Recovery is the Name of the Game
As ordered by my doctor, I lay low like a boss this past week while letting my leg continue to heal. The time saved by skipping workouts was spent with Christmas preparations. I spent two afternoons last minute shopping, sent out our Christmas cards, and spent more time than I’d like to admit wrapping Christmas gifts. Short of cooking, I consider myself officially ready for the holidays. Let the fun begin!
A Funny Story About Gift Wrapping
Wrapping gifts is a lot like sewing – it’s all about matching patterns, making tight well-fitting corners, and being patient through the process. Funny story – back when I worked retail, I was a department manager for the now defunct high end department store Garfinkel’s. Occasionally, the gift wrap department would get overwhelmed and managers would be paged to go help out. I always loved the break from whatever I happened to be doing, even if it put me behind in my own busy to-do list.
On one particular day just before Christmas, one of the other managers and I were summoned to help out. As people stood in line waiting to have their gifts wrapped I noticed how they were shifting to get into my line. My nimble fingers were zipping through the process to deliver perfectly wrapped gifts while my counterpart was fumbling along taking twice as long to deliver a package that looked like it had been wrapped by a first grader. She later told me that her mom had always wrapped gifts in her house and had never let her help. I, on the other hand, had been taught to gift wrap while quite young and by a precise and meticulous woman who had no patience for things being done half-way. And because I loved wrapping gifts, my mom was more than happy to let me take over the gift wrapping chore as long as I wasn’t the gift recipient.
Running
Couldn’t…
Biking
Couldn’t…
Walking
I did take a short walk yesterday in the rain to check out the flooding in the two creeks behind our house; and of course, when walking in the rain, one must play in the puddles!
By 3 PM the water had started flowing over the bridge behind our house, but it got much higher overnight as the rain continued to come down. We’re still under flood warning even though it appears the rain has finally moved on to the northeast.
Strength Training
I did upper body and core strength training workouts three times this week. Full disclosure, that’s not me in the picture below…
Yoga
I didn’t do any yoga routines, but I did some upper body stretching and a few basic yoga poses while teaching my balance and stretching class on Friday.
Partying With My Runner Friends
We went to two more Christmas parties last night. The first one was hosted by one of our long-time running friends and included several other friends from our MRTT chapter. We had a blast and there wasn’t a ponytail among us!
This evening, Bill and I are hosting our annual Cruisers Christmas party which is always a blast! More on that in next week’s wrap-up.
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
- Sunday – Reining it in Whether I Like it or Not
- Tuesday – 2018 Run With Santa 5K Race Recap
- Thursday – Buddy’s Late-Night Adventures
Looking ahead to this coming week…
- Tuesday – I’ll be posting My Year in Bling.
- Thursday – If I have time, I’ll post my annual Year of Running, but if I don’t get the chance to finish it, I’ll post it next week.
In addition to the runs I mentioned above, here’s a complete run-down of my workouts from this past week (completed mostly in our home gym)…
- Questions:
- Do you like to wrap gifts or do you prefer using gift bags?
- What’s your party circuit look like this season?
- Did you race this weekend?
And that’s a wrap… Have a great week!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.
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I’m linking up with Holly at HoHo Runs and Wendy from Taking The Long Way Home for their Weekly Wrap. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
My younger brother was the one in charge of wrapping presents in the family – it was my mom’s way of keeping him occupied around the holidays, he loved it, so it kind of stuck. I usually opt for a giant gift bag haha
Oh, that would be a great way to keep a little boy busy!
I actually love wrapping gifts as well. I feel like it’s cathartic in some way. Crazy how much rain we got this weekend!
I heard that we got about three inches of rain over the weekend. That’s a lot!
Like you, I often got handed the wrapping paper when it came time to get the gifts finished off & under the tree. I’m pretty ambidextrous, so it was a pretty simple (but fun) task to undertake.
My mom was lucky because I actually enjoyed doing a lot of those types of chores and took them off her hands. Sounds like your mom was equally lucky!
I’m a huge fan of gift wrapping! In fact, my family gives me all their gifts (except the ones for me of course) to gift wrap. It’s funny because my mom prefer to throw everything in gift bags (easy peasy) but I LOVE gift wrapping!
I hope that your leg is feeling better after the rest this past week.
Good for you, and lucky for your family!
So sorry to hear that you are temporarily sidelined. Hoping for a speedy recovery for you. Your presents are beautiful! My hubs is a meticulous wrapper, too. My presents look like they were wrapped by an elf with two left thumbs!
Thanks, Laurie; I’m hoping to go for a run on Wednesday morning to see how things feel. Wish me luck!
“… an elf with two left thumbs.” LOL
Love your black? snowflake paper. I do not wrap mostly. Birthdays I don’t at all — Christmas I sometimes try but mostly don’t either unless it’s for my nephew.
Puddles are a must — hope you stay dry & safe
Thanks, and the background on the snowflake paper is dark blue. I’ve had it for years and will be sad when it’s gone (it was a really thick roll).
I could use someone to wrap my gifts, if you want to visit the midwest! LOL
I’m burned out after my two marathon wrapping sessions! 😉
I wish I were better at gift wrapping! It’s all about the presentation and your gifts look amazing!
Thank you!
I love the look of wrapped gifts and usually start our strong with some beautiful creations and the more and more present I get to wrap the lazier I get until everything gets thrown in the bag. I have let my 5 year old help a bit this year. She has taken on wrapping the gifts for the grandparents, aunts and uncles. They aren’t always pretty but she has fun and they don’t mind.
Start her early and maybe one day she’ll be wrapping all of your gifts for you!
I enjoy wrapping presents (and am very particular about all the wrapping paper coordinating) and absolutely refuse to use gifts bags it at all possible! Your tiny strength training partner is adorable. Glad the flooding wasn’t any worse. It sure has been a rainy fall. Thanks for linking!
I bought the little strength training reindeer ornament in the late 80’s and just noticed that he’s missing one of his antlers. I need to look in the ornament box and see if it’s laying loose in the bottom. I’d love to find something similar to give to my clients.
I like to wrap gifts. Unwrapping and watching others unwrap is so much fun! That flooding is a bit nuts! Looks like you had a blast with your running friends!
We did! Running friends are the best!!!
I usually give the gift wrapping task to my oldest daughter. I can do it and am pretty good at it, but I rather not.
Hope your leg heals soon.
Sounds like good enough reason to pass the chore along to me. And thank you!
Oh I wrap the gifts in our house alright… but you would THINK a first grader did it! I’m not much of a perfectionist with gift wrapping, especially since my little ones just shred them anyways. I wish I was better – I’m sure I will have many more years to practice as my kids grow 😉 Merry Christmas to you and I hope your leg heals up soon!
I hear you on how quickly little ones can rip open their gifts. My sons are adults and I put the wrapped gifts out a couple of weeks before Christmas because I think they look so pretty under the tree. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
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