Good Monday Morning Everybody!

Welcome home Tia. Sounds like NYC was a lot of fun. Sure hope I can go some time. I think it would be so much fun. We missed you on the boards. Are you going to be off at all for Christmas? I am taking a few days off, the 27-29th. I am ready for a break. I know I have only been here since July but I have been working without a vacation since last November. Except for the time I took off to recover from my surgery, which I don't count as vacation for obvious reasons. LOL. Been pretty crazy here at work today. On of the admin's is out and I had to get travel together for her boss. The travel is for today, tomorrow & Wednesday! She didn't have any of the travel done yet. But I was able to get it done and now I can breathe. I had a little run in with her boss a couple months back so I am always nervous that I am going to mess things up for him. I think I managed to get his travel done, maybe not exactly like she would do it but it is done and he shouldn't have any problems. Keeping my fingers crossed! We are having car problems. I won't bore you with details but it is really frustrating to have to spend $$ on car repairs this time of the year. And we had to fork out $$ for a rental so we could both get to work every day. I am sure things will work out and we will survive once again. I am just ready for a time when we are getting some debt paid off and getting some $$ in the bank so we don't have to be so worried about not having enough if something breaks down or goes awry. Sorry to dump on you like this. I am looking forward to this Sunday. Should be lots of fun. For once my girls will be spending the day with us instead of their friends. I am glad they are busy and have lots of friends. But I also enjoy doing things as a family so this will be very nice. Take care. Hugs, Robin

Hi Robin - Thanks for the welcome back! I missed being on the boards, but frankly, didn't have time to think of much, which was actually a blessed relief!!! It was a blast! And something I look forward to each year. But it's not cheap, that's for sure. Not that I buy much - some odds and ends for KB and a trinket or two. But food is $$$$$, cabs are okay, and we take a lot of them because of Mom's asthma, so I consider them a necessary evil. They actually have t-shirts that say, "I survived a NYC cab ride!!" I've only felt that way once or twice, but that's enough!!! I'm actually off on 12/18-19 and then not again until 12/27-29, when I'll have KB. I HATE not being off the day after Christmas, but THE SUPERVISOR took off without mentioning it to me, along with the 22nd. Not that she needed my permission, but she could've at least mentioned it to me, that would've been nice. I'm so glad you'll have some time off, that's a long time to go with no break, so I know how much you deserve/need it!!! Looking forward to meeting your famiy on Sunday - it should be a lot of fun. Ugh, I sympathize with the car issue - repairs seem to have a way of waiting until the holidays, don't they? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think there's ever been a time in my life where "something" hasn't cropped up to take away any money I might have managed to squirrel away. Oh, well, that's life, and we do have lots to be grateful for. So dump away!!! You have lots of company, I promise!!! Just hang in there, and again, vent away. Have a great rest of the day! Tia

I wish I had the day after Christmas off too. But I took the day after Thanksgiving so I am working this one so the others can take off. Its fair trade. Your super should have at least said something to you. I think it would be fun to ride in a NYC cab. Maybe interesting and adventurous are better descriptions for it. I really need to get busy baking. My family feels like i never have snacks around the house anymore. Which is not entirely true but they aren't all the snacks they would prefer. So I guess some Christmas goodies are in order, after all, they have supported me and we have to keep up with family Christmas traditions. I would love some fudge but I am not sure I should tempt it. I say that knowing that I will try it anyway. LOL I don't blame you for not thinking twice about the boards. I rarely think about getting on the comp when I am not in the office. Good for you! Hugs, Robin

One of the perks of being an underpaid State employee is that the day after Thanksgiving is a holiday for us. Actually, I'm kind of hoping that the new gov will see that since Christmas Eve is on a Monday in 2007, he'd save the State money by declaring it a holiday, too! I'll put that on my list to Santa. For the most part, THE SUPER and I do try to "share" days off. This just kind of peeved me because she didn't even mention it, I just happened to "find" it while flipping through our calendar book! I have been fortunate that I'm pretty much able to take off when I need, but since I get 5 weeks of vacation, 6 personal days and 3 weeks of sick leave, what can they really say? I try to keep some kind of snack in the house for everyone, too, but don't want to encourage mindless snacking in K, who's prone to it. OMG, I see myself so much in her and don't want her to experience the heartache of being a fat little girl like I was, so I try to keep it all balanced, which is hard. Having said that, I think I just like to bake/cook because for me, it's stress-free and non-thinking. Hence, the 10 different kinds of cookies we've made. I was going to take some to the local fire department, but then I saw that a local senior center is serving their Christmas dinner actually on the 25th, so I may call them and see if they would like some goodies. I'll understand if they don't for safety issues, but if I have to, I'll tell them where I work, maybe that'll help. I posted under Traci's dinner theatre post - I CAN'T GO!! WAAAAHHH!!! Take care, Tia