Last weekend before Christmas
It was a nice spring weekend, for the latter part of December.
Friday, I was smart. I ran a last few Target errands on my lunch hour so I could avoid the place like the plague this weekend. So after work I pretty much went straight home and got into relaxation mode immediately. It was delightful. I went to bed before 10 p.m., I'm pretty sure.
And got a good long sleep. I was up by 9:30 or so, but sweet mercy, I had an unplanned day (until about 5 p.m.)! So I did what I knew I wanted to do: I went for a long walk. Ahh. I was going to get a bagel at Lakeside Deli, which is about to move (it won't be beside a lake anymore), but apparently they decided not to bother being open this weekend. (They do mostly cater to a workday crowd.) When I got home I ate breakfast because by then I was VERY hungry. Then, showered and got ready to head out. I had one last present to get, for my brother, and I had to go to Annapolis for it. Fortunately NOT the mall, because dear God the backup out onto Rt. 50 was just madness. I went downtown and parked and walked to the coffeehouse where I got his gift certificate. It was a balmy 73 degrees, for real, and people were out in droves. There was also apparent a "Santa Speedo" run and a big tent full of under-dressed people who I'm sure especially loved the unseasonably warm temperatures! (One of my favorite local bands, Dublin 5, was playing, so I walked pretty slowly past the party tent to listen for a bit.) After I got the GC, I decided to walk around a bit since it was so nice. I headed for Main Street, and I was hungry after my small breakfast that I ate around a long walk. I decided to go to Chick and Ruth's Delly, a great old standby that's been there forever and that was a favorite hang-out in high school and early college years. It was so good! And friendly and busy and bustling but not crazy. I read my book and ate a steak sandwich. Yum!
From there I walked back up to my car and headed out. Drove back home, with a quick stop at the local Food Lion for a few things for Christmas desserts that my family asked me to bake. Then I went home, put stuff away, and got dressed to go out. My friend Rodger has started a tradition of dinner in Chinatown and a walk around the National Tree, and that happened Saturday night. It was a lovely get-together and a nice group of folks. The weather was tremendous because I didn't have to deal with a bulky coat. Of course, I'm old now, so by 11 p.m. I was pretty much done. Gene and Telf drove, which was great, so we headed out to the Metro for Silver Spring and then points north. I got home and in bed by like...uh, 1:30 or something?
Up at 9ish for church. I was running a little behind, but I've been improving on my timing lately so I tried not to give myself too hard a time. It was a really good service, but afterward I knew I had a lot to do that afternoon so I pretty much just left. I grabbed some lunch, then did my last little bits of grocery shopping. Then: home, start the oven for the afternoon's orgy of baking. I'm pretty proud of myself: I baked an apple pie, a pumpkin pie, and a batch of chocolate chip cookies, plus two loads of laundry and cleaned the apartment, all in under four hours. Woo! Then my friend Laura arrived to watch Love, Actually with me. She had never seen it!! What fun to introduce that movie to a new person. We chatted for a while and walked to Little Caesar's for a pizza (still really nice out, though intermittently rainy) and walked home. She brought some fruit salad and we had a nice little feast. Then the movie, which I may just love more every year. Then Laura headed home sometime after 11 p.m., which, whoa. I did NOT get enough sleep last night. But I took off the two days after Christmas so I know my work week is VERY short, so I can make it through. Very, very sleepy today, though. *ZZZ*
Friday, I was smart. I ran a last few Target errands on my lunch hour so I could avoid the place like the plague this weekend. So after work I pretty much went straight home and got into relaxation mode immediately. It was delightful. I went to bed before 10 p.m., I'm pretty sure.
And got a good long sleep. I was up by 9:30 or so, but sweet mercy, I had an unplanned day (until about 5 p.m.)! So I did what I knew I wanted to do: I went for a long walk. Ahh. I was going to get a bagel at Lakeside Deli, which is about to move (it won't be beside a lake anymore), but apparently they decided not to bother being open this weekend. (They do mostly cater to a workday crowd.) When I got home I ate breakfast because by then I was VERY hungry. Then, showered and got ready to head out. I had one last present to get, for my brother, and I had to go to Annapolis for it. Fortunately NOT the mall, because dear God the backup out onto Rt. 50 was just madness. I went downtown and parked and walked to the coffeehouse where I got his gift certificate. It was a balmy 73 degrees, for real, and people were out in droves. There was also apparent a "Santa Speedo" run and a big tent full of under-dressed people who I'm sure especially loved the unseasonably warm temperatures! (One of my favorite local bands, Dublin 5, was playing, so I walked pretty slowly past the party tent to listen for a bit.) After I got the GC, I decided to walk around a bit since it was so nice. I headed for Main Street, and I was hungry after my small breakfast that I ate around a long walk. I decided to go to Chick and Ruth's Delly, a great old standby that's been there forever and that was a favorite hang-out in high school and early college years. It was so good! And friendly and busy and bustling but not crazy. I read my book and ate a steak sandwich. Yum!
From there I walked back up to my car and headed out. Drove back home, with a quick stop at the local Food Lion for a few things for Christmas desserts that my family asked me to bake. Then I went home, put stuff away, and got dressed to go out. My friend Rodger has started a tradition of dinner in Chinatown and a walk around the National Tree, and that happened Saturday night. It was a lovely get-together and a nice group of folks. The weather was tremendous because I didn't have to deal with a bulky coat. Of course, I'm old now, so by 11 p.m. I was pretty much done. Gene and Telf drove, which was great, so we headed out to the Metro for Silver Spring and then points north. I got home and in bed by like...uh, 1:30 or something?
Up at 9ish for church. I was running a little behind, but I've been improving on my timing lately so I tried not to give myself too hard a time. It was a really good service, but afterward I knew I had a lot to do that afternoon so I pretty much just left. I grabbed some lunch, then did my last little bits of grocery shopping. Then: home, start the oven for the afternoon's orgy of baking. I'm pretty proud of myself: I baked an apple pie, a pumpkin pie, and a batch of chocolate chip cookies, plus two loads of laundry and cleaned the apartment, all in under four hours. Woo! Then my friend Laura arrived to watch Love, Actually with me. She had never seen it!! What fun to introduce that movie to a new person. We chatted for a while and walked to Little Caesar's for a pizza (still really nice out, though intermittently rainy) and walked home. She brought some fruit salad and we had a nice little feast. Then the movie, which I may just love more every year. Then Laura headed home sometime after 11 p.m., which, whoa. I did NOT get enough sleep last night. But I took off the two days after Christmas so I know my work week is VERY short, so I can make it through. Very, very sleepy today, though. *ZZZ*