12/20/14. The post where I finally get into the holiday spirit.

12/20/14: it was cold this morning, but the rain was gone, so my foot felt a little better.  I had planned to sleep in this morning and try to catch up a little, but my body was having none of it.  I am a creature of habit, so I was up early even without the alarm.  I stayed in bed, hoping I'd fall back asleep.  Instead, I tried to recall lines from the acting scene I recently started rehearsing, made a mental to-do list for the time between now and Christmas, and did some other mental exercises.  When I finally gave up and got out of bed, I wasn't physically refreshed, but I sure felt organized.

My patient, long-suffering husband had a rehearsal this morning, so I ran some errands while I waited.  As you've probably figured out, I don't like to be out in crowds at any time, but most of all I don't like to  shop around Christmas time.  I needed to buy wrapping paper, cards, and stamps, so I was prepared for the worst, but I was pleasantly surprised.  I was able to get everything but the stamps at a drug store right by the post office.  And when I walked into the post office, it was like a ghost town.  There were only about three other patrons in the office, and they were all friendly and in good spirits.  I felt like I was in a scene from a '40s Christmas movie.

After my patient, long-suffering husband got home from his rehearsal, we picked up our friends and took off for a (partial) day trip to nearby wine country.  We had some wine club shipments to pick up and our friend just had a birthday, so we decided to make a day of it.  And we had a lovely time.  The weather was crisp and dry and we found a couple of new gems in addition to our old favorites.  We followed it up with a nice dinner and started the drive back home.  As we passed through a small town on our way back, I was pleasantly surprised again. The town housed the electric company that serves the area, and the company property had an amazing light display.  As my patient, long-suffering husband observed, when you get a bunch of guys together who regularly play with electricity and have access to cherry-pickers, they're going to put up some pretty good Christmas lights.  There were lots of folks walking around admiring the lights, and because it was a small town, some of them were in horse-drawn carriages and flat-bed trailers pulled by tractors.  Once again, I felt like I was in a scene from a '40s Christmas movie.  

My foot started feeling worse on the drive home, but all-in-all, I'd say it behaved quite nicely today.  Apparently it has also finally gotten into the holiday spirit.