…to pull Christmas off this year. Heritage Village to be precise.

Heritage Village

We haven’t even finished our Thanksgiving leftovers, but Santa doesn’t seem to care. Christmas will be here in a flash, and the above is as much as we have done to get ready. Except for this:

Nativity

Decorating tonight was a joint effort. Originally, I had arranged the village in front of my new wreath (Costco – $6.59) and the nativity on the kitchen table because who doesn’t want to eat with baby Jesus? I left the house for a couple of hours and came home to a little elf improving my design layout. I have to say, it looks really nice! Daniel even strung a few lights outside. Our neighbors did this last weekend, and while they were at it, went ahead and made their own Christmas tree out of beach wood. Really?! Crafty and very ambitious. We are kind of being shown up. To compete, the next step for us is to get us a big messy pine to decorate and make the whole neighborhood gawk. Check back with me in about a week and then we will see who is showing who up.

But really, our neighbors are great. They are even going to watch Charlie for us this weekend while we plod through 26.2 miles. I can’t believe it’s so close. I’m getting nervous! Worse than the running, is the mental preparation. What do I wear? When will we find time to pick up our race packets? When should we leave the hotel in the morning? Should we walk or jog the 1.5 miles to the start line? What will I have for breakfast? When should I stop drinking water? When should I start drinking water for that matter? Etc, etc, etc. I love to be prepared, but I truly despise planning for chaotic logistical nightmarish events. The introvert in me is NOT liking the thought of thousands of runners foaming at the mouth to check a marathon off their bucket list. The extremely miniscule ‘let your hair down’ part in me, is screaming “you’re one of those mouth foamers – embrace it!!” I’d say right now I am 50% consumed by nervous pre-race jitters and 50% blocking the entire thing out of my mind. I have 4 days to get my mind right.

One thing I have no problem thinking about is food. I usually opt for fish, either tuna or salmon, the night before a long run. Must be something about the omega 3’s that makes me feel good! Daniel, apparently, prefers hot dogs – courtesy of Costco.

hot diggity dogs

On that note – good night!