It's 70°F. December 18th, 5:30 pm, and 70°F. It's terrific. I left the office at 2:30 today, ran some errands, and spent the rest of the afternoon working from my front porch. It got dark around 5 pm, so I turned on the Christmas lights... but they feel much more like garden party lights.
It was a weekend punctuated by lovely bike rides. (I'm really getting the hang of my new bike and am feeling much more confident on it. Even though it's yellow, I love riding it.)
Friday night was Liz's going away party. It was a great party, despite the occasion. Tons of people, tons of cupcakes, tons of stuff that Liz didn't want to pack and was encouraging her guests to take. I snagged an electric kettle, a Wellesley wine glass, a can or organic pumpkin puree, and a blue dolphin-shaped massager! Score! Scott and I stayed until 1 am. (I felt so grown-up, staying up late like that. A true testament to Liz's party.) We got to take Military Rd. home. It's a great route that cuts across the city, but it is not bike-safe during the day - too many fast cars and no bike lane. At night, however, when you're riding home towards Delafield, it's fantastic - empty lanes, wide curves, all downhills. I broke out the highest gears on the Yellow Giant and flew home. Definitely fun. Surprisingly peaceful.
Saturday was the day we barely left the house. We did make it out for a run in the afternoon (it's been warm out for such a long time!), but mostly we got stuff organized at home. I packed up a big duffel bag full of Margo's stuff that she left here last spring to take back to Minnesota. We used the canned organic pumpkin puree to make pumpkin bread. But we didn't know where the loaf pans were, so we made bundt bread. And then we made a big pot of chili. Around 6:30, our housemates started trickling in, along with a potential new housemate. We interviewed him (gently) over dinner and then celebrated Abby's birthday with the birthday-bundt-bread and then played telephone-pictionary. Good times.
Abby's birthday celebration continued on Sunday morning with a brunch at Mayorga. I had my first cup of coffee in a few weeks, and it made me tremble. It made Scott shaky too, though, so I think it was particularly strong. Tasty though. Home for a bit - Scott played Settlers with Seth and Peter, I practiced violin. Then off to Aaron and Jess's for a holiday party. We walked in on the end of a rousing game of telephone-pictionary (it's all the rage these days!), decorated some cookies, thoroughly enjoyed Paul's hot buttered rum, and said good-bye to Liz for good (sadly).
Then, it was time to go to the Kennedy Center to sing along with Handel's Messiah!! We managed to get terrific seats - the front rows of the highest balcony. Great views of the whole shebang. My choral memory was a little rusty, but I sang along with the alto line pretty well on the famous parts. And when I didn't know what to sing, I got to listen to an amazing performance. Good music, obviously, but good energy in the audience as well. The bike ride home was another fast one - I really like taking 16th home when it's late and traffic-free. And I had the Messiah in my head the entire time. Such a wonderful aftertaste.
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