Tis The Season

Hello!

I have been gone.

My apologies.  Don't be mad, bro.

I have been holiday-ing and adult-ing and sleeping.

I went to a friend's holiday party this past weekend and it felt very grown up.  Mostly because her house is huge and beautiful and she's younger than me.  She had fancy things:

I sat at a beautiful rustic table and "talked shop" with a colleague, and we were using language that confused her husband, and after a few moments, I realized we were being very grown up.

I observe what it's like to be an adult quite often.  I was just talking to Karen the other day about being an adult.  We were at my boyfriend's house, (George Washington,) Mt. Vernon for the annual Illuminations event, and this little girl was doing cartwheels instead of walking.  I mentioned that I used to do that.  Karen said, "Remember when you were a little kid, how all the adults used to tell you to enjoy being a kid, but you just wanted to grow up and be an adult?  I miss that."  I disagreed -  Maybe I am over-trusting, but whenever an adult said that to me as a kid, no matter how I actually responded, in my head I always thought, "Okay, I will enjoy being a kid, thanks for the advice."

Had lots of fun at Mt. Vernon and very pleasant weather again.

Meanwhile, did I show you a photo of my neighbor's house last year?  Even if I did, they add something new each year, so feast your eyes upon this year's decor.

I've had the goal this holiday season of watching as many Hallmark Channel Christmas movies as absolutely possible.  I've thrown in some ABC Family Christmas movies here and there, but mainly I've been sticking to Hallmark.  

I do hope that you've given yourself a fair chance to get into the Christmas spirit, with enjoying colors and lights and shiny things and furry things and people being extra-ordinarily nice, despite it still being a rather warm winter.

I feel obliged to take a moment with you and hold your hand and make eye contact and get real. You know how I get.  

As you may or may not know (or care,) while I am not the most devoutly religious person by any means, and I swear like a pirate, and I wasn't raised in a church, I am a Christian.  I am about as non-denominational as they come, but I can see truth in almost every religious practice out there - whether it's Catholicism, Baptist, or even if you worship crystals and hug trees, I can respect it.  

I've taken part in churches where they speak tongues and been a part of Native American drum circles.  I can appreciate so many different kinds of religious practices, and in fact, I relate more to folks who lay on the ground and worship the God of the Forest, and then bow before the ocean and worship the God of the Seas more or the same as people who diligently report to their pews every Sunday morning. 

I have my own ways of nourishing and protecting my spirit, which include attending (non-denominational) church, standing in a silent forest, listening to Yanni, and surrounding myself with the talisman of the Evil Eye: 

Click here to find out more

Those who know me know that I have this with me basically always.  I even have a room in my house painted these colors.  It's everywhere around me.

All that to give weight to my telling you that I was really moved recently by some experiences, and I feel obliged to encourage you to partake in the same experience.  

The Hallmark Channel, along with other Christmas favorites such as "Love, Actually," likes to keep reminding me that Christmas is a time for telling the truth, so here I go. 

I've had an interesting history with this church called Lighthouse.  I've been off-and-on with them for the past ten years or so.  I could talk more about this, but maybe another time. 

Recently I've been going more regularly due to having more free time (I can't justify sitting around watching The Hallmark Channel without also going to church.)  I am here to tell you that I was absolutely moved by a couple recent episodes they are doing surrounding the Christmas story.  

I love history.  I like sitting back and listening to a good, true story.  I have never heard anyone describe the ACTUAL history WITH CONTEXT of what was actually happening, and what each movement meant.  I am in LOVE with this story.

So either listen below, or please download the Lighthouse Church app on your phone, set up your phone before you slide your car into Drive, press play, and then just listen to the story while you are driving home today, and then on your way to work tomorrow.  You will not regret it, whether you care about Jesus or not.  I am in love with the way this church is giving historical context to the stories that you and I are hearing songs about right now.  If you are a believer, listen to all three, in order.  If you are just here to hear what I'm talking about, watch in this order:

Number Two:

Number Three:



And here is the First, in case you are interested:



Trust me.  You will like it.

Okay, please do listen to those, even if you are just at work with nothing better to do.

