E just turned to me and said he was worried that I was just a little too happy this morning. I made a sour face and asked what he was afraid of. He said something about horns coming out....
What can I say? There's nothing like a little Craig Cardiff in the morning.
Well, that's at least part of it. Flashback to beautiful Montreal. Plus non-dfac coffee. Time to talk and daydream a little without immediately rushing back to the office.
And then there's the recent streak of less rushed conversations with family. E knows that always gets me pumped up. I have to be careful not to do it late at night, cuz sometimes then I won't want to sleep. But it's sooo nice to have time to hear what the fam is up to.... and not just go through the motions and then run off to the next thing.
The bigger part is probably my relief that we both made it through this past week. No, don't worry, I don't mean that in the literal sense. But you may have read that we had a special guest this week. It was an interesting thing, really. E was involved in supporting the visit, and was sucked out of the apartment from the dark of the early morning to the dark of night almost every day. But if he hadn't been involved, I don't know how much I would have been affected by the visit at all. There was a town hall/meet and greet, but other than that, there was no pomp and circumstance, or even elevated energy around having the vice president of our country on our compound. Strange.
Yes, all our "assets" were dedicated to managing logistics for his massive team to get from meeting to meeting. And there were more than the usual swarms of men in dark suits with earpieces and large weapons. But.... it somehow felt surreal. I don't know if I expected more cheer-leading, or announcements on the loudspeaker, or what. But I expected more. I would have liked to be more.... Welcoming? Touched? More likely: Informed.
And I am glad that it is over. Looking forward to a somewhat "normal" week ahead. It's Ashura on Monday, and I have plans to visit a couple of AmCits later in the week. We expect the streets to be closed to offer protection to pilgrims on their way..... so that will color the next several days. Then we just chug along deeper into December. It takes a conscious effort to mark the change in seasons. Yes the weather's colder, but with so much the same, day in, day out, we kinda have to pinch ourselves to remember where we are in the year.
Sometimes the pinch I need is good music, time to breathe, and a sense of accomplishment after a particularly busy week.
What can I say? There's nothing like a little Craig Cardiff in the morning.
Well, that's at least part of it. Flashback to beautiful Montreal. Plus non-dfac coffee. Time to talk and daydream a little without immediately rushing back to the office.
And then there's the recent streak of less rushed conversations with family. E knows that always gets me pumped up. I have to be careful not to do it late at night, cuz sometimes then I won't want to sleep. But it's sooo nice to have time to hear what the fam is up to.... and not just go through the motions and then run off to the next thing.
The bigger part is probably my relief that we both made it through this past week. No, don't worry, I don't mean that in the literal sense. But you may have read that we had a special guest this week. It was an interesting thing, really. E was involved in supporting the visit, and was sucked out of the apartment from the dark of the early morning to the dark of night almost every day. But if he hadn't been involved, I don't know how much I would have been affected by the visit at all. There was a town hall/meet and greet, but other than that, there was no pomp and circumstance, or even elevated energy around having the vice president of our country on our compound. Strange.
Yes, all our "assets" were dedicated to managing logistics for his massive team to get from meeting to meeting. And there were more than the usual swarms of men in dark suits with earpieces and large weapons. But.... it somehow felt surreal. I don't know if I expected more cheer-leading, or announcements on the loudspeaker, or what. But I expected more. I would have liked to be more.... Welcoming? Touched? More likely: Informed.
And I am glad that it is over. Looking forward to a somewhat "normal" week ahead. It's Ashura on Monday, and I have plans to visit a couple of AmCits later in the week. We expect the streets to be closed to offer protection to pilgrims on their way..... so that will color the next several days. Then we just chug along deeper into December. It takes a conscious effort to mark the change in seasons. Yes the weather's colder, but with so much the same, day in, day out, we kinda have to pinch ourselves to remember where we are in the year.
Sometimes the pinch I need is good music, time to breathe, and a sense of accomplishment after a particularly busy week.
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