Elaby's LiveJournal - 57 Academics

Oh, December. I always think "I'm not someone who gets stressed out by the holidays!" Ha. Ha.

We've been really busy the last couple of weeks, and luckily many of the things we've been doing have been fun things. Our after-work and weekend hours seem packed, though. I have physical therapy for my ankle twice a week (it's going well) and there have been lots of things going on at both my and Rachel's workplaces that require cooking, baking, present-buying, schedule-rearranging... @_@ Because the holidays are coming up, we're trying to cram in a few visits to relatives we won't be seeing on Christmas along with making and buying presents and helping out with stuff at our local Unitarian Universalist church. We were going to go to the Hanging of the Greens there yesterday, but we decided we just had too much to do at home :\ That stretched-thin feeling of never being at home was creeping up on me last week, though, so it was ultimately a good thing.

I'm weaving some Christmas presents this year, and it makes me super happy :D I always wanted a craft that's as fulfilling to me as knitting is to Rachel, and while I don't know if I can achieve that level of squee when it comes to crafts, I find weaving really fulfilling and I look forward to doing it. I wish my loom was more portable XD It's not something you can whip out at a cafe after you're finished your sandwich...

(Okay, now I want a Tofurky sandwich so bad. I may have to stop by Trader Joe's and get some sliced tofurkey. <-- Written earlier today. Had a Tofurky sandwich for dinner! Best 6-point sandwich EVER!)

I'm also really excited because, for the first time ever, I took the Solstice off work. This is the first year I've really had the opportunity because a) I have paid vacation time now and b) this is a New England Christmas year, whereas last year was a Colorado Christmas year. We're going to do a ritual at home during the day and then go to the Solstice service at our U.U. church in the evening :3 SO EXCITED. As I've gotten older, I've longed more and more for the moment when the sun starts coming back. The Solstice means a lot more to me as part of my personal spirituality than Christmas does; Christmas has an important place in the realm of family tradition instead. Even though we're not Christians, we both grew up in Christian families (nominally Christian, anyway - with various strengths of belief at various times). I want to honor the traditions we made as children and that our families passed down, and also to treat with respect the beliefs of Christian people I respect, even if they're not my beliefs.

Also I've been drawing ponies like whoa and I need to scan them or something. I have yet to find an acceptable mixture between the Friendship is Magic animation style and my own style. So things are looking kind of awkward at the moment. My first attempt at deviating from strictly FIM-style ended up looking so much more like a deer than a pony that I just turned it into a little reindeer... ^^;;