Have a merry Christmas, my friends.  

Ice, Hiking, Swift

Exhibit A.

Ice

They are making an ice skating rink (click here to see) right outside of my building. It’s weird.

IM conversation with a colleague:

2:58 PM Colleague

Hello. I did crunches for the first time in weeks on Friday.  Now it hurts when I breathe.

2:58 PM Veronica

good.  :: grumpy cat ::

The Temp said that they are making the ice skating rink outside as a tribute to my ice cold heart. 

3:00 PM Colleague

He’s right on target with that.

3:00 PM Veronica

I know he is.

Hiking

Because of some stuff, I have recently not been able to be as active as I usually am.  But, now I am better, and am able to get back to regular activities, however, I have fallen out of the swing of things.  

So, when I had to run 7 blocks the other day (in heels) to get back to the office in time, by the time I got to the building, I was exhausted.  This is very unlike me.  So I decided that I needed to walk over the weekend, and Karen said she and her dog could join me.  

We went to Patapsco park, and got all 10,000 steps in for our Fitbits in a very short time.  I’m going to be honest with you – it was a hard hike.  There was actual climbing with my hands.  My legs were very sore the next day.  But it was a nice walk, and if you want to go on a hike with me, you’ve got my number. 

Don't fall...

Hell stairs.  They were half the size of me, they came up to my hip.

 Then, just as we were leaving the park and going to our car, a stray dog was walking down the street, so Karen flipped her freaking flip, and then we spent like another hour chasing this dog and lassoing and waiting for its owner to show up.  The dog was an older dog, and was very disoriented, and didn’t even register our existence for a while; it was just walking and walking, and then it went down into the river, and the whole chasing experience was basically horrible.  

But Karen chased her around, and finally lassoed the dog with a spare leash, and then we decided to just sit down right there on the trail to give the dog a change to chill out.  She didn’t let us near her head because she was too worked up and shaking and freezing, but after about 20 minutes, we were able to read the tag from a distance.  

On a related note, please make sure that your pet’s name tag is very clearly legible, not just engraved silver. Make sure it is something like white on green, or white on black, or black on pink, or something.  

We were sitting there for a very long time because it was so hard to make out the phone number.  But finally we did, and I called the owner, who was all, “oh, that silly dog,” and "oh, when she usually runs away," and acting like it was no big deal.  He also warned us to just stay put, as she is a chow mix, and might get a little aggressive, so we did the right thing by just sitting down for a long time and not pressuring her.  I have other things to say about the owner, but I shan’t.

Meanwhile, while we were sitting there on the frozen ground with our legs and butts totally numb, and Chance (Karen’s dog) totally behaving, the poor dog was howling.  She was howling when I was on the phone with her owner, and the owner said, “Is that her howling in the background?  I have never heard her make any noise.”  Again, I am going to avoid commentary.  So, after a while, we realized that we would not be able to silence her, so, if you can’t beat them, join them! 

Click to watch the video:

We were all singing, except Chance The Dog, who did not find this activity fun nor amusing.

The Taylor Swift

In other news, are you going to the Taylor Swift concert?  BECAUSE I AM!!!!   

Do you ever have moments when you are doing something, and in that moment, you have a small self-assessment moment – “What am I doing?  Is this my life??”  Even Taylor has moments like this.  Like when she was on Good Morning America (which I watch e’ery day, btw) and she said, “I’m performing in Times Square… What is my life right now???”   (Around 6:30 of this clip from GMA.) 

Well anyway, Kate and I were having one of those “What is my life right now??” moments whilst we were on the phone with each other purchasing Taylor Swift concert tickets.  There was squealing and other assorted noises as we clicked “Confirm Purchase.”  We  love her.  She’s like our invisible friend – she’s been on all of our road trips together, right there in the car singing along with us, and on all of our adventures, she’s been there.  

 Did you know that all the proceeds made from her single “Welcome to New York” from her new album “1989” are going to NYC public schools?  (NYC made her an official Ambassador.)  She is good.  

I can’t wait to meet her and instantly become BFF.   It’s only a matter of time now.

Oh hey, Melissa - I found your husband in Tinder.

 You're welcome.