Farewell

Dear 2015,

As you draw to an end, I bid you goodbye. Perhaps not a fond goodbye, but I can say I will miss you, if only because I could use some more time in this lovely life venture. 

There were ups and downs and rough patches and peaceful moments. Lots of change, which I'm still not sure I got right. A new hobby, less of an old one, good books read, lots of podcasts listened to, and many nieces and nephews visited. Some progress on goals (not nearly as much as there should have been). Lonely moments, and breaths of joy. 

Whatever else happened, I got lucky enough to end the year on a great note (so much fun with nieces and nephews!), which will go a long way in filling out the good memories. And while I am saying "so long", I don't think the new year in my life is going to be all that different. (I swear, you years all seem to be the same!) 

Anyway, like it or not, it's time for us to move on. So ciao to you, 2015. It's been something.

End of the countdown

Only one more day before I get to immerse myself in one of my natural habitats* - kids! I have really been looking forward to this. I mean, really looking forward to it. Eight kids (no, that is NOT crazy), 7 days, and Christmas. I'm pretty sure it doesn't get better than that. Happy holidays to me!

*I have two. The other one is in the archive.

Snow and other seasonal things

Today I got out of work 2 hours early due to snow. I was kind of surprised, but I have spent the last few winters in a place where things didn't stop even when temperatures were cold enough to give you frostbite if you stayed outside too long, so I have a different threshold that I'm working from. I didn't mind leaving early one bit, though. And I was thrilled that there is snow, lots and lots of snow. I have been walking around seeing the massive amount of Christmas lights in the city and they just look kind of sad without snow. So that situation has been nicely remedied.

I know that white Christmases are probably an exception rather than a rule for most people, but I love them. It's part of Christmas, just like lights and decorations and music and food and movies and giving people stuff and people, all of which I think I have raved about before. But, they are just so fantastic. But there is something about the combination that makes it work. I mean, Christmas music in May just isn't the same. Or Christmas lights, or Christmas foods. It's like a magic spell and all of the components work together and make the world just a little bit better.

There is something about the combination that makes it a special time for Christ, too. Not that I don't think he matters any other time of year, or that you have to have all the trappings to be able to focus on him and draw closer to him. But I think there's something about thinking of him as that baby born in Bethlehem--we don't really think about that at other times, and there is something tender about that. So I love this time of year, I love thinking about the baby who became the Man.

And doing it in my living room with just the Christmas tree lights on, well, that's just a bonus.

Who knew?

Today, I learned about demonyms. I have often wondered about these, and now I know 1) what they are called, and 2) that Wikipedia has a list of demonyms for different places, official and unofficial. Who knew that people from Connecticut are called Connecticuters?  Or that people living in Albuquerque are Burqueños? And if you are in Fort Wayne, you can call yourself a Wayniac? (Because really, why would you say Fort Wayniac if you can just say Wayniac?)

I didn't set out to learn about demonyms. I actually was intrigued that Morelos is a state in Mexico, and was then curious about how many states Mexico has, got sidetracked by Mexican state flags (I think vexillologists could have some fun with those), and then found a random link to demonyms for Mexican states.

I also learned today that the Berlin Wall actually went around West Berlin. Don't ask how I never knew that, because I probably should have, but I wasn't alive then and it never came up in history class (shameful). And I discovered that Berlin has a pretty fascinating history (It's 778 years old, ! That's amazing!), and there is a thing called the Berlin Buddy Bear, and that the bear is kind of a symbol of Berlin. And I learned that you can bike the Iron Curtain trail, which I think would be amazing. I didn't plan on learning all of that, either, but sometimes you learn things without even trying.

And I solved the mystery of aperture on my camera, or at least one of them. And had fun playing with my remote shutter.

So, I end today smarter than I began it.