The holidays are fast approaching and I find myself getting excited. Yes, this may seem out of character, but within my sometimes-crusty mien, there resides a bouncy child that goes "whee!" when plans for christmas begin to wind up.

As some of you are fully aware, plans have flip-flopped a bit already, but we've always been fairly relaxed about that sort of thing. Adaptable one might even say. We've also been called 'spontaneous' because friends can often count on us to go "okay!" when they call last minute and ask us to join them for hijinks. So, this year is no exception; plans to have guests for Christmas day became speculation about traveling north or east to visit some snow and friendly faces, and finally morphed into an obligatory stay-at-home event. When I say obligatory, I do not mean to say it is a bad thing. Yes, Phillip may have to work right up to Christmas day due to a timely technical release; however, we are happy to cozy up at home with the pets in front of our gas fire and pretend it's cold outside while we sip coffee, have a long breakfast and open presents to each other. See? "Wheee!"

Of course we can't talk about holidays without mentioning Thanksgiving, which is coming up very quickly. This year, rather than attend the HUGE event hosted by our friends, known fondly far and wide as The Maryland House (even though they now live on a different street), we are hosting a small gathering with two other couples. The fun of this is that we are at home, so no traveling is required; secondly, one of the Kevins (we have so many friends named Kevin) is bringing the bird itself, with stuffing, so I'm responsible for side dishes.  I'll be making maple-glazed sweet potatoes, rosemary-orange cranberry sauce, brussels sprouts au gratin, brandied carrots and parsnips and my delicious garlic-mashed potatoes. Jenny is bringing gluten-free pumpkin pie and a banana-squash cream pie for dessert. How nice is all of that? Thank you very much!

In other news, Phillip is still beloved by his bosses and doing well at work and I am enjoying massage therapy classes immensely. I've learned so much in a short time about health, history and the quirky machine we call the human body. In the first week, I found myself saying "fascinating!" a lot, and that's just in the nine month Massage Therapy, Western Techniques program. There is a full year-program for a Holistic Health Practitioner license that is even more in-depth. Returning to school seems to be paying dividends already; I realize that this is what I've needed to feel like I can put down roots here and have no doubt that by the time I am ready to graduate, I will have made many valuable contacts that will see me happily employed with a number of ready clients. Future plans entail spa-work for a few years and maybe eventually owning my own small business.  It's exciting and motivating and I feel like I've made the right choice for a new career.

That said, theatre will never by far from my heart. While I don't think I can make a living at it here, I do think I will continue to perform and write for a long time. At the moment, I am cast in a show called "True West" by the amazing Sam Shepard. It is a story about sibling rivalry (between brothers), but the director is making a bold choice in casting 'Austin' as a sister (yours truly). The risk will be that when violence erupts, it will be seen as "against a woman" rather than the intended sibling hostility, so we will have an interesting challenge on our hands. I'm excited because this is a wonderful opportunity for me to take on a juicy role opposite a very talented friend of mine who is an amazing actor.  Rehearsals start in January.

So, that's my little update, out of the blue. I hope all of you are healthy, safe and happy and wish you all glad tidings for the end of the year.