And here we are again on Christmas Eve. The last moments of Advent lie before us as we wait for the kiddos to fall asleep. The December-time of quiet waiting has felt hard to come by this year, in the midst of all of our busyness. Even these past few days, settled in to our stay in Aurora, nothing much on our agenda, have somehow just evaporated, and suddenly the wait is over. We're dashing about wrapping last minute gifts and trying to get one last blog post written...Christmas always sneaks up on me, it seems.
The past ten day sof waiting/not waiting have been filled with...
Swim meets
(Viking invitational meet- a full day of chlorinated air and noise and chatting with swim team parents and watching Jack get two PR's and *almost* qualify for finals in breastroke (number 31 and the top 30 advance) and it was, as usual, more fun than one might expect)
Time with friends
(open house party at Alex's house where we didn't know too many people but the ones we did know, it was great to see,,,)
(and just SO much fun at a communty sing with Cleveland Cocktail Choir and friends Elissa and Jay and Holly and our new friends Jessica and Jan because we always make new best friends at Cocktail Choir. Especially at Christmas...)
Holiday concerts at Severance...
(10 concerts we by surprisingly quickly, it turns out. Singing the final Sunday was the most fun, so much positive energy and holiday spirit. Plus drinks in the Smith lobby during lunch break which didn't hurt)
(Such a blessing to sing these concerts. Did they take away time from other holiday events that I might have enjoyed? Yes. But did they fill my heart with holiday joy? Also yes. I love singing with this group of other crazy people who choose to do this with all of their spare time, just like me...)
Holiday cheer at work
(one of my favorite desk views-- last day before break doesn't include too much teaching, per se)
Preparations
(I didn't think it would all get done, I really didn't. Not with my time all devoted to Chorus right through the 18th. But here are the cards, ready to go, and our car was packed with wrapped gifts on the evening of the 22nd. Somehow at Christmas time expands just enough...)
More time with friends
(hadn't seen these guys since Thanksgiving! We had walking tacos and catching up at their house, then off to StanHywet!)
Light in the darkness
(that's Christmas lights I'm talking about... but also the time with friends, and the singing, and the preparing, and the teaching, and the swim meets... all of it. Life. Busy and fun and exhausting and so very full of light. even on the darkest of days...)
More preparation...
(Cats think they help...)
Theater!
(We finally saw Hamilton! From side-box seats! In all our finery! All of those parts of the experience were just amazing.)
Quiet before the storm
(we ran about like mad on Thursday, pushing our leave time for New York ahead by a day to beat a forecasted storm. Had everything packed by 4:30 but the kids were busy til 5:30 and so here I was with the cats and the clean house and it was a really really nice hour)
Quiet after the storm
(the storm never really hit here in Aurora. But we've hunkered down anyways. It's peaceful here. A perfect place for a moment or two of waiting)
And now, all is quiet upstairs. Time to bring down presents and make magic happen under that tree. Merry Christmas eve, everyone.
