Elbowglitter

This is Christmas concert weekend for me.  I’m a member of the Cathedral Choral Society and for Christmas, we do three Christmas concerts – a short family concert on Saturday at noon, and full concerts on Saturday and Sunday at 4.  It makes for a busy weekend.  As I write this, it’s Sunday morning and my voice is absolutely shot and I’m exhausted.  It’s amazing how tiring a weekend of singing is.  But the concerts themselves are a lot of fun.  This year, we’re doing a few songs with the Heritage Signature Chorale and they are absolutely amazing.  I want to go to one of their concerts at some point, and I’m not usually a choir concert attendee.  These guys are just that good.

It’s also fun to see all the families all dressed up for the holiday concerts.  This concert is a tradition of sorts for a lot of families and I’m surprised that so many kids manage to sit through the entire thing.  I guess there is a lot to look at around the Cathedral. And of course, being DC, we get a lot of big names at our concerts as well.  Janet Napolitano was there yesterday.  I hope she enjoyed it!  It’s funny to see the Secret Service standing around at our concerts.

(Already falling behind in Holidailies.  Whoops!)

Today’s Holidailies prompt: “Where would you most like to be right now, in this moment?”

When I read that this morning, my answer was “Still in bed, sleeping.  Or reading a book.”

Then the internet broke.  Then work exploded.  Then I just wanted to be anywhere but in the office.

For the most part, I’m usually pretty content where I am.  Sure, it would be nice to already be on Christmas vacation and at home with the family and the dogs (I really miss having a dog or three).  Or maybe out on a beach somewhere.  Or in Disney World.  I love Disney World.

But today, what sounds good is hanging out on a couch with my cats watching a movie and enjoying my only night off this weekend.  Two Christmas concerts tomorrow and one on Sunday.  It’s going to be a busy weekend.

Today’s Holidailies prompt is simply “Home Alone.”  Of course my mind first went to the movie.  I loved that movie as a kid, as did a lot of my generation, I think.  I mean, what could be better?  A kid gets left alone (scary) and when burglars try to break in, he uses all sorts of crazy tricks to keep them out of his home and protect himself and all his stuff.  I distinctly remember the nail in the foot scene and I still cringe when I think about it.

One of my biggest worries when I think about starting a new job is that because I will be the junior member of the team, I will be required to work during Christmas.  I shouldn’t have to work on Christmas – the government is closed, though some essential operations still go on.  Thankfully, I don’t work anywhere near any of those essential operations.  But it’s entirely plausible that I could have to work on Christmas Eve and then again on the day after Christmas (assuming Christmas doesn’t occur next to a weekend like this year).  Because I don’t have family in the area, that would mean spending Christmas alone.  Oh, I’m sure that I have some friends who would take pity on me and invite me to their family Christmas celebrations, but it’s just not the same.  I can’t imagine spending Christmas alone.  Thankfully in my current job, there are enough people who are locals or who don’t celebrate Christmas so I haven’t had to worry about that for the past few years.

My parents always host a number of people for Christmas dinner, both family members and friends of the family.  It’s nice to have everyone together and it gives others a place to go for the holiday.  We joke that we like when the friends come because it gives us an excuse to not talk to our family, but truthfully, it’s just nice to get to see other people that I might only see on Christmas.

I guess for some people, spending Christmas alone is actually enjoyable.  I have a coworker who spent Thanksgiving alone and was delighted to do so.  Her housemates were all gone and she got to eat in bed while watching tv and just had a wonderful lazy day.  I’m sure there are people who love Christmas for this same reason.  Of course, there are also people who don’t celebrate Christmas, and it must be a quiet day for them as well.  So much shuts down on December 25th.  I know one of the local synagogues has a big event that day, a family day with games and spa treatments and all sorts of things.  That sounds like a lot of fun, and again, no one has to spend Christmas alone if they don’t want to.

Sometimes, I really like being home alone, especially if I don’t have anything to do.  Of course, when I say alone, I mean with my cats.  Sometimes we just need a lazy day to curl up on the couch and watch movies.  But I just don’t want that day to be on Christmas.

Today’s Holidailies Prompt is “Write the family holiday newsletter that you’ve never dared to send.”

