Saturday, December 19, 2015

Non-Alcoholic Christmas Spirit

My Christmas spirit has once again been sadly MIA this year. And I don't mean that the the rum that was bought for the rum balls. I mean the 'what a wonderful time of the year', 'full of glad tidings and great joy' and 'let's deck the halls' type of Christmas spirit.

I've been filled with a 'OMG how am I ever going to get everything done', 'will people please leave me alone for just a second cause I'm trying to think' and 'can't we just skip Christmas this once?' anti-Christmas spirit.

In the past, my go-to to reverse the Bah Humbugs would be to deck myself with a festive apron and bake up some festive feelings with butter, sugar, flour and lots of chocolate. But I haven't had the mental energy to make myself do it. I've been preoccupied with businessing. Getting my tights venture off the ground is taking up a lot of the grey matter that I still have available and there's not been a lot left over for other stuff.

Apart from running. There's always enough left over for running.

And it's been running that's provided me the remedy to my Christmas blahs. In the form of a Christmas run with some really great people. In fancy dress. Because there's nothing like wearing a silly hat running to help you let go of whatever real-life stuff is blocking up your fun pipes. (Yep, I saw it as soon as I wrote it. Not sure if it's my bad for writing it or your bad for misunderstanding my use of a perfectly innocent phrase.)

Toby insisted that he wanted to model the silly hat and I will deny that he ever tried to chew the pompom off it - that was Ricky.
There's also nothing like seeing an octet of festive elves running along the road to inspire smiles, high fives and 'Merry Christmas'es. And there's nothing like getting such a warm reaction from strangers to make you feel all tingly and shimmery and sparkly like pre-programmed Christmas tree lights that were made in a country that doesn't even celebrate Christmas. No, the irony hasn't been lost on me.


We looked special - some more special than others (and I am not singling out the sunglasses-wearing, dangling-baubled reindeer on the right) - and we felt special. Well I did anyway. 'Specially blessed to be able to run fun and run happy with this lot.

Winning a prize didn't hurt either.


And that was the kick-start I needed to get me looking forward to Christmas. I even decorated the tree that Iven had brought up and dumped in the corner of the living room. Subtlety is an art-form that continues to elude that man.


So I'm probably not going to need the get-rid-of-all-the-crazy benefits that I was thinking I'd desperately need from my four scheduled runs this week. They will just be for fitness, fun and pre-burning Chrismas calories purposes. Metaphorically the brandy cream on the top of my Christmas pudding or the stuffing in my turkey. 

With just five days to go, I made it just in time.








8 comments:

  1. What a fun race, you all look great in your costumes.

    I'm not in the Christmas spirit either yet. Mostly because it's way too warm for this time of year, it doesn't feel like Winter. I have to think about the menu but not worried about that. No more work for me this year so plenty of time for planning and shopping the next 3 days.

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  2. I love Christmas, but this year we've had an event EVERY DAY SINCE THANKSGIVING EXCEPT ONE. And I went home from work sick that day, or we would have been at a party.

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  3. Awesome metaphors Char. They're very festive photos. I'd smile and high five you lot if I saw you running along the road too :)

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  4. What a fun race!! Great job! And I just want to hug Toby. Too cute!

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  5. Glad you got your fun pipes unblocked LOL

    Great costumes!!! I may just wear a Christmas hat on my next run :-)

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  6. Awww... love the outfits and what a great idea. I rarely feel festive until someone else's festive spirit rubs off on me. I'm still a bit underwhelmed this year by the Xmas thing but have been feeling festive with a few catch ups with friends.

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  7. Ok why have been missing all your posts?? I love your festive running squad! Glad you found your spirit in time. I need to show this to the Caveman. I needed to drag my own damn tree up, just as I do every year. Hmmm.

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  8. Absolutely brilliant, I can only imagine the smiles you have brought to the many people you ran past. And it was enough to get you all Christmas-fied, well power to the run!

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