i feel it in my fingers, i feel it in my toes...

(disclaimer #1: this is a really long post.)
(disclaimer #2: there are a lot of pictures of me in this post. maybe i'm as vain as alisa.)

1. christmas, christmas, christmas. the holiday season is here. much to do. last week i went caroling at a local nursing home. during both our rehearsal and performance, i kept getting the giggles whenever we sang "good king wenceslas" because it made me think of this scene from love actually:



i don't think the folks in the nursing home really enjoyed our performance. one sweet man appeared to be clawing at the window curtain, as if to escape while we sang. another dear patient sat hunched over with her head in her hands the whole time and the only vocally responsive resident shouted at us to leave. i think they felt tortured. it wasn't exactly the message of holiday cheer we intended to bestow...

friday night was the work christmas party. this year a male subset of the office decided to up the festivities by sporting mustaches. they were all very proud of themselves, as attested to in the facebook album and group created in honor of their facial hair immediately post-party. boys will be boys will be boys...

last night was the 3rd annual m. hofheins donaldson most wonderful time, etc., etc. party. for the third year, i reprised my role as an elf. these are my favorite things about most wonderful time: 1) invitations and email rsvp, 2) wassail, 3) the joyous "most wonderful time" welcome to each arrival, and 4) the broad range of unexpected holiday characters that grace the party. this year: pirates, ninjas, retired florida golden girl and a snowboarder among others (not to mention poncho "santa"). they are pictured below. i also love that i'm the only one to have a permanent role as an elf. thank you, short genes.

we elves did an amazing dance routine this year, thanks to emron's genius choreography and stage presence. i can confidently say that we filled each and every heart there with christmas cheer. next year we're taking it on the road. first stop: nursing home. i don't have the video of our performance but i have some pictures. we were dancing outside in front of the windows so the first pic is a bit glarry/blurry.



and some more photos of aforementioned characters:





and finally, i just really like this picture with karina and gar. this was before the elf costume-change.


moving on: today was the combined christmas program with the berkeley family ward. (for all non-lds readers, "ward" is mormon jargon for congregation.) i really love the combined christmas program. i know not everyone does, but i do. i love getting to see my married friends in that ward (that means you, walla-pianas, parkinsons, meldrums, and marosticas), i love that there's always a violin ensemble piece, and i like being reminded that there are children at church. that last one might sound strange, but after a decade plus (ugh, really?) of singles/student wards one tends to forget...

2. working backwards. last weekend we celebrated ashley's birthday at the roller derby. and just to clarify, dear readers, the roller derby is nothing like synchronized dancing on skates. i can't be the only one who thought that...for proof, please see here. also, i made a cake for the occasion. i have many talents and generally believe that i can do anything. but i must concede that i will never be a baker.

3. thanksgiving in new york. blogging so infrequently these days means there's too much ground to cover when i do post. and now that the claws of facebook have taken hold, i've been posting photos there and neglecting my sweet little blog. so i feel like i've already adequately addressed thanksgiving in cyberspace. curses, facebook! i vowed to not get involved with you and now i can't stay away! i blame marcus. and sweet cousin matt.

ahem. visiting alisa in nyc was one of the best thanksgivings ever. it's already my favorite holiday (total food indulgence without the holiday pressure that comes with christmas) and spending it with alisa just made it that much better (ahhh). i brought her a present. it was the best present i've ever given anyone.


i already have plans to use this photo on the next personalized pillowcase:


ashley was also in nyc and we had a grand time traipsing about the city, eating street food, seeing sights, sleeping in, riding the subway, and having a non-turkey meal with ashley's brother and sis-in-law.






and we stood in the freezing cold and fought like hell for our places along the sidewalk at the macy's day parade. in the end it was a good experience to check off the list but not something to necessarily repeat. parade spectators are not friendly folks.


and lastly, i got to see my dear pen pal meghan! meghan and i have been pen pals since 6th grade and before thankgsiving, had never met. she lives just across the river in new jersey and came into the city to hang out for an afternoon. many of you, dear readers, knew i was meeting meghan and i think were just as excited about it as i was. someone even mentioned that it was the heart-warming holiday story of the season. others commented on the worthiness of it being an "oprah-style reunion special". so sweet, so funny. it hadn't really occurred to me that letter writing is a dying tradition and pen pals a dying breed. who knows, meghan and i just might be the last living pair of pen pals in the world...anyway, after all these years of forming a friendship based on letters, it was really fun and really great to meet. we had a lovely time. and she was gracious enough to humor me with a touristy trip to the top of the empire state building.


oh shoot, this reminds me--meghan, i still need to mail your christmas card.

4. i had a goal to finishing blogging about mbatE2008 by the end of the year. that's not looking so realistic. BUT, i want to share more from syria, jordan, israel and palestine and i will. just not in this post. it's already too long. if any of you, dear readers, actually read this whole post, please go reward yourself now with a christmas cookie and hot cocoa.