It's beginning to look a lot like Solstice

What I'm up to:

Reading:
Lots and lots of little bits of Polisci, trying to find a text for January's class.

Listening to:

Watching:
The Invisible Man videos Joe and Sarah got me for Solstice!  I'd forgotten that the first episode was full of so many squelchy bits, so it wasn't quite Sarah's cup of tea, but we've all been enjoying the episodes since then.  It's a lighthearted, snarky, buddy sorta show, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy the dynamic between Fawkes and Hobbes.  I'm also amused to see how much Fawkes reminds me of Fraction's Hawkeye.

Doing:
Being on Vacation!  I powered through two anti-procrastination days and got everything but a couple errands (to the bank and post office) off my work GTD list.  I'll be taking care of those two errands this afternoon, and I am not going to think about work again until Monday January 4th (with the exception of doing some reading to prep for classes, but the feeling of happily anticipating an upcoming class is very different from and much more pleasant that the feeling of "oh, geez, I really need to finish up X,Y,and Z paperwork before I can relax".

Eating/Cooking:
Sloppy lentils, lots of chopped salad, some slow-cooked apple spice cake.  I put the cake in a different vessel from usual, because I couldn't find the usual one.  Because of that the top baked really fast and the innards baked really slowly, leading to crunchiness on top and puddingyness further down, after baking it for nearly twice as long as usual. I'm also exploring new tea options, since my source for Irish Breakfast tea went out of business.  She's been selling off her leftover stock, so I've had something to tide me over, but I'm not really thrilled with the last batch (the taste is only a little better than what I'd get from bagged tea and seems as if it's lost a lot of its subtler notes) and I suspect I'm only going to give it one more try before I decide to switch entirely to a new source.  I've ordered a couple samplers from Adagio Teas.  So far their Irish Breakfast tea is not as whimsical or nuanced as I'm looking for.  A lot more like the straightforward punch-in-the-face flavor of English Breakfast, to me.  I also ordered a sampler of fujian baroque, which I haven't yet tried -- it's described as having notes of cocoa, fruitiness and "glimmers of spice", so I'm hoping it may have the whimsy that I'm looking for.

Something that went particularly well, this week:
Powering through a whole lot of work in just two days.  Go me!  Also, our RPG group finally successfully contained the evil space cube we've been tracking for months!

Something that went less well:
I'm not quite 100% -- some combination of exhaustion, dehydration, congestion, reflux, anxiety, and sorrow -- and I'm growing seriously frustrated.

Something I'm grateful for:
My sweet kiddo, who surprised me the other day by cleaning the entire house while I was out having breakfast with friends.  I came home expecting to need to spend a couple hours cleaning for the afternoon's RPG and instead walked in the door to an almost totally tidy house.  She's such a sweetie, and I'm extremely grateful.

Something I'm thinking about:
Something totally superficial -- I noticed when I was out with friends that they were all dressed in classic examples of their own styles, and I was dressed in a grubby old coat that had been Joe's for years until it stopped coming clean in the wash (and then I started wearing it when my old coat gave out and I couldn't be bothered to go shopping for a new one), a tshirt that I wear when all the stuff I love is in the wash (one of those "it's clean, it fits, and it's civilized (read: doesn't have any rude or snarky sayings printed on it)" shirts), and a pair of jeans that have seen better days.  I have no real style of my own right now, for a variety of reasons, and it's starting to affect my outlook and the way I carry myself.   So I've decided to challenge myself -- as soon as I rack up 100 hours of exercise and ruthlessly clear out my closets, I will take myself on a truly indulgent shopping spree to refill those closets with a (modest) wardrobe I genuinely love.  I can buy a handful of pieces before that if I genuinely need them, but the big wardrobe overhaul won't happen until mid-Spring, going by my exercise schedule when I'm on track (which I haven't been since Summer, hence the challenge).

Something I'm looking forward to:
Christmas Eve with my family.  It won't be quite like the old days, but almost everyone I was hoping to see will be able to make it, and just the thought of it warms and cheers me.