I was chatting with my brother yesterday and he sounded surprised that I found this one of my favorite times of the year. While I admittedly think that much of February and March is a dreadful stretch of winter, there's something about it that allows for introspection, quiet, space to achieve and grow.
And it also means, if you made it to January, that you survived the holidays. Yay!
The reasons I dread the holidays typically revolve around:
- the anxiety of buying gifts that friends and family will like, need, & appreciate (I think I did fairly well this year, with a few exceptions)
- the discomfort of travel (the older I get, the more attached to my home, kitties, & creature comforts I become)
- lack of control over what I'm eating most of the time (bring on the sugar and saturated fat, though certainly no one is holding a gun to my head forcing me to eat it)
- the irrational fear that I might unwittingly offend a family member or friend since I'm not used to interacting with them on a regular basis & have forgotten where their emotional land mines are.
This year, I think things went very well. With a few exceptions of people that are hard to buy for in the first place, my gifts were well received, and though I was ecstatic to get home to my own bed, kitties, and shower, I managed my detachment from them quite well on this trip.
Highlights of the trip included:
- My mother-in-law Mimi's open house, which was a lot of fun and a nice way for me to meet more of David's extended family community
- Seeing and spending a lot of time with our niece, Jenna (my sister Dana's daughter), who continues to be absolutely adorable and even more interesting as her interactive capabilities expand
- Relief at getting in some practicing every single day and knowing my endurance and lip wasn't completely deteriorating away from my normal playing schedule - Verne Reynolds etudes totally kick some major caboose! (They sure kick mine, which is what I need!)
- Playing games with Phil & Julie on our fun visit down to Columbus, where we enjoyed the fruits of Julie's expert culinary labors for dinner on Wednesday after Christmas. We had a ball, and man, can Julie cook! She's truly a gourmet. Phil is a lucky guy! ;)
- Getting to go to my dad's performance in The Boar's Head, a medieval musical rendition of what happens after Christ is born. To say it's a pageant does not even begin to describe it. Check out this link for more about their production; it's tremendous. The music was commissioned specifically for this big Episcopal church in Cincinnati, which owns the arrangements, and it's performed every year the weekend after Christmas by full choir, soloists, a full cast of characters in makeup and costume, and of course the orchestra. It's a very interactive experience for the audience, too, since there is singing throughout. When do you get to sing hymns in a setting like that, with full orchestral accompaniment and such spectactular orchestration? It was a ball. I grew up with my dad doing this every year, and we went to it every year I was growing up, and I loved it but never really fully appreciated the meaning and brilliance behind it. What a great tradition.
- Getting to see my Grandma Ginny & Grandpa Phil (my mom's parents) and my Auntie Lee (my mom's aunt, Grandpa Phil's sister) on our visit to Cincinnati. We don't normally get to see them, since I usually had to high-tail it back home to play a New Year's Eve concert. But we didn't have one this year, so we could stay later for their visit!
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