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barlow_girl and I spent much of the week at home, working and spending quality time with the TiVo. By Wednesday, things had cleared enough to enjoy our annual stomach-stretching pre-Thanksgiving feast at Buca di Beppo, and on Thanksgiving day we hosted seven other friends for dinner (we have to get better about taking pictures, one of these days!). After a week like this, I feel very rich indeed.Maybe it's some form of cabin fever, but while I've been able to get plenty of rest, I've also felt a bit unraveled and frayed as the week moved on. Yesterday it caught up to me, trudging to the office to do the office-specific tasks between growing piles on my desk, finding mistakes I'll need to patch up today, and generally feeling like a mess. Probably a result of being so far outside my usual rhythms combined with the ongoing toll of grief, discord, and transition at the church. There've been easier times to do my job, and my job is by far not the toughest. Hope can be tiring work, especially in the face of loss, and in many ways, I simply haven't wanted to do it at all, or at least not in the ways that cost me something.
We'll start our Christmas decorating today, including a Christmas tree at some point (maybe today!), and Advent begins tomorrow. It's a great season for thankfulness and perspective, and those are probably the very things I need.
