Holiday spirit spree

What a fantastic weekend. Start to finish - it was enjoyable, and despite lack of downtime, still relaxing!! Friday evening I had date night with the Runner which consisted of dinner and drinks at a few places in the city.  Saturday we made plans to go to brunch and then run some errands (to his favorite hardware store which happens to be next to Dollar Tree...an elusive destination which I was happy to find not-to-far away).  By Saturday morning, the general feeling with The Runner was so content that I took a leap of faith and invited him to see Christmas lights with Grace and I Saturday evening, to which he immediately responded “that sounds good”. I was literally bouncing with excitement!

We spent the day together as planned and when Grace arrived home from her father’s, we took her to see the mecca of all Christmas lights in the Philadelphia region, Longwood Gardens. After a 45 minute drive, I was shocked to see they implemented timed entrances since I had last visited and were sold out until 7:30pm!  Despite my pleas to the unbending woman at the ticket counter, we were not admitted (feel free to cross-reference my pending review on tripadvisor about the abundance of Christmas lights, yet lack of Christmas spirit that Longwood Gardens has to offer). Not to worry, The Runner said he knew of a house nearby that lights up their entire yard and invites visitors to walk through. So we drove a bit more and came upon a winter wonderland that was a perfect fit for a 2 year old. Grace sprinted across the grounds in a whirl, giggling with glee. The Runner even offered to watch her for a bit so I could soak in some of the lighted details that I didn’t have time to see as I was chasing after her.  

On Sunday morning we parted ways and Grace and I went with Hot Hair Momma and her two girls into Philadelphia on a grand tour of Christmas displays - the Wanamaker building light show, a horse-drawn carriage ride, and the Comcast building light show.  What a perfect day!  

Weekend takeaways:  The Runner has been really making an effort to get to know Grace and to be a part of my life.  I still don’t know where things stand or if this is becoming a positive, rather than anxiety-provoking, experience for him, but it is great to see him make the effort. (and between you & I, he is doing the little things with her, like proactively playing silly games, that people do when they enjoy a child’s company :)

Also, Grace and I have checked the box on almost every Christmas experience one can have - all by December 2nd. Going into the city with Hot Hair Momma and her girls was a fantastic experience, as not once the entire day did I miss the feeling of not having a traditional “family” and instead basked in the glow of our kids making Christmas memories.

In the few times that I started to panic or have negative thoughts, I continually told myself to “be the log” (see previous post) and breathed through the sweeping emotions that have been rolling in steadily since Thanksgiving....and much to my surprise, waves of joy started rolling in amidst the other feelings, bringing a much-missed warm and contentment.