Christmas vacation, just like when I was a kid

Woo hoo! Today is my last day of work this year.
It feels like when you are a kid and you get time off school for the holidays.
We do a raffle at work to decide who has dibs on holiday weeks.
If you win you can take as much or little of that week as you want.
The number of tickets you get is based on how long you have worked here.
I had four tickets. That is the minimum number of tickets.
I spread them around last year and got nothing.
This year I put all my tickets on Christmas.
Which I won.
The only downside is that means next year I am not eligible for the raffle. That is just one of the rules.
Oh well.
But starting tonight at about 7:30, I will be off until Jan. 1.
I really don't mind working New Year's day. I don't have to be in until noon. Plus it is usually pretty quiet in the office.
My plan for the time off is to finish all those final kitchen details that got pushed and pushed and pushed back until now.
I also will have Christmas with the whole family, maybe make a couple nice dinners in there somewhere, relax, try to get in a little culture or fun ... maybe a museum.
It's pretty unstructured at this point and I am so looking forward to that.

The old cat

So I took Lucy to the vet today after many days of her sneezing and wheezing. She has a cold.
The best part was she sneezed and this big, slimy, green boog went flying out of her nose and landed on the vet's arm.
I said "Sorry, but I am really glad that didn't land on MY arm."
The vet said "I am really glad it didn't land on my FACE."
Nasty!

Wrapping it all up

Well, I managed to get all my adopt-a-family shopping done in one fell swoop.

And I managed to do it without calling anyone a dirty name or losing my patience.

And I think I did pretty good by 'em.

I got the boy (2 1/2 years old) three good toys, including a learning toy thing, a airport set and a wooden train set. He also gets the dinosaur pajamas and three outfits.

For the mom I got a couple sweaters, a perfume set and a soft, fleece robe.

I did all the shopping Sunday and wrapped it up and delivered it Monday.

It looks like a pretty decent haul, huh?

Now all I need to do is find a small gift for my nephew and I am done.

It really felt good to get all the gifts wrapped and delivered. I'm not sure it put me more in the holiday mood. I mean, I still have no inclination to make Christmas cookies (which is odd for me), but it did leave me with a very good feeling.

Oh and I got a gift for my sister's birthday, which is today.

I cannot say what it is yet because I probably won't see her until Christmas and she read this. So I don't want to give away the surprise. But it is pretty cool. I think she will love it.

That pretty much was my weekend. It was a good mix of chores and laziness.

Oh and I made dinner for the manfriend last night:

Napa cabbage slaw with a sweet, tangy sesame dressing

Mashed potatoes with a hint of wasabi and sour cream

Grilled pork tenderloin marinated in ponzu, honey, five spice, chili paste and sesame oil.

And yeah, I grilled it outside on the barbecue. It was pretty nice yesterday, so I figured what the heck, I will barbecue.

Another reason to love California: barbecue in December.