Christmas in Chicago

Happy Holidays! It's Christmas Eve, but if I'm being completely honest, it doesn't feel much like Christmas. There's a few feet of snow on the ground, which is lovely, but normally I'm home for Christmas. Not this year. This year I'm off to Chicago for interviews at MLA. Don't get me wrong -- job prospects are exciting for sure. But I miss my family. Particularly tonight and, I imagine, tomorrow morning. Tonight my sisters and their kids are playing the dice game. Probably right about now. They're maybe wrapping up and trying to get the little kids to bed. My brother skipped it this year (he gets sick every year and has a hunch that the passing of dice is the culprit). I skipped it, too, I suppose. I probably could have gone home, but I couldn't really afford two plane tickets and I knew I wouldn't get much work done. I've been incredibly productive the last few days. But, again, it doesn't feel much like Christmas.

We've decorated our apartment and there's a pile of gifts on the floor. Tomorrow we'll wake up and make breakfast, an homage to breakfast at Jane's: I picked up some breakfast sausages, cinnamon rolls (I should make them from scratch, I know, but I just don't think I will have the time or energy tomorrow). We have eggs for Beej, and I bough strawberries and pineapple. So we'll wake up, maybe open the stockings my mom sent, then make breakfast and open gifts. Or Beej won't be able to stand it and we'll open presents before breakfast.

And then it will be packing and repacking, checking and double-checking, trying to get everything to fit. Not being able to lift or carry over 25 pounds is becoming an issue for this trip. I have more than that in sheer paper. Maybe I can get some of that down tomorrow, but I don't want to wish I had something when I'm in Chicago, you know? We'll see what happens tomorrow.

On that note, I should head to bed. I've finally gotten the truly awful cold that EVERY SINGLE PERSON I KNOW has had here. I thought maybe, this one time, I would escape, but no, I woke up yesterday with a sore throat. Bad timing for sure, but I'm loading up on Vitamin C, Zicam, and water. So sleep would be a good idea, no?

To sum up, Happy Holidays to all! Wish me luck in Chicago. And good luck to all those in similar situations -- see you in Chicago, all of us murmuring to ourselves, trying not to look uncomfortable in our suits, and double-checking our itineraries and maps. Best of luck to my fellow travelers, fellow interviewees. I hope we all get the jobs we're hoping for.