I was exhausted by the time we rolled into my grandparent’s hilly mountain driveway, emotionally and physically drained by a long, stressful week at work, and a lack of sleep that dates back to the end of July. But I couldn’t have been happier the second we were met by my grandpa. I immediately took note of his wardrobe; one thing you should know about my grandfather, if nothing else, is that his life is more routine driven that you would ever think possible; you may think that my adherence to a 5am wake-up time during the week so that I can work out before work is excessive, but Grampsy takes his routine to an obsessive level. You can plan to the minute when he will take his tea breaks (and his tea must be prepared just so; watching him carefully measure out his tea, set his timer so the water will be perfectly warm, and then, once carrying his teacup over to his chair, pouring the water so that it just skims the rim of the cup), take his beloved (and adorable) dog, Disney, out for a walk, take his afternoon nap and go into town and get the mail. But his obsessive routine is one of the things I love about him most, because, most of the time, it is just an adorable little quirk about him. Additionally, he has his uniform of sorts, his Episcopal High School track pants, a flannel shirt (and, if it’s cold enough, a fleece jacket), tall white gym socks, sneakers, and a hat, sometimes worn upside down on top of his head, to keep his perfectly shaven head warm. So you can imagine my shock when I noticed that Grampsy was wearing…wait for it…JEANS. I think my mouth was agape, and I had a good laugh about it later with my mom. Grammy immediately fussed over who was sleeping where and where all of our stuff was going to go, one of the things that I love about her, but we were all soon sitting around the roaring (gas) fireplace catching up. I called it an early night, being that I was exhausted, and that full night of sleep was absolutely delightful.
Thanksgiving morning was completely lazy, which was such a nice change in pace from a normal weekday for me. I did some writing, baked a pie, and generally lazed around. By mid-afternoon, though, the type-A in me took over, and I decided to go for a run. Well, a run turned into a hilly trek (seriously, those hills were like nothing I had run before), and I ended up over by the highway. I ran, on the highway, back down into the valley, after having run, essentially, to the top of the steep ski slopes. By the time I got back to the house, an hour-and-a-half had passed (that’s what happens when I have my iPod and decide to go for a run; one of the things I have loved about getting back into running in recent weeks has been my ability to get truly lost in my music and in the rhythm of running. It is the most head-clearing, wonderful feeling, and is truly a natural high), and I felt on top of the world. Add to that a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and you have the makings for a pretty amazing day. I even watched a little bit of football…begrudgingly, claro.
I realized how long it had been since I had seen my grandparents (I hadn’t seen them since my cousin Amy’s graduation from JMU in June) until Grammy and I had a ladies day out (my mom, unfortunately, had caught Grammy’s Thanksgiving stomach bug, and Grampsy would too later on in the day) when I went for a girls day out with Grammy and realized how little she knew about my life since May! We had a great day, complete with a stop at an art gallery, lunch at a tearoom, and a lovely drive over rolling hills and past vineyards, with gorgeous mountain vistas all around us. It's the simple things in life, man...I took another hilly run later in the day, and then we settled in around the fireplace and ushered in the Christmas season with a little Love Actually viewing. It had been ages since I last watched it (perhaps since last Christmas?), and I always love being re-introduced to all of the storylines of varying degrees of romance. Unsurprisingly, my favorite is that of Jamie and Aurelia, he the bumbling, adorably awkward Englishman and she the Portuguese transplant in Marseille. Their miscommunication is funny enough to leave the viewer in stitches, but the part of the storyline that makes me melt is that they each learn each other's language...well, kind of. When Colin Firth's character marches through the streets of Marseille with the entire Portuguese community there in tow, intent on finding the woman he loves to propose to her in his (not so) carefully spoken Portuguese. This movie would make even the biggest of cynics turn into a hopeless romantic :)
The second I got back to DC on Saturday, a newly purchased Christmas tree and ornaments in tow, I felt the stress of city life come rushing back. After spending the weekend relaxing, reflecting and writing, it was back to reality. I immediately shifted into full-on type-A mode, flitting about and trying to get all of my errands done. On Sunday, though, I was able to run to Georgetown, where I went to a wonderful 1st Sunday of Advent mass at Holy Trinity, and then continued my run along the waterfront, around the Tidal Basin, and then over to the Portrait Gallery. There has been a Norman Rockwell exhibit there for months that I've been meaning to go to, and I figured that this would be the perfect opportunity. I was not at all disappointed; even though I have been to Rockwell's house and official museum in Stockbridge, MA, there were still some paintings that I hadn't seen before. I just love how he captures the spirit of his subjects, as well as the spirit of their times. Each of his paintings is like a scrumptious little slice of Americana, and I could look at them all day. Being able to stand before those paintings to the point where I could see the brushstrokes and blending of colors, well, it just made my day. I limped home (yeah, going from not running at all to running 4 times- for 8-10 miles each run- in one week took a toll on my poor little knees, so I think I'll sadly have to skip running...well, until this weekend!) and got ready for a new week of work after a positively lovely long weekend.
The Christmas season is officially upon is in DC, and I can't wait for all of the joy and revelry that I'm sure it will bring. One thing I'm particularly joyful about? Georgetown basketball!!!!!!! I was remiss in neglecting to mention my beloved Hoyas in my original "Giving Thanks" post, but, when I think about the happiest I've been in recent memory, it was November 15th, the day of my return to the dear old Phone Booth, the Verizon Center. Although our seats are about a gazillion times worse than the first-row seat that I occupied for my entire time at Georgetown (not to mention about four times as expensive), just the chance to be there and watch my beloved team left me walking on air. This season promises to be full of near-heart attacks, as is evidenced by Chris Wright's buzzer-beating three that sent our game against Mizzou last night into overtime (we went on to win the game 111-102), but I couldn't be happier for another season of the Hoyas!!!!!!!! It's nice to have something to look forward to!
Now it's on to my next projects: decorating my apartment for Christmas and sending out Christmas cards!!!!!! Ahhhh, I love the Christmas season!!!!!!! I'll leave you with a little something from my favorite Christmas crooner: BING!!!!!
Here's hoping for another snowy DC winter :) Hey, a girl can dream!
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