I checked my email, had nothing new. Not doing anything else work related.
We are going into the city tonight to have a nice dinner at a restaurant I've wanted to try for years, then going to see Elf at the orchestra (they play the score live). I'm super excited but also my son has been super negative about everything lately and I really hope that he can rally and not ruin it for the rest of us.
Finally, an update-- I posted a while ago that I'd been to 3 stores looking for Hershey Hugs to make my kids favorite Xmas cookies.
Happy to report that I finally found them last night... in the new Valentines Day display that Walmart had set up LOL. The pink wrapper doesn't matter since they are getting unwrapped for the cookies anyway. But what the hell.
We are going to an Elf movie/symphony too! Are you in CT?
I'm working until 1. Every day this week felt like it should be Friday, so it's a relief that it finally actually is.
I’m off until the 8th but DH and kids have their last day of finals. I’m going to get the house in order and run a couple errands. The kids have a bday party on their mom’s side, so they’ll get dropped off tomorrow, and DH and I are going to order Chinese and chill.
Post by blondemoment123 on Dec 22, 2023 9:59:37 GMT -5
Cleaners are here. DS is still passed out in my bed so we're hanging out in here. I was giggling over how different my 2 cats are. My girl met them at the door and was happily purring away. Meanwhile my boy ran for his life and is hiding under the bed.
Post by UMaineTeach on Dec 22, 2023 10:00:43 GMT -5
I wasted yesterday’s day off (and the 2.5 storm days before that), so I’m trying to be productive today, but I just feel tired and depressed. I just can’t get into the holiday spirit this year.
However, power came back yesterday afternoon! There are still lots of people without though. The major road to the next town reopened. The sides of that road are littered with downed trees and disconnected electrical equipment.
I'm working but just until noon. Then H and I are going to the huge shopping center near us to find a gift for his oldest niece. I had ordered a nice little card holder from Kate Spade Outlet in plenty of time to get it shipped, but they canceled it 😔
No idea if we'll be able to find something similar, and H is now second guessing every suggestion I make. I am... not looking forward to this. But I'm going to try to adjust my attitude and hope we have a nice time. It's been months since we've gone anywhere together 😕
Post by fluffycookie on Dec 22, 2023 10:14:20 GMT -5
I am monitoring emails today. We shut down after today until the second and my groups historically have some urgent issue come up today...lol. I dropped DS off this morning to school and went and got MH a gift card and winter hat to a golf course he likes and then went food shopping. It wasn't awful when I went but it was really crowded when I left. I got DS a gift card to a place that they go to after the 6am practice on Tuesdays for breakfast sandwiches so I decided to get myself one since I was there. So good.
I'm annoyed at the moment because our power went out for literally one second and now I cannot seem to reconnect to the Internet. I've tried rebooting the router multiple times. At one point it was also saying my password was incorrect when it certainly is not. I guess I'm done with work for the day lol.
I'm working a half day but it should be relatively quiet. I'll be heading over to a local bar/restaurant around 2pm for lunch with H and his coworkers and hopefully a festive beer (this place doesn't ever have anything good, really, but I'll take a Sam Adams Christmas/winter something at this point lol).
DS has a half day and then will to go after-care where they have a little Christmas party and gift exchange.
No plans tonight besides probably making some Chex mix and maybe some other food prep, and hopefully getting some wrapping done. OH and definitely a festive cocktail!
yup. working from home and have so much to do. work is slammed but this I'd my last day until after new years, people are Enon responsive, I habe to finish shopping and haven't wrapped a thing. My condo is a complete disaster. IDK how that happens so fast.
Post by lilypad1126 on Dec 22, 2023 10:33:26 GMT -5
I'm "working" but really just killing time until my 12pm meeting. Once that's done, I have nothing else scheduled work-wise. I have a massage at 3 that I'm really looking forward to.
Definitely looking forward to a long weekend, then a super slow couple days at work before another long weekend. At this point, I'm counting down the days until January 7 when we leave for our cruise.
This is the first day both kids are off from school, and our original plan was that we were going to bake some cookies and Rice Krispy treats before watching the first Hunger Games movie together. Then I got a text at 7:00 am from DS 2's D&D mom text chain reminding me that they've got a game starting at 1:00, so I guess our movie plans will get pushed to next week instead.
I do still have all of the wrapping to do, so I may shut myself in my office for an hour today and work on that.
A random vent: late last night I finished a book on my Kindle, went on Amazon to order the next book in the series, and somehow selected the option to purchase both the Kindle and Audible versions together. I've never done that before, but I figured it would be NBD to return the Audible since A: it had just been accidentally purchased minutes earlier, and B: I hadn't opened or downloaded the file.
Want to know what you cannot do unless you purchase an Audible book with one of their credits? Return it. And the kicker is that I do have an Audible membership, and I had 10 credits hanging out in my account. Amazon just decided to charge my credit card instead for some reason, and then told me to pound sand when I tried to make the return.
I wound up on a chat with two different customer service reps, one of whom finally agreed to refund my card after I told him I'd be disputing the charge with my credit card company in the morning.
Anyway, I clearly wasn't using my Audible membership and it did me no good in that situation to have one, so I used my credits on a bunch of books I wouldn't mind listening to in the car at some point and cancelled my account. I'm still so annoyed about it. What is the point of a no-refunds policy for a 100% unused purchase, and why on earth wouldn't they have used one of my existing credits in the first place? All it did was piss me off enough to cancel the membership and commit to never buying from Audible again, and I can't imagine I'm the first person to feel that way or have this happen.
I'm working and I was hoping for a quiet day, but it seems that everyone has decided that they need resources/help RIGHT NOW, so I'll be making phone calls for most of my day it seems. At least that should help time pass quickly?? I'm off until the 28th after today and I can't wait.