The “never dared to send” part makes me think that this newsletter should be R rated or something.  But that sort of negates the “family” part of it, doesn’t it.  Maybe just add a lot of swearing and some mindless violence to get that R rating.

I think I’m in the minority, but I kind of like family holiday newsletters, especially from people that I don’t often get a chance to catch up with.  Facebook has changed things, of course, but it’s fun to see the various accomplishments of a family from the previous year.  Sure, it’s a page of bragging, but that’s okay.  I especially love when people try to interject humor into their newsletters.   Even if it fails, I definitely appreciate the attempt.  So here’s my attempt.

Happy Holidays!  Congrats on making it to the end of 2009, and congrats on receiving this letter!  If you are reading this, that means that Megan actually likes you and cared enough to send you a Christmas card.  Or it might mean that she doesn’t like you and wants the chance to brag and show you just how awesome she is.  But don’t worry, there’s at least a 75% chance you’re in the former category.

So 2009 was a pretty successful year for Megan.  She  made it through her fellowship without getting fired, which she considers a real accomplishment.  She’s still in the same job, and she’s very happy to be employed.  This year, a trapeze school set up shop outside her office windows, creating some great workday distractions.  Sadly, they have closed for the season, and she never got the chance to try out her crazy circus skills.

Megan has continued running this year, and in November, crossed the 500 mile mark.  She ran two ten mile races this year, as well as a 5K, and in March, 2010, she will be tackling her first half marathon.  In Disney World.  She is hoping running 13.1 miles in the Happiest Place on Earth is as much fun as it sounds.  As you read this, she’s probably working on her training schedule.  She found a pretty great running route where she regularly shares the road with bikers, walkers, dogs, horses, and the occasional deer.  She choose to give the deer a wide berth, just in case.  Deer are really big up close.  Pretty, but big.  Kind of scary, really.

The cats are still doing well.  Pippin spent the year on a diet and managed to gain weight, much like many Americans.  He prefers to be heavy so that when he choose to sleep on top of a person, they have to work harder to move him and might just let him stay.  Cadu has yet to climb the Christmas tree this season, but has clearly remembered that he looks beautiful while sleeping under it.

For the most part, life is status quo, and everyone is okay with that. 

For your holiday enjoyment, Megan has designed you a drinking game for the rest of the holiday newsletters you will likely receive this year.  Every time someone brags about their child, drink.  If someone brags more about one child than another, drink.  If someone talks about professional sports, drink.  If someone forgets to mention one of their children, stop drinking and save the bottle for that child.  If someone mentions winning the lottery, stop drinking, sober up, and get yourself over to their house.  Rich people throw sweet parties.

Today’s Holidailies prompt is “Your Most Memorable Feast.”

I like food.  A lot.  I can’t say that I’ve had any super fancy feasts though.  But the one that immediately springs to mind involves Turducken.

Yes.  Turducken.  Concentric poultry, as my friends like to call it.

During college, Turducken somehow became a running joke among my group of friends.  I’m not sure why, and I don’t even remember what the joke was at this point.  Either way, we were always referring to Turducken, though none of us had actually eaten it before.  Clearly, that was a problem that needed to be rectified.

I think Mary Beth did the ordering.  I’m not sure of the process, but I know that one day, a styrofoam box appeared in front of her door.  We were fascinated by the idea that you could get meat mailed to you.

Next came the actual feasting.  Of course, we couldn’t just eat Turducken – we also needed a side salad.  Some greens to go with our meat so maybe our arteries wouldn’t totally clog up upon consumption of concentric poultry.  So we bought salad.  And stole salad dressing from the dining hall.  This was again a Mary Beth tactic – she filled ziplocs with salad dressing, stuck them in her coat pockets, and the dining hall monitors were none the wiser.  Unless they read this blog, of course.

Sadly, for me, at least, the Turducken didn’t live up to the hype.  I think maybe I just don’t like duck.  Or maybe I don’t like giant slabs of concentric poultry.  But even so, it was definitely a ridiculous adventure.  And it taught me to never make a joke out of meat.  I might just end up having to eat my words.

Step one was procuring the delicious meat.