NaBloPoMo 15: Looking Forward, Looking Up

We're going to keep things simple tonight. It's been a very good weekend so far, surrounded by lots of wonderful (and some mightily-missed) people, but this introvert is feeling a little threadbare. So we're going formulaic tonight with a list of things I'm looking forward to--some reasonably certain, others only hoped for in confidence...

I'm looking forward to tomorrow afternoon, when this selfsame tired introvert will come into her quiet house after church, don some PJs, and snuggle up with a cat and a quilt and a book for the afternoon. It might even snow.

I'm looking forward to Monday night, when two precious and not-seen-as-often-as-I'd-like friends are coming over to eat and chat. Cooking for people who pour into my life and let me pour into theirs = the best.

I'm looking forward to getting confirmation from a loved one's medical testing--that everything will be all-clear, harmless, fine.

I'm looking forward to getting settled into a new workspace this week. I hate moving, in all its forms, especially when it involves increased distances from friends. (Some would argue that one floor away isn't that far, but compared to sight- and hearing-distance, it's a vast and blustery desert of sadness.)

I'm looking forward to my JetBlue flight this week--ahh, legroom and friendly service!--and to that first night in a city before a show, the quiet before the storm of our second-biggest conference of the year. I'm looking forward to setting our booth, and hosting our author party, and seeing author friends and hanging out with coworkers and eating tasty food.

I'm looking forward to coming home to spend Thanksgiving with my Maine family, to rest and laughter and games and movie marathons and--yes, more food.

I'm looking forward to writing "NaBloPoMo 30: Each Single Day." :D

I'm looking forward to a couple quiet weeks at home: no conferences, no weddings, no moving offices.

I'm looking forward to enjoying stories in the dark with strangers: Imitation Game, Hobbit, Into the Woods...

I'm looking forward to spending Christmas in Iowa with my family: hanging out and cooking with my mom, playing with my cousins' girls, seeing relatives of various varieties.
     Related but separate: I was sitting watching a middle school basketball game today
     when I realized that in a few short weeks I'll get my first big bruvver hug in
     eighteen months--on Christmas Day, no less. Cut to where Chandra is mopping
     tears in the bleachers. I am looking forward to this.)

I'm looking forward to God bringing resolution to the question marks hanging in my life like oversized Christmas ornaments. I'm looking forward to a season of peace and joy and rest, to follow this one of pain and unsettledness and growth.

I'm looking forward. Looking up. Because despite anything else that hits me, this is the ultimate privilege of faith.  "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:1-2, KJV)