January is the month of hibernation, according to Chris. Each January in the last five years, he’s been anti-social and refuses to leave the apartment unless it’s for work, theater, or really warm food. We came from Australia, where the weather was slightly humid and in the 80s and 90s Fahrenheit. Then, we moved on to Hong Kong, where the temperatures were quite steady at a mild low- to mid-60s our entire time there. It felt almost like San Francisco. And as we exited our plane coming from LAX to JFK this evening, a very cold gust of wind that was about 20 degrees F hit both of us, including my socks-less feet. We were home.

We went through the usual things we do when we get back after almost a month of not being here: unpack, open up our endless mail, which usually includes Christmas cards (labeled “Happy Holidays” from PC friends and family in California to “Merry Christmas” from friends who aren’t as PC) and random packaged gifts, and cleaning up accumulated dust that has appeared on top of the toilet and the sink in the bathroom. And as I went through all these things, I realized that this January would be a little different from all the previous ones because this time around, I would have a long list of wedding-related tasks to get done — a very, very long one.

Why didn’t I just hire someone else to do this all for me? 🙁