looking forward

A lot of times when I look forward, the result is that I stress myself out. Things are busy, and I have an uncanny ability to make it seem like I'll never be able to relax for the REST OF MY LIFE. It's never true, but sometimes it feels that way.
However - today, when I look forward, I see some fabulous, relaxing stuff coming my way:
-tomorrow - I'm taking the afternoon off work, getting a massage with my friend Jane at 12:30, then going home to pack because Mark and I are...
-spending Thursday night through Sunday at Uncle Tom's Cabin (it's Mark's actual Uncle Tom's cabin up near Midland, not some strange literary theme park...). Just the two of us - movies, board games, books, cooking dinner... I'm so excited.
-next week, I'm off Thursday, and don't go back to work until the 29th. We'll have a Christmas dinner with just Mark, Brooks and I; we'll travel to IL to celebrate Christmas with my family (which includes going to the lovely Christmas Eve Service at my old church - although I'm partially heartbroken to not be at Riv...)
-we're having a New Year's Eve Party - 007 (James Bond) theme - it'll be crazy, but lots of fun (although, once again, partially heartbroken that we can't party with Dan and Suzanne and some other friends because they're hosting a party too...)
-back to work for real on the 3rd of January, starting a new semester. I've rearranged my schedule to hopefully have every Wednesday afternoon off (I'm not so excited about the earlier mornings, but I'm completely pumped to have an afternoon off each week!)

So that's it. Even though I still have some Christmas shopping to do, and some Christmas presents to finish making - I'm not that worried. I'll have lots of time, and right now, I feel really good about the things to come!