Reindeer Farts

When I look back on Christmas 2010, I will fondly remember sitting in the rocking chair with Gavin in the dark on Christmas Eve, looking out the bay window at the frosty night sky and asking if he could feel the magic in the air. Of course he did - he's a 5 year old boy full of excited anticipation on Christmas Eve.  He wanted to know where the magic came from, so I explained that once a year Santa feeds his reindeer special oats which make them toot magic dust thus enabling them to fly.

I could see him briefly weighing the possibility of magic reindeer farts in his head before concluding that daddy was full of it and laughing his head off. We rocked together and talked quietly about kids 100 years in the past and 100 years in the future, and how they would all be feeling exactly the same excitement as he was on Christmas Eve, and how that was the real magic.

Precious moments that will be gone all too soon.

I will also fondly remember the Mocha Buche de Noel, which was a huge hit with everyone (even my father-in-law grudgingly admitted it wasn't bad). My dad has already requested it again for his birthday in January, and it is definitely going on my "cook to impress" list of desserts!!!

So it was a very enjoyable Christmas with family, good food and plenty of fun. Christmas Day was cold and I got to build a lovely fire, we watched the Muppets Christmas Carol, I played with the kids, didn't ruin the turkey, and we didn't kill each other.

That counts as a successful Christmas.

And now we're into the dying embers of 2010. The week between Christmas and New Year always seems to me a strange time of limbo. It's like the changing of the guard - a time for dispensing with the old and heralding in the new - the rolling over of another digit marking the relentless march of time.

And speaking of numbers, I find myself 19 miles shy of running 1500 miles in 2010. Hopefully I will grab those miles this week since I slacked off over the Christmas weekend.

And from now until the Rocky Raccoon 100 in February there is no more slacking. I just checked my running plan for January and it contains three 30 milers, two 20 milers, four 15 milers, five 10 milers and various other "spare change" runs, alongside a full program of cross training.

If I survive the training plan, I should be good and ready for Rocky!!!