ANTICIPATION GLITCH

All morning I was looking forward to the things I had planned for this afternoon and evening. Even yesterday, when Anders and Martin and I were eating dinner, I mentioned that I’d be gone the second half of today so that they knew about my plans. There is a maker’s market that we went to in the early fall that was happening again as a Christmas market over the weekend and then Debbie and Camilla and I were going to meet at Camilla’s tonight for dinner and to exchange Christmas presents.

Only all that was on the calendar for December 3rd…which is NEXT weekend, not this weekend. Since Thursday night this past week, when I told Debbie while we were at wreathmaking that I would see her on Saturday, I’ve been thinking that this weekend was December 3-4, even though I KNEW it was actually November still this past week and November still next week.

Do you ever look forward to something so much that you move it up in your mind? No? Just me?

I slept in this morning and then got up and showered and dressed, and did my makeup, telling Anders that I would leave around 2:30 or so, in order to have an hour or more at the market before I headed to Camilla’s. I put a load of laundry in, and did some chores, and eventually ate lunch. And then, around 1 pm or so, I suddenly had this lightbulb moment, like quite literally…I could feel it turn on above my head, and I realized…the maker’s market is next weekend! I told Anders, laughing at myself, and then said to him, “I don’t have to leave until around just after 4 pm.” STILL THINKING I WAS GOING TO CAMILLA’S. It took at least another 30 minutes before the hammer dropped. “OMG, what is the matter with me??” I told Anders…”I’m going to Camilla’s on December THIRD, not today.” He gave me a look. “You’re not going anywhere, you mean?” “No!”

So I put another load of laundry in and ironed all the stuff I had from last weekend, which I had been putting off, since I hate ironing, and then I put away all the regular knick-knacks and photos from all the bookshelves around the house, in preparation for putting up the indoor Christmas decorations later. The only thing I ACTUALLY have to do this weekend is bake cookies. We have the AIC cookie exchange on Tuesday, and I’ve already decided on which cookies. There are only 7 people participating this year, so I only have to bake 36 cookies (6 each for all the other participants), so it won’t take me long, but I’ll wait and do it tomorrow. Anders has been putting up advent lights and hanging stars in the windows, and adding timers and remotes to all of them all day. He also put a switch on Martin’s Danish lamp, and extended the shade holder for it, so now it looks great.

I’ve had something eating at me about work, something very unpleasant that happened yesterday, that I’ve been replaying in my mind over and over. This happens to me a lot…if something bad happens, usually something that is a result of my own stupidity, it plays on an unending loop in my head for several days. This was a result of something I did, but it wasn’t stupidity. Someone else reacted very aggressively and rudely to an email I sent as part of my job, which totally took me by surprise, and I will be very happy when I can stop thinking about it and get on with my weekend.

Earlier, I bought tickets to Copenhagen Zoo, where Martin and I are going to spend the day for his birthday. Everyone thinks we are crazy, going to the zoo in winter, but I suspect we’ll see more animals than you usually see in the summer, when they are hiding from the heat. There are Christmas markets and activities at the zoo, and hopefully we’ll get to see them feed the Tasmanian devils, and we’ll get to see pandas, because they have pandas! They have pretty much everything, but for some weird reason, they don’t have moose. I have never been to Copenhagen Zoo, and the kids have only been there once, with my mom and Aunt Judy, years ago when they were pretty young.

The cisterns are also a block away from the zoo, so if we get done with seeing all the animals and have time, we’ll go check those out. My mom and I went years ago, and Anders and Karin have been, but Martin has never seen them. They have art exhibitions in the underground cisterns as well, so it’s usually a cool visit.

Hard to believe that next week is already the start of December. I will be taking two weeks off for Christmas and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve got the annual Xmas letter to write and Xmas cards to do, but that doesn’t take very long. And I’ve got nearly all my shopping down, apart from a few things left for Martin and Anders. I mailed a huge box to John’s family and then it’s just a couple of things for Sarah and Tom, and my mom, and I’m done. ‘Tis the season, here we go!

Mood: accomplished
Music: Sara Bareilles—One Sweet Love