And the regular exchange is stated to be until the end on the year.

FEEL BETTER

Thanks, you are the Nicest!

Whee!

Really everyone, should not fret if things were sent late or are arriving late.

on the flip side, EVERYONE should check their porches and mailboxes and REPORT IN if they have received anything that might be their gifts.

JUST SAYING.

I got mine!! I will write a longer post tomorrow to do it justice, but for now I will just say that I did a literal happy dance just seeing the wrapping paper, and my Santa knows why!!

I also have not sent off my Santa package. I hoped to do it in Savannah, or Columbia, but there just wasn't time. It'll go out on the 26th for sure.

My year at the office has ended in a depressing way, to put it mildly. First, no bonus ... again. Probably no raise ... again. The day before our office party the person responsible for our personnel records told me she'd miscalculated when we changed the system for recording leave time and if I didn't find a way to take off another day I'd lose a little over six hours. I sort of shrugged and let it go - I'd already scheduled as many days off as I could. That evening - as I was leaving at 6:00 - she told me she'd REALLY miscalculated and that I'd lose more like a week. then she giggled. The next morning I asked if I could possibly - since the error was from someone else making an error - if I could carry over the time and take it off in January. I was told no - that it was my responsibility to keep track of the time, regardless of whether the system was correct, and that since I didn't arrange to take the time off before the end of the year I'd lose it all. A week of leave time. sigh .... Then it turns out the new "improved" system is eating other people's time - one person's lost sick leave without taking off any sick days.

To make life complete, when the office party started it turned out the lunch was, basically, three kinds of meat. Barbecued ribs, chicken, or pork. I had some cole slaw and macaroni and cheese. yum.

And my sister couldn't even bring herself to send me a card.

that is horrible. I am so sorry. They should really give people their time back if the system was making the mistake. How big is your workplace?

Todd that is stupid and angry-making. I hope they are able to come up with some kind of compromise or recompence since it was an issue across the board. If not, may they all get tons of coal, a migraine, and may a camel spit in their tent.

eh ... I'm used to losing a day or two at the end of the year, since I always seem to get in these loops of not being able to take time off and then ending up with bunches at the end of the year. I'm hoping that when other people report having similar problems they'll change. And yes, I should keep track of the time - but when the reportiing system is screwing up, how are we supposed to keep track? I've set up something in Excel to track it independently, so we'll see if this continues. And the person who's responsible for the recordkeeping has been screwing up ... and then she giggles about it.

But it is frustrating and kind of ended the work year on a nasty note.

In semi-related news, I did make a co-worker cry.

She'd admired my key ring - rather than the usual split-ring deal, it's a u-shaped metal tube with a knob on each end, one of which screws off - much easier to get keys off and on. So I found one at Michaels that had a loop to attach a dangle on one knob, and I did one for her with a bead in her favorite color and a little key. For some reason this made her get all sniffly.

What? you think I was mean enough to make someone in the office cry? (If I did, I'd neve tell.)

Toddson, damn. That is some serious Grinch action, right there.

Okay! Here we go. Just an hour or so after I got to my parents' house yesterday, a UPS helper dashed up and left a biggish box on the doorstep. I was going to wait... and then I didn't. I opened the box to find a wrapped box nestled in bubble wrap. The paper has all kind of Christmas-y owls on it. OWLS. Owls under the mistletoe, tucked into a stocking, holding an ornament, on a bough... I'm totally going to be saving it for crafty purposes.

Inside I found a lovely and funny woodcut-style card saying, "Preserve Peace; Can the Holidays" which made me laugh. And then the prezzies, all wrapped in sky blue tissue paper! Coffee in a holiday blend, darjeeling loose tea with teabags; lotion and body wash I can't wait to try; salted caramels (already shared with the fam - DELISH), dark chocolate with pecans and bacon pecan brittle (not sharing, the precioussss); and presents for Frankie! dog cookies and a new poop bag dispenser (which I needed).

And the coolest for last... a beautiful book of illustrations, really two books in one. All kinds of different artists' representations of kickass women, both real and fictional. You can see examples here: [link]

Which would be more than enough, but apparently there's another bit coming after Christmas. So thank you, Anne W!! A wonderful and thoughtful assortment of delights, and so much fun to open.