Christmas comes and goes so fast

Our Christmas holiday has and is coming together nicely. Last Sunday we were at our nephew Mark and his wife Megan's for Carol's side of the family's get together with brunch and gift exchanging. We had a very nice time there, Ian was able to be here with his girlfriend Alie. The day before Carol and I made the rounds to get most of our shopping done. Ian was back with us last night and is home until Sunday when he needs to return to work in New Hampshire so its us and the pets for Christmas Day. Sunday, Carol and I will join with some of my brothers and sister's family to celebrate at my mother's. I need to remember to slow things down in the mind to appreciate the time we get to spend together with our familys.

Cubical makeover

Over the last few weekends and through several more in January my company's office has taken on a office space renovation. Cubicles, walled offices and carpeting have become quite shabby and a makeover was well over due. We occupy two stories of a nine story building in downtown Portland, Maine. I think we've been at this location about fifteen years and moved in with the cubicles we had from our former location. The office areas were divided into phases which took place over the described weekends – my location was included in last weekend's phase.

Here's my cube's "before" appearance with it's "disaster in progress" motif. The deco is a cross between a neglected museum and a vandalized campaign headquarters. The makeover was a welcome relief and an excuse for starting over.

The four packing boxes on the left hold nearly everything that I couldn't throw or cart away and the remaining few items get thrown in a box on my way out the door for the weekend.

My "after" photo. Monday morning I had to hit the ground running to meet a couple of deadlines though I did a bit of unpacking during the day and finished up yesterday before leaving for a few days vacation. I'll say that it will be keep neat and tidy but only time will tell.

Holiday season time off

Getting near the end of the year I have about five days of vacation left so I'm splitting it up over these last three weeks of December. There is no carry over of vacation time into the next year. Sad to say the one I took last Friday ended up with me going into the office for a couple of hours anyway. I took that pound of flesh back on today's timecard entry. Tomorrow and Thursday will be free and easy days off with nothing at the office to pull me back. Friday is the company's Christmas holiday then next week I'll work the same schedule as this week with Friday being our New Year's holiday.

Another winter is upon us

Not officially of course but then again for the longest time I have considered the beginning of December as the first days of winter. These pictures are from the back yard last Saturday morning after I shoveled off the deck. First good coverage of the season.

Didn't last long as the sunshine over the course of the day melted most of it away. Late yesterday afternoon though brought us a fresh 3 inches of snow before Carol and came home from work and a visit to our fitness center so my day's workout wasn't over yet. It was the light fluffy variety so all-in-all it didn't take me long to clear the driveway or Carol to clean off the deck and front patio.

I'll be keeping the shovel handy and the snowblower gased up.