This is basically me, too. I process reimbursements for professional development throughout the year, and I'm also in charge of annual training - both of which are due at the end of the year. Despite having 12 months to do all of this, tons of people have waited until the last minute to send things over or ask for technical help, so this is actually the worst time for me to relax or be away. Plus I had to fix a report that I should have better prepared to send, so that took up a ton of time this week.
But I'm off until the 28th after today, which doesn't help with the above (it means things must be done NOW) but at least it's a long weekend. We fly to my parents' tonight so it's really a time crunch here. I was going to go to a coworkers going away lunch today but I just can't do the drive into the city and back plus the lunch hour.
My H is off today - his last day at his job was yesterday so he's really off, with nothing looming to do. I am so jealous. But also really happy for him - he's been working like 60 hour weeks lately (and through much of the year) so finally having nothing hanging over him to do is such a well earned break.
Post by Leeham Rimes on Dec 22, 2023 11:04:46 GMT -5
I wrapped all the kids presents yesterday, seems so small for what I spent, lol. I changed the snakes bedding and gave her a bath. She actually chilled out for a bit, she usually hates baths so I’m guessing she needed the soaking. So merry Christmas, miss hiss.
Today is the kids’ last day of school then they’re off until they go back on January 9th. I’m thankful for the break, especially for Wesley. He has more work than my 8th grader and he’s exhausted.
I need ham like water Like breath, like rain I need ham like mercy From Heaven's gate Sometimes ham salad or casserole or ham that’s free range, all natural I need ham
Post by fangoriagurkel on Dec 22, 2023 11:07:22 GMT -5
I have a dentist appointment this afternoon for a permanent crown and then my mom and I are heading to a large open air mall by us for one last shopping blitz. It’s going to be a mad house and I love it!
She’s extra last minute but I only have 2–3 things to get, so my stress level is at a zero.
I’m getting SO some cologne (I’m hoping that Ulta has a sample pack like they do for perfume) and some hand cream since his job is really punishing on his hands. And an outfit for new baby next door! It’s their first baby and he clocked in at 10 lbs 7oz! He looks like a 3 month old!
We are going into the city tonight to have a nice dinner at a restaurant I've wanted to try for years, then going to see Elf at the orchestra (they play the score live).
This is so cool! We went and saw Elf at the theater on Wednesday, it David's favorite movie, he is obsessed. He'd love this.
Post by Patsy Baloney on Dec 22, 2023 11:14:51 GMT -5
I’m WFH, kids are with MIL having a great grandma day. My mom and her husband are on a trip, so we’re watching their dog.
Which means I’m watching the fuzziest standoff of the century between our cat and their dog while humming, “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”
He’s a chill senior dog and the cat is starting to let down her guard and sit close to him. They’ll probably be friends around the time he’s supposed to go home, lol.
Working in theory, but there isn't much to do today. I've decided I'm going to take a move out of the European playbook and delete all the emails in my inbox before signing off for vacation so I can start the New Year fresh. Anyone who still needs something from me in 2024 will have to ping me again.
The wave of anxiety that went through my body just reading this 🤣
My H does this every now and then and I don't get it, lol. I'm not built for that.
I need ham like water Like breath, like rain I need ham like mercy From Heaven's gate Sometimes ham salad or casserole or ham that’s free range, all natural I need ham
Post by Wallflower on Dec 22, 2023 11:56:54 GMT -5
US employees are on vacation today but I'm working, trying to get some things done. It'll all work out as I'm just marking myself as working on a day next week when I'm really taking a vacation day. (My boss knows, I'm not scamming anything.) I just know I'll be able to relax once I cross some things off my list. And it's SO QUIET that I'm actually accomplishing things! And once I do this stuff, I'm off until 2024.
My neighbors stopped by with goodies and I'm so proud that two out of my three cats actually interacted with them! Usually, they all scatter, but these two have been getting better. The other will never change, I don't think. He's convinced that the world is out to get him, and since I have to give him pills and shots, he's not really wrong.
My husband is supposedly working from home today but I can hear him playing the piano so it must not be busy!
I roasted a turkey breast earlier in the week so I’m making a pot pie for lunch with the leftover meat (why wait for dinner when we are both here) and somehow I forgot to add one of the vegetables. The dogs were underfoot and distracted me. Why do we have three dogs again? At least it was already pretty vegetable heavy.
At any rate, it better be good because it is supposed to be tomorrow’s dinner too.
ETA: it was fine but I added the vegetable in to the leftovers and I think they will be better!
Post by exploding people on Dec 22, 2023 12:23:27 GMT -5
I'm at work but I finished the handful of things I had to do. I'm the only one here and I'm not staying all day.
The dive bar my friends and I used to frequent when we all lived in the neighborhood is the bar from Grumpy Old Men and it's the 30th anniversary, so they're playing the movie all day and doing beer deals and a meat raffle so DH and I might go to that tonight. I haven't been to a meat raffle in years! Maybe I can win some steaks.
Post by BlondeSpiders on Dec 22, 2023 13:37:50 GMT -5
I worked an extra hour each day this week so I could leave at 1pm today. We reserved our spots at the Seattle Christmas Market, which is an open-air European market event. But it is raining So Hard right now. I have no desire to drive in this rain, let alone dodge everyone else's umbrellas and get soaked. We might skip it and just chill.
The last week of December is super busy for me and my team of 1, so I don't usually take time off. Sometimes I can take a week off before Christmas if the calendar works out in my favor, but a Monday Christmas only leaves me 4 workdays before 12/31, so no dice this year.
I got a facial on Wednesday and it destroyed my skin. It’s so red and puffy, and started itching this morning. I’m not sure if the exfoliant just irritated it or if it’s an allergic reaction to something she used but I’m so annoyed.