Well Christmas is over. All the exchanging of gifts, eating, eating and more eating is slowly tapering off.
And I always find it weird how we spend almost a month in anticipation of Christmas, carols on the radio, parties, all sorts of hoop-la-la and then once boxing day hits,it's all gone. All the decorations have been taken down. Everybody starts stressing about the holiday weight they gained, and taking about the diet and exercise they plan on starting in January.
No more Christmas music, Christmas trees, gift packages in the stores.
And the build-up to New Year's Eve isn't nearly as huge. Which is probably a good thing considering how anti-climactic new year's can be.
It's usually just a couple of days of deciding on plans, then that's it.
As I had mentioned previously, I don't generally get reflective at this time of year, I save my soul searching/goal setting for around my Birthday. So there is really not much going on right now. Back at work - same old, same old.
It's a little sad. What I love most about Christmas (not including the whole God becoming Flesh thing, to offer me eternity) is how social everybody becomes. I love going to parties, exchanging gifts, baking cookies, not really doing any work, etc...
And suddenly on December 26th, it all goes away.
Circle of life stuff I guess.
On a totally unrelated topic - People (doesn't have to be just ladies) book your calendars for Friday, January 19th. It's time for another Needle Crafts evening (I don't want to use the little bit naughty name).
7:30pm and onwards at my house.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
The Day of No Work
'Twas the week before Christmas
and all through the office
No one was working
not even the Bosses
The phone lines were silent
no ringing at all
We were all in anticipation of the Holiday Ball
Employees were nestled all snug at their desks
While visions of Vacation days danced in their heads
My pod-mate was net-surfing and I took a nap.
When out from the Board Room there arose such a clatter.
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.
When what to my unbelieving eyes should appear
but the Senior Director drinking a beer.
He invited all into the Ball
There was food, wine and gifts, which he offered us all.
As we ate and ate and ate some more
he offered his well wishes to us each one and all.
Then in amazement the clock struck three.
"Hey, It's time to go home
Whoo Hooo, Hee hee".
The scary part is not only that I had the time to make this up at work, but also how close to my actual day it is.
and all through the office
No one was working
not even the Bosses
The phone lines were silent
no ringing at all
We were all in anticipation of the Holiday Ball
Employees were nestled all snug at their desks
While visions of Vacation days danced in their heads
My pod-mate was net-surfing and I took a nap.
When out from the Board Room there arose such a clatter.
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.
When what to my unbelieving eyes should appear
but the Senior Director drinking a beer.
He invited all into the Ball
There was food, wine and gifts, which he offered us all.
As we ate and ate and ate some more
he offered his well wishes to us each one and all.
Then in amazement the clock struck three.
"Hey, It's time to go home
Whoo Hooo, Hee hee".
The scary part is not only that I had the time to make this up at work, but also how close to my actual day it is.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Comments!
Ok I don't know why I's not working but I have been unable to post comments on several blogs since people have switched to the BETA version.
If you know me, you can imagine how it must be for my Psyche to not be able to "talk".
So I figured I'd just comment here:
Ghanima
You're better than I am, I am great at keeping other people's secrets (good thing considering my profession) but lousy at keeping my own (see previous entry entitled "Can you keep a Secret")
I also wanted to concur with you on the somewhat prohibitive nature of a public forum such a blog. I would say more (and did in the comment I tried to post), but you never know who might be reading ;)
Joy
I wanted to encourage you about being evaluated at the school this week. I know how stressful it can be, but I also already knew that you are a great and dedicated teacher, so it came as no surprise to me that you rocked it!
And that's all I have to say about that!
In other news, we had our Children's Christmas musical at Church this past Sunday morning. It took place in a Toy Store, and most of the kids played toys that come to life. While I didn't miss the point, it ended with me thinking just how much I would like to own a Miss Glamour doll - ok you caught me, BE a Miss Glamour doll, complete with Mr. Glamour doll, SUV (with leather seats) and beach house.
If you know me, you can imagine how it must be for my Psyche to not be able to "talk".
So I figured I'd just comment here:
Ghanima
You're better than I am, I am great at keeping other people's secrets (good thing considering my profession) but lousy at keeping my own (see previous entry entitled "Can you keep a Secret")
I also wanted to concur with you on the somewhat prohibitive nature of a public forum such a blog. I would say more (and did in the comment I tried to post), but you never know who might be reading ;)
Joy
I wanted to encourage you about being evaluated at the school this week. I know how stressful it can be, but I also already knew that you are a great and dedicated teacher, so it came as no surprise to me that you rocked it!
And that's all I have to say about that!
