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12 December 2013

What's shaking, bunnies? [More:]1. Still settling into the new office. Things are going a bit more smoothly but still feeling generally anxious. Hopefully I can calm down soon.
2. Didn't get into the NYC Half marathon. Little bit of a bummer but probably for the best! I still plan to do 9+1 in 2014 so I can be guaranteed entry to the 2015 marathon. Still entertaining thoughts of joining the employee gym so I can workout over lunch.
3. CHRISTMAS IS IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AHHHHHHHH I'm excited. Can't wait to give my little buddy all of his gifts! He loves the Christmas lights at the house, and the Advent calendar! We've been doing it at dinner time but he pointed to it th
Nothing's shaking but I've got plenty cookin'.
(idiomatic expressions in a foreign language are funny)

Tomorrow I'll be visiting an old university friend in Brussels. It's a shorter drive than driving to the next state for most mechaites. But still it feels very much like being out of my ordinary element; different language, different architecture, different food... I like Brussels, especially during the days before Christmas.
The only thing I'm not so sure about: as a friendly gift I'm bringing Weihenstephan Korbinian Bockbier. Which is a wonderful beer. But maybe bringing strong beer to Brussels is bringing owls to Athens. (is that archaïc expression known in English? The other Dutch alternative is "carrying water to the sea".)
Otherwise I'm ok; I've taken up swimming during lunchbreak again. Which feels wonderful in the shoulders. Also the attendant muscle growth at the upper body feels nicely masculine. :-)
Regarding Kerstmis; first day I'll be visiting my old parents. Real candles in the tree like they've done for the last half century. I wonder how they managed when my brother and I were little toddlers with an interest in fire...
Second day I'm still hoping to see my daughter. But I'm being kept at the little cord. (Dutchism again)
Before christmas I'll be visiting the 16th birthday of my 1.82 m niece. Hard to view her and her equally tall 14 yr old sister as the children that they still are.
≡ Click to see image ≡
posted by jouke 12 December | 13:12
Coals to Newcastle jouke.

1. They just gave us Christmas Eve off at work, so I will now have a holiday of nine glorious days, Christmas to New Year's.

2. I have checked Mastering the Art of French Cooking out of the library to see if I can make myself something fancy for Christmas dinner.

3. Freezing freezing freezing cold here. I'm having trouble deciding where to set the thermostat when I'm not home -- balancing between not wasting money heating an empty house but not letting it get so cold that when I come home I sit for an hour with my coat still on.
posted by JanetLand 12 December | 13:23
Ah, thank you JL.
Btw the idea to prepare something special sounds wonderful. (I'm guessing the writer of that book is called Julia Child. )
posted by jouke 12 December | 13:28
1. Job interview next week. Excited but I've been studying "Cracking the Coding Interview" for a week and am pretty sick of reading about binary trees and linked lists and such. I'm not nearly hip enough for this company and everyone there (including the CEO) is like half my age but I have a good feeling about it.

2. My back is still being sucky. Going for an epidural next week (the day after my interview) to see if that will get me through the holidays.

3. Flying to San Francisco next week to see the in-laws. It's been brutally cold here lately so California weather will be a relief.
posted by octothorpe 12 December | 14:41
I got a bunch of mecha holiday cards in the mail today, as well as my Seekrit Quonsar present! Hooray!
posted by msali 12 December | 15:25
1. I got my MeCha cards in the mail yesterday.

2. I still have this horrible, hacking cough. Googling 'smoke inhalation' has not helped, but it's been ten days now with no sign of improvement so I'm thinking maybe I might need to see a doctor.

3. Pressure is on at the office to produce more work but at the same time we can't send out really bad news just before Christmas. We can do one or the other, but not both. Nobody in the upper echelons appears to understand this.

4. Lots of social things in the next few days. Piano bar, party, friends over for dinner, meeting people for coffee, lunch with work colleagues, a meetup, a Christmas concert at the Royal Albert Hall. I'm working on Christmas Eve and between Christmas and New Year, so I'll be glad of a quiet few days at home, just me and Lucy, over the holiday.
posted by Senyar 12 December | 16:34
Going to see the Carolina Chocolate Drops tonight (woo hoo!) Tomorrow: Christmas cards for my business. Saturday: work. Sunday: trials riding (weather permitting.)
posted by workerant 12 December | 16:35
I, too, have a long Christmas break, though not intentionally. Turns out my office is closed for the week between Xmas + NYD (sorry contractors and other people without PTO!). Fortunately, my boss is a good guy and he got permission for me to work from home for that week. Of course, I have to come up with a list of tasks and then complete them all... But hooray, a week of workin' in my PJs! And no annoying conference calls!

Stood up for myself at work this week and made it stick. Small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

I have no idea what I'm going to do when my contract is up in February. Even if they offer to renew it. Not sure I want to stay here, not as a contractor. Maybe I can move to UX? (They don't have UX here, tho, and I doubt I could convince upper management to embrace it with me at the helm.)

Ridiculously busy with performances, mostly for other people's stuff though. I need to work on my own creative outlets.
posted by Eideteker 12 December | 17:39
Things are going well at work. My Bear has been cranky lately but I think that will wear off soon.

My back is bugging me though not to the point of contemplating epidurals. So sorry, octothorpe!

Have many cookies to bake and fudge to make for the Cookie Exchange and for work but not done yet. SQ gift sent (and received!) and Mecha Bunny cards mailed last weekend. Still have to trim the tree. Oh, holidays, you are hard!

Lastly, taking all of Xmas week as a holiday. Aaaaaah. Nothing scheduled but sleep.
posted by bearwife 12 December | 18:03
I seem to be having some sort of mental block about planning for Christmas week, but it actually seems like it's a sign that things are falling into place rather than that I'm going to be a total wreck next weekend.

Though I should probably buy gifts.

I decorated my Christmas tree yesterday! It makes me happy! It makes the cats hyper! It has not yet fallen over, so I guess we're doing well. I do have to make or buy a new tree-topper, though, because the one I bought was obviously designed for a much larger tree and it was tipping at an alarming angle. I'm not big on crafts, but this homemade star tree-topper seems simple enough and will fit style-wise, so that's this weekend's project.

Skipping Thanksgiving this year REALLY has made me a much happier person this holiday season. I may make that non-tradition my new tradition. :)
posted by occhiblu 12 December | 20:57
Also, TPS, that Advent Calendar is super cute!
posted by occhiblu 12 December | 21:00
It's eeerily quiet here today with one worker on leave, one on vacation, and one out sick. The one week I'm prepared for the weekly meeting and there likely won't be one. Ah well.

Hubby and I did our shopping online, but the Boys want to go to stores, so I'll be chauffeuring them separately this weekend.

I have no idea what to get my nieces and nephews. I hate to default to gift cards when they're still under 12 but I'm stumpted.
posted by lysdexic 13 December | 09:06
I think I keep passing pink eye back and forth between me and the bunny. Now it's my turn. I can't help it, I love petting him and I feel like I need to help him get the stuff out of his eyes.

This week at work I did a big project and was only allowed to bask for like 6 minutes and before being asked for the next 11 things. Annoying! I just did work! Why do I have to do more right away?!

I had insane dreams last night, one featuring the devil himself. He was more animal-ish than I'd thought (I said to myself in the dream). Also he cared a lot about doing things correctly and by the book and there was a lot of bureaucracy. I guess my version of hell is administrative tasks? Literally? The devil was a micromanager. Also, when I woke up it made me recall the phrase "the devil's in the details" which is not what that was supposed to mean I don't think.
posted by rmless2 13 December | 10:58
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