it’s about midnight here in Ohio. but About 9 p.m. according to my computer’s west coast clock that has not been updated to reflect it’s temporary relocation in the midwest.

coming back to ohio, especially at christmas means many things – bitter cold slapping me in the face when i walk out the door. snow on the ground that doesn’t get taken away by rain. watching gobs and gobs of cable tv because i don’t have it at home (part b/c i’m cheap, part b/c i’d never watch it if i had it. part i’d never leave my house if i did). being a daughter, stepdaughter, sister, high school friend, high school acquaintance, college best friend, college drinking buddy. fighting allergies after snuggling with my dad’s dogs. staying up until 3 a.m. and getting up at 11 a.m. because my body thinks it’s midnight and 8 a.m., respectively. catching up on a year’s worth of news with the high school friends. stuffing one’s face with leftovers, then generally feeling like hell because my body doesn’t know how to digest it all at once as i force it to do so.

it was a weird, very quiet, low key year this time around. mom and gma were in texas with the uncles, cleaning out the grandparents house. dad cooked a feast for 20 when it was really just the two of us (but it was one of the best damn holiday meals i’d ever had). stepdad and i took in movies, running shoe shopping and hiking in the Ohio Valley. sister is in italy but not far from our minds as she called nearly daily and we were kept abreast of her dramas. season’s generosities were expressed as it was insisted that I lug over an oversized pyrex dish of christmas leftovers from dad’s to mom’s. my emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted mother and grandmother dug in heartily to the famous 18-hour smoked turkey to feed their weary selves after their plane ride home today.

2 minutes left.

what else to say about the holiday? time. good quality quiet time was spent with family. i had ideas that i was going to be a little freer this holiday season, as with not as many to have to spend time with and could do my own thing. i hauled the chalk bag and bouldering shoes 3,000 miles to check out the climbing gym. i had intentions of running just about every day to breathe in that crisp december ohio air and hitting up Kristin’s yoga classes several times.

but in the end, none of those things mattered. i decided to break from the norm and veg on the couch with dad and watch E!’s The Soup top 40 clips of 2009 and Letterman while we had dessert. i actually dragged my butt out of bed at 6:45 a.m. on a Sunday to see Ohio in a way i’d never seen it before. i also started to reflect more on what’s important to me and what probably needs to be done in 2010 to make sure my values are in check with what i want.

but that’s a thought process way too serious for right now. in fact, my head is pretty much trying to push away the important thoughts that i need to have in my mind these days. but i’m going hold off until after this weekend. they’ll be there next week.