In other news, we had our Children's Christmas musical at Church this past Sunday morning. It took place in a Toy Store, and most of the kids played toys that come to life. While I didn't miss the point, it ended with me thinking just how much I would like to own a Miss Glamour doll - ok you caught me, BE a Miss Glamour doll, complete with Mr. Glamour doll, SUV (with leather seats) and beach house.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Short Staffed
Lately people have been dropping like flies in my workplace.
whether they quit or go on Short-term-disability, we are way low on people!!
I think we are missing a minimum of like 5 people.
Yesterday there was 1 person working intake on any given shift, I was the only bilingual person working for the morning and there was 1 other counsellor. And between the 3 of us we managed our second highest call volume ever!
And it must have been a full moon or something because almost every counselling call I took was about a Domestic Violence situation.
No wonder I came home with a headache and missed my run with the Running Room.
It's amazing to me that we haven't exploded or something.
Sometimes I get this weird mental picture of our heads expanding like balloons while on the phone with a caller. Then eventually the balloon gets stretched too thin, and explodes! In my weird David lynch style fantasy, nobody notices, and the caller keeps talking on the phone, business resumes as usual.
Then eventually the cleaning staff come in and just vacuum away the balloon pieces, and magically everybody comes back the next day and it all happens over again - kind of like the movie "Groundhog Day" from the darkside.
Well enough of my morbid thoughts - only 13 days until Christmas - then that's 2 days of celebrating, gifts, eating and sweet relief from work!!
I think it's also a busy time of year in general. Do people ever slow down?
whether they quit or go on Short-term-disability, we are way low on people!!
I think we are missing a minimum of like 5 people.
Yesterday there was 1 person working intake on any given shift, I was the only bilingual person working for the morning and there was 1 other counsellor. And between the 3 of us we managed our second highest call volume ever!
And it must have been a full moon or something because almost every counselling call I took was about a Domestic Violence situation.
No wonder I came home with a headache and missed my run with the Running Room.
It's amazing to me that we haven't exploded or something.
Sometimes I get this weird mental picture of our heads expanding like balloons while on the phone with a caller. Then eventually the balloon gets stretched too thin, and explodes! In my weird David lynch style fantasy, nobody notices, and the caller keeps talking on the phone, business resumes as usual.
Then eventually the cleaning staff come in and just vacuum away the balloon pieces, and magically everybody comes back the next day and it all happens over again - kind of like the movie "Groundhog Day" from the darkside.
Well enough of my morbid thoughts - only 13 days until Christmas - then that's 2 days of celebrating, gifts, eating and sweet relief from work!!
I think it's also a busy time of year in general. Do people ever slow down?
Friday, December 08, 2006
Egads, THE TIRED has returned
When I first started at my current job, I started on the overnight shift. 11pm-7am or 12 midnight-8am 5 days a week.
I learned rather quickly that I am not good at being up all night, all the time.
The only time working overnights worked in my favour, was when we did the all night Lord of The Rings Trilogy, all 3 extended versions - I was the only person who didn't fall asleep even once.
Within a couple of weeks of starting, I was falling asleep anywhere and everywhere. Trust me it's embarrassing when you get caught having fallen asleep in church because you closed your eyes when the Pastor says "let us pray" and didn't open them again until 25 minutes after he was finished praying.
It didn't matter how many hours of consecutive sleep I was getting during the day - trust me I was sleeping for like 10 hours a day, I just couldn't stop being tired.
I would be going along, doing just fine, alert, awake, smiling and joking, and then BAM! Exhausted and can't fight against it. It would happen at work too, in the middle of a shift. So I named the phenomenon THE TIRED.
Because we're talking about more than just being tired here, we're talking about a wave of exhaustion that hits suddenly, is all encompassing and you are powerless to fight it.
To put it in the monumental terms of a comic book - ahem, sorry I mean graphic novel: as Kryptonite is to Superman, so THE TIRED is to me.
So THE TIRED kind of went into retirement as a nemesis pretty quickly after I was switched off the night shift. But there have been some bouts of time when THE TIRED has tried for a comeback.
First there was the era of the ON-call shift. Pretty much working my day job and then being paged all night 3 or 4 nights a week. THE TIRED had a short but successful run at that time.
And somehow tonight THE TIRED is back. I hope it's just a one night appearance.
I woke-up at 6am as usual to the sound of running water, as usual (and amazingly it doesn't make me have to pee frantically anymore).
I got to work for the start of my 7am shift.
I went to an appointment after work at 4pm.
I got home for 5:30pm, made and had supper.
I went to the People's Church production of "Two from Galilee" where my friend Kellen plays Joseph (two enthusiastic thumbs up).
And as the musical ended, THE TIRED struck.
Now I'm home, I still have to make a trifle for tomorrow - and I'm going to be in a seminar all day before the celebrations of the evening.
And I can't move my butt off this computer chair.
zzzzzzz...............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
what was that? oh right sorry, gotta make a trifle.
I learned rather quickly that I am not good at being up all night, all the time.
