Holidazed

It was a long strange journey, the halls of my office occasionally switching to alleys and side streets and Manhattan at alternate turns. I'd finally found a new gym, small and low budget, on the third floor of a building with no doors. I remembered a 20-foot ladder back by my desk, and headed uptown for it. When I got back and climbed up, there were only a few free weights and a handful of people.

I sat next to a girl rubbing her neck, who vocalized aloud her need for a massage. My hands hung in the air as I worked up the nerve, then my thumbs were rotating and kneading her shoulder blades. I could sense her relaxation, imagining tense muscles loosening up. “That was amazing,” said she, “Why don't you have a girlfriend?”

Of course, that's when I woke up.

It was Saturday morning, and as I cursed my brain for stopping things from going further than PG, I remembered there was a lot to be done. Since my Aunt passed away last year, my mom has adjusted our Thanksgiving tradition to include my widowed uncle. As we did last year, we had a small celebration with immediate family only on Thursday as my mom made lasagna. It was Saturday that both her brothers came over, and we had a larger feast of turkey, “stuffing muffins”(thank you Rachael Ray) and more. So, going back to sleep to return to a dream, which never works anyway, wasn't an option. There was ice to make, floors to vacuum, and snack trays to fill.

I think, besides snippets of my office sneaking in because work is still lurking in my subconscious, I'm also concerned about the weight I've put on since losing a company gym three months ago. It's like my brain was telling me I'd treat a girl well, but need to go to a gym to meet one. At the very least, even if I don't join a gym, I do need to start exercising again, even if I do it on my own. This is of course the worst time of year to consider exercise. Even without all the holidays, I think many of us instinctively eat more in an effort to stay warm in the colder months. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

My uncles brought pastries and sherbet, and my mom had various cakes and ice creams prepared as well. By Saturday evening, I felt like a supermarket ran me over. I did venture out to a bookstore, just to get out of the house, and I finally picked up Ultimates 2 Volume 2. Wow. In surfing the net between meals, I found out that this long-awaited trade paperback finally arrived, apparently back in June. It had been delayed so often I'd stopped checking, and with everything going on in my life over the Summer with my career crisis, I hadn't thought about it. The conclusion to this re-imagined vision of one of my favorite teams was worth the wait. Epic.

It's been a dizzying couple of days, and it's only the start of the holiday season. I haven't even thought about shopping for gifts yet, but I suppose that's my next big goal. By 2008 though, I should probably think about getting a physique like a superhero, so some of my dreams can come true, and I’ll hopefully find out how they end.