And now we come to the least-pleasant part of December - the waiting. In some ways, I'm a fairly patient person. I can spend an hour and a half with my hand in a bird's cage, moving closer a millimeter at a time until the bird is standing on my finger. I can pick out and restitch the same piece half a dozen times until it's perfect enough in my eyes. As long as I can tell myself I'm working towards something, I can be patient. Unfortunately, passive waiting patience has never been my strong suit.
And now I'm waiting. Waiting for my birthday party, waiting to find out if more than three people will be there or if there will be the usual flood of last-minute cancellations, complications, and just-plain-forgetting. Waiting and worrying that, if people do come, they'll find it incredibly silly and boring.
After that comes the waiting to give gifts. All these lovely things stacked in my hidey-holes, waiting to be wrapped and given, as I sit and try not to fret and become extremely impatient to hand them out, to watch people's faces as they're opened and find out whether I've successfully matched gift to recipient.
There's the waiting to open gifts, too. Already a few particularly cruel acquaintances have sent packages that are sitting in my living room, taunting me with their bright colors and the mysteries hidden within. I suppose I could open them now - I'm technically a grownup, and there's noone to scold me, but I would feel terribly guilty and let down afterwards. So on the shelf they sit, and stare, and while I may be able to resist opening them I do have to wander by at least once a day to poke them, and lift them, and shake them gently, and torment myself by trying to guess what they might be....
And, to add to the seasonal waiting joy, this year there's waiting for callbacks for 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' and then waiting for casting announcements for the same. Not that I'm at all anxious about that. Nope, nope, nope. Not like I've been counting days and hours, or musing on the fact that casting announcements on my birthday could be either unspeakably good or heinously bad, but probably not much in between.
Grr. Wait, wait, wait. At least being cleverly disguised as an adult means that I have a job which is slightly more intriguing than school, so time flows a little faster. There went ten minutes just now....
And now I'm waiting. Waiting for my birthday party, waiting to find out if more than three people will be there or if there will be the usual flood of last-minute cancellations, complications, and just-plain-forgetting. Waiting and worrying that, if people do come, they'll find it incredibly silly and boring.
After that comes the waiting to give gifts. All these lovely things stacked in my hidey-holes, waiting to be wrapped and given, as I sit and try not to fret and become extremely impatient to hand them out, to watch people's faces as they're opened and find out whether I've successfully matched gift to recipient.
There's the waiting to open gifts, too. Already a few particularly cruel acquaintances have sent packages that are sitting in my living room, taunting me with their bright colors and the mysteries hidden within. I suppose I could open them now - I'm technically a grownup, and there's noone to scold me, but I would feel terribly guilty and let down afterwards. So on the shelf they sit, and stare, and while I may be able to resist opening them I do have to wander by at least once a day to poke them, and lift them, and shake them gently, and torment myself by trying to guess what they might be....
And, to add to the seasonal waiting joy, this year there's waiting for callbacks for 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' and then waiting for casting announcements for the same. Not that I'm at all anxious about that. Nope, nope, nope. Not like I've been counting days and hours, or musing on the fact that casting announcements on my birthday could be either unspeakably good or heinously bad, but probably not much in between.
Grr. Wait, wait, wait. At least being cleverly disguised as an adult means that I have a job which is slightly more intriguing than school, so time flows a little faster. There went ten minutes just now....