Long Weekend

It's almost a relief to be back at work today. Even Penny didn't whine about going back to school this morning.

Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy my long weekend. It was just crazy-busy, and the kids had matching cases of cabin fever as soon as it was half over.

Thanksgiving was at my parents'. John and Sam were not with us -- they were up in Richmond with her family, instead. So we had KT and Kevin and Jess over, instead. Dinner was wonderful, and we all ate too much, and generally had a pretty good time. Penny and Jess were most wroth with us when it came time to go home again.

Friday, I drove down to Chesapeake so KT and I could go see Dark Knight, which was playing at the second-run theater by them. We had a good time with that, too.

When we walked into the mall, we were almost immediately accosted by a lady handing out candy-canes and religious tracts. She pressed them on us with a bright smile, and then waved at the kiosk behind her. "Help yourself!" she said. "Great stocking stuffers! It's all free!"

KT and I looked over at the counter, more to be polite than anything else, expecting to see miniature Bibles and "Jesus Loves Me" doorhangers. And there were a few of those sorts of things... but not very many. Most of what they'd laid out was not only not overtly religious, but distinctly secular. Stuffed snowmen and reindeer; little keychain charms with holly leaves, rubber toys in various seasonal shapes... that sort of thing. Big bowls of assorted hard candy and chocolate miniatures. "Please take all you like!" the lady said cheerfully.

KT and I each took a little stuffed reindeer and a rubber toy for the girls, and thanked them warmly. My religious views are fairly firm at this point, but if I was in the market for a church or belonged to a church that I wasn't strongly attached to, these people would have certainly drawn me. Open-handed generosity with no strings attached and a minimum of "message" is a good start. As Matt said, when I told him about it later, "It's almost as if they've read the book."

On the way home, I wound up behind a Ford Expedition with new-vehicle tags that had its hazards on, even though it was going plenty fast. A mile or so later, I realized that the blinking of its lights was too irregular to be the hazards, and the driver was speeding down the interstate with one foot on the gas and the other foot on the brake, feathering the brake the whole way. I was behind the damn thing for at least thirty-five miles, and it never let up. Except in the tunnel, when the brake lights were steadily on. Even though it didn't slow down at all.

Eventually, it pulled over to the far lane and slowed down to exit, and as I passed, I saw a tiny sylph of a woman, leaning so far forward that her elbows were resting on top of the steering wheel (I guess so she could see over the hood of the vehicle?). I desperately hope it was a borrowed vehicle that she was unfamiliar with, because otherwise in about three months, she's going to need new brakes, and in six months, her mechanic is going to tell her that the monster needs a new transmission, and she isn't going to have the slightest idea why her new car is breaking down so fast.

Saturday, we went down to John and Sam's for a brunch. Sam's parents were visiting, and they were charmed and amused by Penny and Alex. We wish we could've stayed longer, but Alex got kind of cranky about things. Goofy boy.

Matt went to the movies with Braz that afternoon. Lucky for me, both kids slept through most of it, and Alex woke up in excellent spirits, so we had fun playing until Matt got home with pizza.

Sunday, I had intended to get out our Christmas lights and put them up, except that I'm pretty sure the box of decorations is in the attic, and since it was raining cats and dogs all day, I didn't push Matt to hurry up and get them out. So maybe I'll do that this weekend. At least I got out the advent calendars this morning, and I've put up my office decorations.

This week, I need to get back into the routine -- Between the stomach uck and the holiday and the having the kids in tow all the time last week, I didn't exercise at all (unless you count one slow lap of KT's mall before the movie). I need to get back to the gym this week before I lose the habit altogether. (Also, I need to upgrade my membership to include the family so I can sign Penny up for swimming lessons in January.)