random thoughts – Day 1,741 – (Sunday) – r & r

Queen Kiki on her throne.

The forecast was for cold weather and my plan was to stay home and avoid the crush of traffic and people from the last few days before Christmas. It might be PTSD from working retail. There were no pressing reasons for me to leave the house so I didn’t. This might be my favorite luxury of adulthood as a single person. At the same time I'm untethered by relationships and responsibilities, I am also willfully anchored to staying home to enjoy rest and relaxation.

Kiki and I stayed home and enjoyed the new furnace, which is much quieter than the old one. Kiki spent some time perched on the arm of the chair that serves as her throne. She engaged in demonstrating her prowess in feline athletics in stair climbing. From the dining room, there would be a loud meow, then she bolted up the stairs with a lot of noise. She would slink back down to the dining room, meow, then ran back upstairs again noisily. The time trial happened several times, during which I sat on the couch shaking my head, amused and enjoying the show.  

Pretzel bark.

There was time spent in the kitchen melting chocolate and making bark with flat pretzel crackers. A couple Christmas gifts were wrapped in between the usual laundry chores. Despite the low activity level, the day flew by. 

Some decorations have been set out, but there is still zero sense of Christmas spirit. The work situation seems to have killed it for me for this year. The sending of cards, making of sweets, and gift preparations feel hollow and I'm just going  through the motions, hoping it will trigger a spark of joy. Ideally, sleeping for a week and waking up after New Year’s Day feels appealing. The rest of it feels like a punishment.