This week has been a little sad for me. I'm realizing I just missed what could very possibly be the last normal Christmas my family will ever have. My mom called from the Christmas dinner table and passed the phone around so I could talk to each person for a few minutes.
Since I'm going to be heading home to pick up a moving truck full of furniture in a few weeks, I decided not to go home for Christmas.
I walked around Dupont Circle, waiting for snow, talking on the phone with various friends and relatives. I got more than a few drunk-dials from friends in Montgomery who had all managed to make it home for Christmas (some from out of the country) who called to scold me for not making a measly 12 hour drive to get traditional "we're home for Christmas, holy crap our families are crazy, let's go to 1048" drinks on Christmas Eve.
Also since I'm almost positive that a few of my gifts are under armour, ear muffs, etc... sitting in Montgomery until I can come unwrap them... it's really frustrating that I'm up here with less-than-sufficient cold weather attire. I very quickly learned the value of good boots and gloves.
Since I was late taking David to the airport I didn't make Christmas Eve services (does anyone call it midnight mass anymore?), so this morning I made sure I was on time for services at St. Thomas' in Dupont. It was an absolutely beautiful church with lovely people, but I'm looking forward to moving to Alexandria with the girls so I can finally set down firm church roots. I've visited almost every Episcopal church in the DC metro area... and that's saying something.
Until our house is ready, I've been staying with a friend who I honestly cannot speak enough about... I want to write a book about her. She has a hamster, which fulfills my cute, fuzzy animal needs, and her apartment is in a really great location. She has a Kosher kitchen so I've had a ton of fun making sure that I use the right sponge to wash the dairy bowls, etc. I've turned into a total Kosher nerd - reading her many books on the subject and treating her like an encyclopedia. Reading about Judaism makes me feel like I don't have enough ways of expressing my spirituality in daily life.
I know a lot of my family and friends already read this blog to keep track of me, but I think I'm actually going to invite more of them to read as I transition this into a "this is what I'm doing now" blog. And while I suppose it's always been a bit of that, it's getting difficult to keep in touch with everyone.
We'll see how that goes.