A Breath Of Winter Air

Dear Bloggers,
We are gathered here today in memory of this blog, who died of neglect and choked to death on the accumulated dust. It was a faithful blog, always letting me ramble, never judging me for failing in my use of markup, and very rarely did it ever mess up and post multiple times.
So sorry about all that.

Things here were so...indescribable. Ever since my cousin arrived, things got insanely busy. Between my studies, his trying to adjust to a new sleep schedule, trying to show him America in 4 weeks, the holidays, and the church Christmas program, it's been hard to get a breath in.

My cousin was not what I expected. I somehow thought he'd be a grown-up Christopher Robin. Prim and proper and slightly boring. I was far off in my assumption. He was exciting, and fun to be around, and made peanut butter no bake cookies. He played video games (it's been months since I had played video games), board games, helped me with my guitar, decorated for Christmas, and made gingerbread cookies with me. It's funny how you can not meet someone your entire life, and after a month cry so much when you say goodbye. He says he'll come back to visit again next year. He has to. He didn't see our town's giant plastic mouse on this visit.

The church Christmas program is next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I'm singing in the choir. I get to hit a high G, which is challenging, but fun nonetheless. I like it. I'm a second soprano, so I don't have the hardest parts. And I love singing. The only thing I don't like is the people in the choir. The director is married to the first soprano (who I swear could sing opera) so she gets solos. She's friends with this alto (who I extremely dislike because she is so self-centered [and I have to stand behind her....I contemplated the distance between my choir folder and her head last week...but then I decided that would be childish]) she's friends with her so the alto gets solos too. And the alto is friends with this other alto who is absolutely horrible. She literally insults everybody to their face, and then turns around and smiles sweetly and leads worship Sundays. But I'm complaining. I'm not in choir for socializing, I'm in it to spread the good news of Christmas, so I should keep that as my goal and not get distracted by judging others.

Thanksgiving was fun. My whole family made it with Phil a week early. Then a week later on the actual day, we watched the parade, then went to the Pastor's house and played games and ate the actual dinner. That was enjoyable.

The day after, I had to wake up early. Not for sales, but to get Phil to the airport for his early morning flight. Along the way we stopped and did go shopping as soon as Jo-Ann Fabrics opened. A particular item was $200 off. We proudly drove away with the last one in the whole store. After dropping Phil off at the airport, I went to the mall. I needed a shirt for the Christmas program, but I ended up only finding one and it was far too expensive. I wanted to go to Hot Topic to get some new arm warmers, but it was so crowded that I decided it could wait for that. The only Black Friday excitement I ran into was the front window of Macy's was shattered. I'm not sure how or why, but it was. And there were police and caution tape. I think it was a mannequin that got pushed through it, but I heard people saying it was a person. But that's how rumors begin, so I would rather just leave it at a mannequin. Less violent.

It's been a week since then. Life's finally slowing down. Yesterday the first few snowflakes fell softly. By last night there were two inches of snow on the ground. I went out on the front porch to turn off the Christmas lights, and paused for a breath of winter air.
I love Christmas time.

So, I promise I'll make this thing live again. There's magic in the air, something exciting is bound to happen.

Here's to Peace, Love, & Virtual Funerals
~Lola