That's how I've felt for the past two weeks. I mentally checked out of the office on or around Monday, December 15th, and I haven't gone back. Well, I'm here right now, technically...blogging...at my desk, but still! Mental vacay. This was a busy December, both in the office and out. (And that's not counting the things I had on my calendar but totally skipped.) Why is it that when we reach adulthood the holidays are a lot more overwhelming but without all that childish excitement? Well, I still consider myself capable of childish excitement, but it seems harder and harder to drum up when so many other things interfere. I thwarted the busyness to the best of my ability this month and managed to fill my cup with Christmas cheer despite it all!First of all, let's talk about the Nutcracker. LOVE IT! It's definitely my favorite ballet. How can it not be, I've seen it close to ten times. This year I went all out for the Washington Ballet's Nutcracker, and it was amazing. Please keep in mind that I have the best going-to-the-ballet-shoes of all time. Why, you ask? Because they look like toe shoes. They're pink and satin-y and they have ribbons that lace around my ankles. They're also freakishly tall and really hard to walk in. Ugh. Even Dr. Scholls can't make these shoes as comfortable as my Merrills. Oh well, they look good...and as long as I take careful, measured steps they feel mostly good. Pair them with a sleek black dress and viola! I'm ready to go. Two of my roommates and I cabbed it downtown to have a leisurely pre-ballet dinner at Chef Geoff's before the show. And I mean leisurely. Don't try to make reservations less than 36 hours in advance of show night, cause then you'll have to eat at 4:30. Seriously, don't do it. The ballet started at 7, so we got there with plenty of time for appeteazies, first courses, second courses, and desserts. It was gooooood. Best butternut squash ravioli of my life. Best ravioli of my life, for that matter. Despite the excellence of the food, libation and merriment at Chef Geoff's, the real magic started when the curtain rose in the Warner Theater at 7pm. Have you been there? The theater is gorgeous. I was breathless throughout the show. One thing I love about the Nutcracker is that it's adaptable. Parts of the story can be worked to fit the tastes of the musical director. I've seen it performed maybe 4 different ways. In Tulsa it's set in 1920's Paris. Septime Webre's setting (for the Washington Ballet) was more traditional - the family home of Clara and Fritz and their parents with the tree that grows and the toys that dance. However, the second half of the show was very D.C.-oriented, and it was splendid. The nutcracker prince was George Washington. The Waltz of the Flowers was performed by the Cherry Blossoms. The Arabian Dance was more of an Anacostian Tribal dance. (Don't ask me who the Anacostians were. All I know is that Anacostia is a stop somewhere on the metro line.) Clara and Drosselmeyer's nephew were transported to their magical kingdom via riverboat. What a delight! I didn't want the evening to end. Luckily, the route home took us right by the National Christmas tree, so the night was Christmas-complete.
Let us not forget that I experienced two incredible shows in D.C. over the past couple weeks. I not only saw the Nutcracker, but I saw the revival of West Side Story at the National Theater. Wow! Forget Tony, I'll never stop saying (read: singing) Maria. Good times, people, good times. So there were other events that kept me busy: Christmas parties, orchestra concerts, visitors, Christmas shopping and family band concerts. Okay, not a family band, per say, but more of a member of my family in a band playing a show. Confused? My cousin Shara's band, My Brightest Diamond (see link at right for sweet deets), came through DC on tour. So I got to spend a cold rainy Thursday night listening to great music with strangers, friends and family. It was awesome. I would also like to give a shout out to Clare & The Reasons, who opened for MBD. They are so good. Loved every moment. Besides that, I played two WMPA concerts that were fun, caught up with friends who were passing through town, and prepared to leave for home.
So that takes care of the out-of-office stuff. Want to know about the in-the-office stuff? Well, prepare yourself. I was an office elf. Blerg. I thought I was signing up for the set-up committee. No, in fact I was signing up for the holiday party planning committee. Rookie mistake. I commandeered the gift exchange portion of the party. I recruited invaluable help from a couple coworkers, but I had to manage the whole shebang, and it was torturous. "Gillian, send out a mass email with the rules for the game so people can be prepared." No problem, done. "Um, wow, Gillian, send us ANOTHER Smithsonian email. Those rules were like a book." All lies, there were three sentences to the whole email. "I never read that email, how do we play this game again?" "Gillian, explain the rules to everyone before we start." ARGH! I will not be elffing next year. No, no, no.On the bright side, my office won the door decorating contest. We re-themed the "12 Days of Christmas" as the "12 Months of (the Donor Fundraising) Campaign". As you can see from the picture, we showcased each of the 12 months with lyrics and visual representation. But that didn't win us the prize. We also included an audio representation. We sang, well I didn't as I was accompanying on the violin, and recorded ourselves on a digital voice recorder we taped to the door. That's what won us the prize. People kept walking by, pressing the play button and listening to us squawk out the 12 months of campaign. What a treat for the ears after the 5th time, really.
So there you have it. In a nutshell, that's what kept me busy this month. That and reading some really good books, watching some great movies (Marley & Me was phenom), and baking chocolate chip cookies. Plus, I had 5 fabulous days with my family in Tulsa, and now I'm back at the office (supposedly) scrambling to enter all the gifts before our year-end deadline. Well, I will be scrambling again shortly. I needed a break from the scramble. It's hard to go back to work after spending such good times with the fam. I really didn't feel like coming back to the District. Next year I'm taking more time off. Don't feel too sorry for me, though. The fun doesn't stop once Christmas ends. There's still New Years Day, my 4-day weekend including MLK Day and Inauguration Day, my birthday weekend, and so much more. January's going to be good. I can feel it.
Welcome, 2009. Make me proud.
