Anatomy of a Weekend

We are quite the family tonight.

Here we are, in the prime of our life. 

The last hoorah.  In an attempt to spend quality time together, we camped out tonight in the basement, papers strewn over the bed, highlighters scanning research articles, laptops propped open, finishing essays and diagrams, while his iTunes is connected to headphones, and mine is playing just loud enough to drown out ESPN's highlight reel and the squeak squeak squeak from Lilly's favorite toy. 

This is our life for one more week.  He types still, while I finished what I needed to do for awhile now.  I continue to look busy because I know he's thinking, "I need to keep going, I need to keep working."  I let him, because we only have one more week. 

Meanwhile, the dog doesn't, and there's that squeaking again.  She can't settle herself tonight.  K just turned away from the laptop and ESPN and said, "I am sitting on four of her toys.  I seriously don't know where she keeps getting them." 

Poor dog, this has been a tough semester on her too. 

We are in the final stretch, and yes things will get crazy this week.  But, we compensate.  Like taking off Saturday and visiting a farmer's market (well, let me rephrase that, the farmer's market), after enjoying breakfast together.  We bought meat and dog treats, how anti-farmer's market is that?  Then, we did some Christmas shopping, and ended up just buying stuff for ourselves.  Every year, K and I buy an ornament, like a really fancy one, and this year was no different.  We found a glittery school bus that represented the year of school: finishing it for me (for now) and starting a career as a teacher for K.  Very appropriate. 

We spent the rest of the evening decorating.  And, to our amazement, we have four ornaments together.  Four years.  How time has passed, as that's what everyone says, but four. Amazing. We have two trees this year,  the big one upstairs with all of the family ornaments, which we decorate a little differently each year.  And, then we have the downstairs tree that is pretty much filled with Lilly ornaments.  She also has four ornaments, and she's only been with us for one Christmas, and that was pure luck. 

There's one upstairs too, how embarrassing. 

The tree isn't very big too, which makes it worse.

I would like to figure out the surface area of the tree and then calculate how much of it is occupied by dog ornaments. 

Our Saturday was just what our tired, worn-out souls needed.  We topped it off with an outing with K's mom, complete with a Williams Sonoma run and Starbucks chit-chat. 

The next day, I was revved up like someone who is not in nursing school.  Seriously, I ran in the morning, I put away all of the things that were sitting outside that would not survive the winter (which I know is going to be just awful, I know it), and then I put up all the outside Christmas lights. And it was horribly cold, which didn't at all compare to the horrible wind. 

I won't post much about that, because I don't want to give away the sight to the parents who will be visiting in nine days.  

It's my job to put the lights up outside.  I'm pretty sure I volunteered for the job a couple of years ago, but I don't mind. It's almost a rite of passage, like making a campfire.  My dad makes the fires at home, and I make them here.  And he puts up the lights at home, and now I do here.  I kind of like that.  We don't have inflatable Snoopy's on the front lawn, but, I think we have a pretty impressive display.  I even wore a puffy vest in lieu of a jacket, cause that's what he use to do too. 

I love the twinkle that emerges from this season.  I love being able to fall asleep with Christmas lights on.  I love coming home from another long, tedious shift and pulling up to the rainbow of lights that outlines our house.  I love that in the deep, dark winter that usually produces deep, dark feelings, we can have so many tiny lights in our lives.

It was an exceptional weekend.  A little taste of what's to come.  A reminder that this time next week, life will be normal again.  Whatever normal we want it to be.   Sunday night was a pivotal moment for me.  Somewhere between my bath on Saturday night, when I laid in the bath and listened to Jay-Z while reading this book (because that's how I roll), and Sunday night after I peeled off my puffy vest and jeans, I went with a thought that I had thought the night before.  I want to start swimming.  Yes, a crazy, unrealistic idea to think in December.  Especially since I had failed to follow through with this thought over the summer. 

A crazier thought to think after a year of lots of work, no play, and lots of junk food. 

Still, for some reason higher than me, I went with it.  I got me a suit, I changed out of my hanging-lights-clothes, and I went to the gym.

And I swam. 

I swam all giddy and such.  The pool was all mine and I reveled in it.  And I discovered that I still can't swim in a straight line, which I thought I would have grown out of.  But, none of it mattered because I was was so happy.  I don't even know how to describe it, but I felt like a different person getting into that pool. I wanted something and I went for it, despite all of the fears or insecurities that I had. 

So, we were quite the scene tonight.  But that's okay because we're totally coming into our own and becoming the people we're suppose to be.  We're go-getters tonight.  We're extraordinary lately. 

Wait until you see us next week.