The only time working overnights worked in my favour, was when we did the all night Lord of The Rings Trilogy, all 3 extended versions - I was the only person who didn't fall asleep even once.
Within a couple of weeks of starting, I was falling asleep anywhere and everywhere. Trust me it's embarrassing when you get caught having fallen asleep in church because you closed your eyes when the Pastor says "let us pray" and didn't open them again until 25 minutes after he was finished praying.
It didn't matter how many hours of consecutive sleep I was getting during the day - trust me I was sleeping for like 10 hours a day, I just couldn't stop being tired.
I would be going along, doing just fine, alert, awake, smiling and joking, and then BAM! Exhausted and can't fight against it. It would happen at work too, in the middle of a shift. So I named the phenomenon THE TIRED.
Because we're talking about more than just being tired here, we're talking about a wave of exhaustion that hits suddenly, is all encompassing and you are powerless to fight it.
To put it in the monumental terms of a comic book - ahem, sorry I mean graphic novel: as Kryptonite is to Superman, so THE TIRED is to me.
So THE TIRED kind of went into retirement as a nemesis pretty quickly after I was switched off the night shift. But there have been some bouts of time when THE TIRED has tried for a comeback.
First there was the era of the ON-call shift. Pretty much working my day job and then being paged all night 3 or 4 nights a week. THE TIRED had a short but successful run at that time.
And somehow tonight THE TIRED is back. I hope it's just a one night appearance.
I woke-up at 6am as usual to the sound of running water, as usual (and amazingly it doesn't make me have to pee frantically anymore).
I got to work for the start of my 7am shift.
I went to an appointment after work at 4pm.
I got home for 5:30pm, made and had supper.
I went to the People's Church production of "Two from Galilee" where my friend Kellen plays Joseph (two enthusiastic thumbs up).
And as the musical ended, THE TIRED struck.
Now I'm home, I still have to make a trifle for tomorrow - and I'm going to be in a seminar all day before the celebrations of the evening.
And I can't move my butt off this computer chair.
zzzzzzz...............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
what was that? oh right sorry, gotta make a trifle.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Oy, Humbug!
Ok, so if you don't frequent Emma's blog, check out a snipet of our Knitting Extravaganza on Friday night.
In other news, is anybody else more Chirstmassy than usual this year?
I have found over time that Christmas gets less and less Christmassy for me over the years.
I remember being so excited to go to the mall, buy gifts, sit on Santa's lap, wake-up on Christmas morning, eat, eat and eat.
I'm not sure if it's about me getting older or just that time changes things, but I get less and less Christmas-like every year. Now I grumble about having to take the tree out of storage, decorating it, having to take it all down and put it away, baking treats (who has time, and they're not healthy to eat). I complain about traffic, parking lots and slow moving revellers in the mall, who keep stopping right in my way. I moan about how many gifts I have to buy, how much it's going to cost me, and the pain that wrapping is (doesn't help that I suck at wrapping gifts).
But this year, somehow the Christmas spirit has come on full force.
I enjoyed putting up the tree, and decorating it.
I finished all my Christmas shopping in November - and have happily avoided the malls. I listen to Christmas music and hymns in the car and sing along unashamedly.
It's great, but weird - because it's such a turn around.
I don't know what bug bit me, but I think that if I could bottle it, I'd like to get bit every year. This is much more fun than most Christmasses, and not nearly as stressful.
So, if you're having an Oy, Humbug! Holiday - maybe we can figure out to bottle the Christmas Spirit bug and share the joy.
In other news, is anybody else more Chirstmassy than usual this year?
I have found over time that Christmas gets less and less Christmassy for me over the years.
I remember being so excited to go to the mall, buy gifts, sit on Santa's lap, wake-up on Christmas morning, eat, eat and eat.
I'm not sure if it's about me getting older or just that time changes things, but I get less and less Christmas-like every year. Now I grumble about having to take the tree out of storage, decorating it, having to take it all down and put it away, baking treats (who has time, and they're not healthy to eat). I complain about traffic, parking lots and slow moving revellers in the mall, who keep stopping right in my way. I moan about how many gifts I have to buy, how much it's going to cost me, and the pain that wrapping is (doesn't help that I suck at wrapping gifts).
But this year, somehow the Christmas spirit has come on full force.
I enjoyed putting up the tree, and decorating it.
I finished all my Christmas shopping in November - and have happily avoided the malls. I listen to Christmas music and hymns in the car and sing along unashamedly.
It's great, but weird - because it's such a turn around.
I don't know what bug bit me, but I think that if I could bottle it, I'd like to get bit every year. This is much more fun than most Christmasses, and not nearly as stressful.
So, if you're having an Oy, Humbug! Holiday - maybe we can figure out to bottle the Christmas Spirit bug and share the joy.
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