Boxing Day, with Thud

Those who are saying that Boxing Day is the most peaceful day of the year have a definite point.  New Year's Day is all about the hangover.  Boxing Day is about the thud.  All the wild galloping and freakouts and overeating and stress are over with--there's just the turkey leftovers, the tv football if that's your flavor, and the naps. The naps are the best part.

I don't do the football thing, but the leftovers and the naps, oh yes.  In spite of my best intentions, I did get exhausted in the last mad run to Christmas.  Mostly it had to do with running out of steam and slowing down significantly, and also being in hamster-wheel mode, which is very difficult to get out of.

There was however good stuff.  smoemeth was here after the Solstice celebration on Tuesday, and we achieved Tree Decoration and Pumpkin Cookies on Wednesday (and also managed to ride Capria and ze keed), last shopping including Turkey plus lunch at El Charro (carne seca, aaaahhh) on Thursday, then there was much running around on Christmas Eve and I committed Pies and Irish bread and actually managed some downtime while the rest of the crew went to Mass at San Xavier del Bac.  Dinner was a family tradition: French pork pies (tortieres).  Then presents were put under the tree and stockings filled.  And then my dad had an asthma attacked, so with one thing and another, they all went to Green Valley and I stayed here with the critters.  It was a fiercely cold night, with a strong wind, which made horse chores interesting.

Christmas went in  the usual way: get up, do horse chores, make eggnog muffins and get the coffee going.  Everybody showed up along about then for presents (horse-show gear for me, and a cordless drill, yo-ho, and various nice things including the Edward Gorey Poisonous Garden calendar--windrose , somehow it makes me think of you  ;> ).  Brunch was dead simple--scrambled eggs and bacon and mimosas--and The Turkey went in the oven.  We do it in a roaster bag, which cuts the cooking time by more than half.  This being a free-range turkey, it was beautifully moist and flavorful.  We had all the trimmings--stuffing and squash and potatoes and peas and broccoli and pineapple salad and fruit salad and cranberry sauce and crescent rolls--as well as relish trays and dips and, well, lots of food.  We'll be eating it for weeks.  Which for me is really the point and is why I half killed myself cleaning freezers.  I was making room for The  Leftovers.

I managed a nap in the middle there, then smoemeth and I took da Pook for walkies, which helped work off some of the noshing.  Pook was perky--it was not as cold as it had been the night before, but it was brisk.  He was glad to get out and explore.

After dinner the gang went back to Green Valley and I went Thud.  I've been Thud off and on, except for horse chores, ever since.  It feels gooooood.  Today was all about the naps.  The cats approved.  I hauled myself out toward evening to ride Capria, who was very much in favor of it, and pony ze keed.  There was time after that, just, for a five-minute adventure with Camilla: outside the aren with mounting block, lying over her back and reminding her that next week she gets back to being a Ridin' Hoss.  About time, she says.  She is so ready.  Her back is yay wide--seats twelve, no waiting--and she's much stronger inside and out.  She's also butt-high, so is adding some height as well as mass.  This will never be a tall horse, but she's plenty big.

The writing brain needs to come back online, but I'm letting it rest for another day or two.  Next week is Houseguest Central, with many guests coming in from all over to ride and play.  We're having a clinic with Joni the 8th and 9th and will basically be riding all week.  In the meantime I have a set of story proofs to get out and a book proposal to revise and submit.  My resolution for 2005 is to avoid the deadline crunch as much as possible, and try not to get quite as up against it as I did in the latter part of 2004.  The book deadlines will help--June and December instead of November and December.

Meanwhile, back to reality seems like a good idea.  Back to regular daily pages, regular horse-training schedules, and as little crazy obsession as possible.  Yes.