It is late & I can't sleep.

It seems all night long I've been willing myself to stay up late (for no other reason than tomorrow is a holiday), and now the brain is stuck in 'on' mode. So I blog. I blog lots of things.

-Christmas has come and gone. This year most of my immediate family was absent (due to preference/inability/death) so I expected it to be quite bland and melancholy. However, it wound up being pretty great - highlights:

• my niece looking for Jesus on the ceiling and then deciding he was actually the baby sitting a row behind us during mass
  
• lively discussion, delicious fondue and games with a complete stranger on Xmas Eve
• online zombie fights late into that same night with an old friend across the country
• being psyched by gifts I'd forgotten I'd even asked for
• a mini-toast in memory of the only grandparent I've ever known
  
• lots of chatting with a far-away brother and his family
• painting the niece's fingernails like a pro
• brunch with a good friend (and running into several others at the same time)
• receiving a "F*#k you" in response to a gift given, after which I couldn't stop smiling
• It's A Wonderful Life

-Sometime this past year another old friend got me back into video games. I now own more than I will ever actually play for the rest of my life. Good thing I'm a (relatively) smart shopper regarding such things.
-Simultaneously glad and completely bummed I didn't buy that snowboard pass this year.
-There are not nearly enough 30+ degree weather days this time of year...I'm sort of desperate to start running again.
-Incidentally, the last time I went out for a run I wound up with a week-long flu thing that kicked my ass. Perhaps hibernation/insulation is a better call for now.
-I miss the whole of my family.

Alright, gotta try hitting the hay again. G'night for now.