happy holidays!
the season is upon us
I drove down to the bay area for a couple personal activities, and worked from headquarters for a day and a half. first activity was the Sunday matinee of "my" Nutcracker Ballet, where I also got to see some of my favorite people after the show at the stage door. it was a wonderful production, as expected, and it made me wish even more to be involved in theater in our area. [my 'dressing-room-mate' Marji recommended a theater in downtown Sac, so later I planned a Thursday evening trek to see The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley, seeing familiar characters in a sequel of sorts. truly enjoyable!]
on Monday night I went to see Janet performing in "our" band's Holiday concert. Bill had several pieces I had not heard before, so it was even more enjoyable to hear the band tackling new material!
for our admin population at work, we have regular virtual "proximity" gatherings to keep us all feeling like a community. for the holiday season, we had a 12-days contest where we uploaded a picture of each day's theme. these were my contributions. I didn't win for participation in this contest, but I did win one of the four trivia games. I won a person shredder. :-)
we added a few lights to our backyard, just to make it a little festive. I also added a few lights to the front door's wreath.
Hanukkah started and I lit the candles. this year it ends on Christmas night.
during the pandemic I discovered a performing group that encouraged new artists and writers to create and produce short plays. for this holiday season I watched their productions of A Very Hitchcock Christmas and Holiday Spirits. each one showcased six different sketches based on the night's theme and both were highly entertaining!
at work, I got two days off for Christmas this year, the Friday and Monday surrounding the holiday. my theater friend Gary offered me a ticket to see him in the Friday matinee of a panto of Sleeping Beauty in the fabulously renovated Presidio Theater. it is quite a drive, which could get ugly since it's along a holiday travel nightmare, but it was worth it! I left early enough that I could have lunch at the Mexican restaurant two blocks away, and enjoyed sangria and carne asada.
such a fun and hilarious spoof of the traditional fairy tale, with local references in abundance! Gary was adorable as the confused king, had great singing opportunities, several great dance scenes, and even did a cartwheel! I had asked the usher if the cast came out to greet the audience after the show; I was disappointed when he said they don't since they have another performance right after. however, Gary did come out and greeted several patrons who had been slowly leaving the theatre! I was happy to get a selfie with him.
then it was time to hit the road. the drive down took a little over two hours, and I was happy that the return only took a little over three. it could have been so much worse, given it was Friday and a holiday exodus!
Craig and I made Christmas dinner, with a little Queen Elizabeth flair (including my Jubilee tee-shirt). he made a prime rib, while I made Yorkshire Pudding, and our favorite bread pudding for dessert!
we had two visitors on the back fence in the morning when Craig was putting the rib on the grill on the patio.
unfortunately, Christmas was spoiled by Covid ... late Christmas evening I got the worst headache, and by 2am I had a fever over 100. Craig got me the home-test, which of course was positive. I endured several calls with Kaiser before they finally filled a prescription for Paxlovid. I spent the next five days enduring the brutal constant headache, sleeping for hours a day but not restfully, eating just enough to keep the meds down, and wrecking all my breathing passages with the coughing, sneezing, and nose-blowing. it wasn't until NY Eve day that I was feeling human - though nowhere near 100% - and ate what could be considered a meal. and coffee! FINALLY!!! two positives ... I had avoided catching this crud for 33 and a half months (from the beginning of the pandemic); and I lost nine pounds from Christmas to New Years Eve!
we were going to watch the ball drop on one of the many broadcasts, but our foul weather caused a power outage that wasn't restored until just before midnight.
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