It's Beginning to Feel a lot Like Christmas

Because the weather outside is frightful, and the fire--er, portable heater--is so delightful.

Seriously, the weather is cooling off and becoming overcast and wintery (finally!), and everywhere you go outside, there are Christmas decorations and lights and an explosion of consumerism. But do you know why it feels Christmassy to me? Because my wife and I have spent the whole week-end together!

Friday night, we went to the TLUG bonenkai (by the magic of Blogger, once I have finished the entry on the bonenkai--I have about four different entries still in draft state--I will link the previous text to my entry, and strike this whole parenthetical aside right through!) and had a jolly good time. On Saturday, we slept in, had a nice breakfast while watching "Ally McBeal", then went shopping on the Motomachi pedestrian shopping street and up at Don Quixote. We came home to pack a box, then went over to the Yokohama Central Post Office to mail it, then headed up to the McDonald's by Yamashita-koen for supper. I then had to go into Shibuya for work, but when I came back, we had wine and cheese while watching a little more Ally.

Right now, she is sitting at the computer working on a sakubun (essay) for school, and I am sitting beside her on the floor, next to the warmth of the virtual fire (which would be a Sharp HX-120G Ceramic Fan Heater, very similar to the one pictured at left), writing this and other blog entries. This feels like home, and I can feel a strong sense of warmth, happiness, and family.

And that is what Christmas really means to me.