As predicted, we were up until one thirty last night. It was good to see Carol and Terry, Holly, Nicky and Tracy again, and nice to meet Andy for the first time. They arrived last night around nine thirty. We had dinner (actually, they had dinner: I sat and talked). After dinner, I managed to get the four children around my computer while I showed them Myst, MDK, Wing Commander: Secret Ops and Riven. This calculated diversion worked two ways: it gave the five of us something in common to talk about (I don't follow ice hockey, so I wasn't going to last long on their level), but it also gave Jean time to talk with Carol (Terry got to read the paper quietly in another room).
In the end I think everyone had a good time. We certainly stayed up late. This morning I was up at seven thirty and off to work at eight thirty, a little too late to run for coffee. I managed my way through the morning, and had a good time at the Information Services Christmas Luncheon. IS at Richmond is a combination of both computing and the libraries. Since my first job on campus was in the library, I got to catch up with many of my friends from the library as well as talk with my new friends in University Computing. The IS managers (less the University Librarian I might note) did a skit at the end of the lunch: kind of a computer geek version of The Grinch. I don't know why but sketches of this sort always make me nervous. There's something uncomfortable when the people you work for and respect do silly things. You want to laugh, but it's not the same as "regular" theatre. Still, our Associate Provost for Information Services was a great top dog. She played Max (the Grinch's happy-go-lucky assistant), and survived one of the Christmas presents hitting her in the head when the Grinch's sleigh (filled with Whoville loot) was tottering on Mount Crumpet.
Jean and I both worked until seven tonight, making up for time out of the office yesterday. When I got home I rushed to get the Christmas tree and the candles in the windows lit before Jean got home. Then I got a fire going in the fireplace. When Jean got home we sat down by the fire for half an hour or so, just catching up with one another. My sister Colette sent us photos from the baby shower back at Thanksgiving, and we looked at those (I'll try to get them scanned and on-line in the next week or so). The baby's been moving playfully in Jean's tummy today, so we both took some time to talk to her. We had a candlelit dinner, with bread from our new bread machine, and are now going to decorate the tree before going to bed.
It's finally hit: I'm in the Christmas mood. Work is getting into shape enough that it's not bothering me at home, and Jean and I have taken the time to be with each other. We're making all we can of that time. Tomorrow night is the best, though: we're going out for dinner at The Tobacco Company. We've done this each year for the past three or four years, and it's probably our favorite part of the holiday season. I would give up every present at Christmas just to have our night out: it's as if we step out of time into a place where we are who we have always been and always will be. And we're together.
Even the weather is starting to cooperate with the season. When I went to work this morning, we were in the fifties. The temperature fell throughout the day. By the time I got home we were into the thirties, and we're expecting to dip into the twenties overnight. If the weather can just hold through the weekend, it'll be perfect!
reading: 1 Maccabees; The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien - Bumpy's bedtime book)
listening: A Joyous Christmas (The American Boychoir and The Atlantic Brass Quintet)
© 1998 Kevin J.T. Creamer