The rush is on

Things have been insanely busy at work and home this week, and look to build to a crescendo … tomorrow, when we depart for Faerie. Indeed, within 24 hours we’ll be arriving there.

Since we’ll be out for two weeks over the holidays, Katherine and I shifted our karate schedule from Tuesday/Thursday to Monday/Wednesday nights. We’ll be making a point of it to practice while out in Faerie, both so that we’re limber and ready to be guests at Sean and Rob’s (my nephews) dojo and so that I’m not completely out of practice when I return in January — as I’m supposed to test at the end of the month.

Last night was the Coffee Shop Poetry Reading for the 3rd Graders. The kids all had to wear black, and the audience was instructed to click their fingers for applause (which worked very well and was less disruptive than clapping). Lots of fun, and Katherine did a faboo job performing.

(I don’t know if I mentioned that our family did the Advent Candle Lighting at church on the Second Sunday thereof, two weeks back. There’s a reading that we do, and each of us got a bit to say. Katherine also did a faboo job — what she still suffers from in a bit of a speech impediment is very overcome by (a) volume, (b) speaking slowly and carefully, and (c) putting vividness in her reading aloud. We had several people, even a week later, come up and tell us how good a job she did, and it wasn’t all just out of politeness.)

So nights have been a bit compressed.

Work the past two days has been a series of frustrations — a big project facing an embarrassing schedule delay for reasons not the fault of my group (though ever finger points) … a rather bizarrely set up financial approval for a development effort being slowed up by people who can’t seem to agree on the numbers … and a massive migration from our old, clunky intranet to a new, shiny, improved one, that was organized to require every single file that needs to be migrated over to be processed individually, a process that takes about a minute (and with about 8,000 files, that works out to over three business weeks, working full time at it, and it’s due, of course, Friday).

My cup runneth over and spilleth all over my sleeve, lap, and the carpet around me, leaving mighty stains.

Meanwhile, the only holiday triumph to date is getting the Christmas cards out (and my getting my gifts for Margie and Katherine, that are for here, bagged; others already headed out to Faerie with Jim & Ginger a few weeks back, and Margie can’t find her bag of stuff for me). We are still wading through catalogs for gift shopping, a week before The Big Day. Yikes. We may end up doing shopping on foot in actual stores while out in Faerie. Inconceivable! 

Packing, mercifully, is minimal, since we have full suites of clothing and toiletries already cached out there. Mostly bringing stuff for Kitten (as she’s still of an age that clothes are outgrown between visits) and last bits of gifts and the like, all carry-on. But there’s still plenty of pre-going-away activities about the house to get done — leave the sink clean, food for the cat, this shut down, this straightened out, etc., plus what looks to be a very full working day (from home, the plan is), until Kitten arrives home from school by bus and we jump in the van (with a quick, covert hanging of stockings with care) and head to the airport.

No blizzards predicted this year, at least.

United let Dave Hill, International Man of Mystery check in early.

I have a dozen blog posts queued up to write, plus many things I plan on doing (besides sleeping) this trip. I’m taking scads of vacation time (assuming the job doesn’t drag me back in), so there should be plenty of opportunity for R&R and some of the projects I always plan for but never quite manage to get in that timeless Rip-Van-Winklesque state that is Faerie.

I am looking forward to seeing the family, and friends, and all the good holiday stuff.

And catching my breath.