Remember December

All I want for Christmas this year is to go through my belongings and throw 80% of everything out.  Okay, I probably won’t go that far and I would donate it, but seriously.  Looking over people’s wish lists of all these items that they hope to receive, or intend to give to other people, gives me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I think the more things people have, the more they want, and all these things that gather dust create a cycle of unhappiness.  I just want everything simple, uncluttered.

We finished out our month of November bootcamp and tacked on an extra week of "hell week" the first week of December.  I felt proud that we completed the challenge, but 6am is just a little too early for me right now.  I am a night owl, not really an early bird.  I can burn the candle at both ends, but only so long before it flames out.

In December, the days are shorter but the nights are longer. Some highlights:

– Afterwork drinks and oysters with work colleagues at the Ace Hotel’s John Dory

– Cocktails and shanghai pork buns afterwards at L’Amant

– Weekend work trip to the compound in Texas (not really a highlight, but worth mentioning)

– Posh rooftop party with best friend from undergrad A (A is always a delight and I tend to be the one who selects places and does the inviting, so it was lovely to just be a guest for a change)

– First look open house at new construction condo in Williamsburg (pass)

– Screening of "On the Road."  I think it did Kerouac’s words justice, as much as that book could be made into a feature film.  I think the older we get, the more the gap between those who take the well-worn paths and those who take the road less-traveled widens.  And then there is another gap, between those who chose to be different, and those who are thrust into it by misfortune or poor decisions.  There is a fine line between living a life of adventure and stumbling into self-destruction, but I think I’d choose either over being bored to death.  But "why think about that when all the golden land’s ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you’re alive to see?"  So I won’t.

– Thursday we left from Laguardia to Key Largo for a Scuba training weekend.  Weirdly this Delta terminal had a legit classy-type restaurant in the middle of its gates so while we waited for our flight we had avocado toast, a cheese plate, and a really delicious fresh fig spread toast with prosciutto.  Mmm.

– Key Largo was cute, we took our paper test at the scuba facility then went to a local outdoor pool for our practical underwater training.  Stuff like how to set up equipment, do a sweep for your regulator if you lose it, how to clear your mask and/or regulator, etc.  Drills for buddy breathing and emergency ascents, and all the underwater signals for various things that might happen.  S and I were the only two students so we went through everything pretty quickly and got done pretty early in the day.  Took a shower and crashed until around 6pm in our enormous white-linened bed.  After that we took a walk down to the other end of the resort, where there was live music, a bonfire, and s’mores!  We had one, hung out a bit, then went out in search of dinner.  We found a really cute local spot that had ridiculously good grilled seafood.  S was jonesing for coconut shrimp which were great, and I had a trio of grilled fishes (mahi mahi, tuna, and snapper) which were awesome.  We went home and were asleep by 9pm – completely unprecendented!
 
– The next day we had an early start to meet the dive boat at 8am, it was a warm day but not too sunny which was nice.  We did two short dives with a tank change in between, then done by 2pm.  Like the previous day, we took a shower, then napped, then out to a different and delicious local seafood spot for early dinner.  Saturday night we ate outdoors in a beautiful garden that reminded me of the Court of Two Sisters in New Orleans.  I had a petite portion of the mahi with mashed potatoes, and S had pan-seared lionfish with french fries.  We asked about the lionfish before S ordered and they are an invasive venomous species introduced from the Indian and Pacific oceans.  Nasty little beasts, they have poisonous spines on their backs and attack native reef fish in their new area and are quickly overwhelming the ecosystem.  They are popular to eat and there are a lot of contests now for fishermen and hobbyists on who can spear the most lionfish in a day.  I can also vouch that they are delicious.  To finish we had a slice of great key lime pie and early to bed again.

– On the last day we went out on another boat, did two longer/deeper dives, again with tank change/equipment switch in the middle.  The first dive took us to Christ of the Abyss which is a statue of Jesus submerged off shore and covered in fire coral.  Our instructor said that every summer, snorkelers will dive down and grab on to the statue for a photo and get zapped by the coral.  Ouch.  I’d say only in Florida but there are ones in Italy and Granada too apparently!  After the last dive we went back to port, did paperwork for our certifications, and were done mid-afternoon.  Shower, nap, then we got up a bit earlier and took a walk around the resort to relax a bit.  We found a hammock right by the water and cuddled up to watch the sun go down.  So warm and nice, hard to remember it was December.
 
– We got dressed for dinner then drove around to a couple of spots but a lot of things were closed on Sunday night.  So we went back to the spot from the night before because a) the food was so good and b) when else are we going tobe able to eat outdoors anytime soon?  I had tuna steak and veggies this time and S had the lionfish grilled this time, again with fries.  Another yummy meal, and of course we capped it off by sharing the key lime pie again.  When we got home we opened up some red wine and just relaxed on the balcony overlooking the water and the moon and just chatted for hours.  So nice.

– The next morning we got up, showered/packed, and drove into Miami for our flight.  Flight was delayed a few times but we had the cutest flight attendant ever (seriously she was about 75 and just the sweetest) and were back on the ground by about 5:30pm.  Took the bus to 125th and Lenox Ave and it was so good to be back home, even on a cool misty evening.  Subway home from there, then groceries, quick dinner and early to bed.  I have one more call this afternoon, then headed home to hopefully reorg my closet.

– And by "head home" and "re-org my closet," apparently I really meant to say "work in the office until after midnight."  Bah humbug!