Tuesday, November 29, 2005

What Happens in Nicaragua


One of the things I love about Christmas is getting out the ornaments and remembering the people who gave them to me or the events they commemorate or whatever.

I also have a tendency to make things into Christmas ornaments that were never intended as such.

Tonight in putting up the tree, before I even got the ornaments out, an ornament that had gotten packed away with the tree fell out.

It's an umbrella that came out of a drink. I kept it because it reminds me of a very memorable night in Nicaragua. It makes me think of Matthew and the people we met along the way on that trip.

There are lots of travel trinkets on my tree. It reminds me of how much you rely on those you travel with to have your back, to keep your secrets as you keep theirs, to deal with the crises and celebrate the surprises one finds along the path.

Of course, what happens in Nicaragua stays in Nicaragua... or whatever they say...

Productive Day


I had a very productive day today. I managed to get a number of things from my desk into other people's worlds. That's pretty much my goal on a daily basis. I also got two big projects out the door.

After work I laid down for a nap - pretty rare for me, but I haven't been sleeping very well lately. I go through periods where sleep is elusive and I'm in one now. I go to bed exhausted but wake up dozens of times a night. Eventually, exhausted with the cycle, I just get up. That was the case last night. I finally just got up about 5:30, after only about 3 1/2 hours of sleep. I had a couple hours of sleep this afternoon and fortunately I am still going strong. I have a lot I want to do yet tonight.

I've been hauling things up from the basement. I'm obviously going to break my Dec. 1 rule this year. Generally I like to have all of my Christmas things done by Dec. 1 but that just won't happen this year. Oh well... there's always next year to shoot for.

The trick is going to be after taking a break for the holidays to get back on my organizing track and keep at it so by next year at this time I'll be in full swing for the holidays.

I've decided I'm inviting all of the Altrusans to my home one night in December. That will be fun.

Well, I'm going to go back to working on Christmas things. I do love getting everything out and seeing it all again. I've been collecting Christmas things for years so I have quite a bit of stuff.

I change what I put where every year. I know from talking to other people that they tend to do the same thing in the same place every year. I guess I never have things in the same place so that doesn't work for me.

I've always teased Sondra that every time I'm in her house it's different. Now I seem to be the same way.