I'm not sure how I forgot to mention this in my Thanksgiving weekend dispatch but I finally broke my previous all time Wordle streak last weekend. I lost my last streak at 103, and it wasn't even because I lost a game. It was because I had forgotten to play. My new streak is 109, and my win percentage is 99%. I'm going for 200 and I don't even care if mentioning the streak is a jinx. The Wordle streak is a pretty low priority for me right now given the state of the world. But it's still nice to have.
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Like every other parent, I get nostalgic around the holidays. Ten years ago, I was nostalgic for little kid Christmas. Now I'm nostalgic for high school Christmas and December band concerts and winter swim meets on freezing cold days. At least we still have the swim meets.
I'm writing this on my phone in my car. My youngest son is coming home to pick up his car and I'm waiting for his Metro train to arrive at Glenmont. I used to do a lot of writing in various parking lots at various aquatic centers and ball fields. Nostalgic.
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We have had a week of very cold and Christmassy weather, mostly bright and sunny but a few moments of leaden gray looks-like -snow skies. But it didn’t snow, at least not here, at least not yet. And I knew it wouldn’t. It didn’t smell like snow.
My younger son was home for just a little while yesterday. He left with his car, which he needed for an event not accessible to public transport, and I finished a pretty darn productive work day. I didn’t check that many things off my ever-growing list, but the work that I did do was really good if I say so myself. Later, my older son introduced me to Connections, another NYT word game. I have played and lost twice now, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.
It’s December 7, the day that continues to live in infamy. It’s also a Saturday in December, which means that I have places to go and things to do. Christmas doesn’t happen by itself, I tell you what. I’m going to go do some shopping. Somebody has to make the Christmas magic for which people later become nostalgic. That somebody is me.
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December 8. Christmas is two weeks and a few days away. It’s Sunday and I might go to church but I might not. I have a lot to do.
Christmas party season is underway. I went to a party last night and have two more to attend this week. I don’t love parties but I don’t hate them either. I like being around people and I like music and lights and party food. But the whole thing is also exhausting and I am always so happy to come home and decompress. It’s quite an effort to be a party person. It takes some recovery time.
I’m getting the hang of Connections, too. It’s a sneaky and deceptive little game, but I now have a win streak: 1 of 1. My win percentage is still an abysmal 33% but I intend to improve that.
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Every December, I have an anxiety dream in which I realize at 9 PM on Christmas Eve that I forgot to do any Christmas prep or shopping. The dream varies a little bit. Sometimes the panicked wake-up happens on Christmas morning. Sometimes it happens on the morning of Christmas Eve, leaving me with one day to shop, clean, decorate, and cook. I bet I could do that if I had to but I don’t plan to have to. I did some more shopping this weekend, and I bought a ham and some baking ingredients. The house is decorated inside and out. We even bought a tree yesterday, but that tree is going to remain unornamented until later this week. Maybe early next week. I might need to get my niece over here to help. If you need a Christmas tree decorated, you can’t ask for a better assistant than an 8-year-old girl with very strong opinions on Christmas decorating. She probably won’t even need me. In a year or two I can probably get her to make the cookies too.
Meanwhile, my Connections streak is up to two now. I solved today’s puzzle without any errors, a perfect score. My win percentage is now all the way up to 50%. I have a lot to do during the holidays so I’m up with the sun. Connections is going to get up a little earlier in the morning if it wants to trick me.
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