HECK away from the crazy:
*We may/may not stay in on New Years Eve. For the first time ever, I would be comPLETEly okay if that's how our plans work out.
*My race schedule for 2012 is in the works. I ran most mornings that I was home and BOY did it feel good to be back out on the pavement. Seriously-- I've missed it and am also reminded why I get sick of the treadmill so fast. I even ran Christmas morning with "Santa Baby" and "Baby It's Cold Outside" playing in my ears. It might have been my most invigorated run in a while.
*At our big family Christmas Fiesta last Thusrday, my five year old (second) cousin Jack looked me dead in the eye as I wiped the remnants of (bright, royal blue) snowman scarf icing from his cheeks (and nose, ear and forehead) and said "Katie, I love you," in the way that only a little five year old boy can say. And I about melted to the floor. He has my heart, he does indeed.
The rest of this week will likely be cray-cray, and it's not a good sign that my left eye has already been twitching, so I'll try to post my million and one pictures from Texas asap. There are some goodies, I promise!
P.S. Does anyone else feel lost on Pinterest without Christmas ideas to save and obsess over completing? I couldn't help but giggle when I saw notices that people had repinned Halloween and football pins in place of Christmas. It's like we're lost with no direction. Is it Valentine's Day yet? V-Day = new board = new world of procrastination.
