Another one down

New Year came and went, and the holidays are once again over. Well actually I do have cocktail and mocktail party to go to on Friday for Twelfth Night, but it is close enough to call it an end. For most everyone the conventional holiday season is over so that is good enough for me.

New Years Eve was spent at a small gathering with some friends that happened sort of last minute. We had planned to go have dinner with another couple and just veg all night, but the night before we got an invite to another gathering that was much closer to home. The plan had been to go to the last minute gathering first to say hello and then drive out to East Jesus* for dinner with our other friends.

When we got to the gathering we made a decision that it would be better if we could convince the others to come to where we were. It was more festive, and honestly it was cheaper for us. We were out of gas and money is super tight at the moment, so the less driving the better. We totally were going to make the drive should they not want to come because we said we would, but we were really hoping they would come to us instead. Thankfully they did.

The night was very pleasant. It was really laid back for the most part. Lots of talking and laughing and a couple of very fun games of Apples to Apples. The best part was I got to see some friends I really never get to see and I got to ring in the New Year with people I loved.

New Years Day had a much earlier start than I would have liked. Every January 1st we got to the Fort Worth Zoo for the annual Zoo Tour. It is a tradition our friend Dan started because the Zoo is better than losing a finger. Yes you read that right. No I do not think I am going to explain just now.

Sadly Zoo tour is in Fort Worth which might as well be Canada most days, especially when you were up until 3am. To get the whole tour in we typically start around 11am. This required us to get up at 9am which really felt like it was a lot earlier than it was. In the end it was well worth the lack of sleep to go. Fun stories, good friends, beautiful weather, and lemurs bouncing off the walls; what more could you ask for?

This morning was back to work for me, which I was not excited about at all. I pondered long and hard about taking a day off. I could sleep in, do the laundry, take down the decorations, clean my filthy house, and do some much needed grocery shopping. I finally decided that chores was not a good excuse for burning a day of PTO. I have to save them for more important things.

I dutifully got up and drove to the office, possibly about half an hour later than I should have been. As I pulled up to the office complex I realized that something was wrong. The parking lot was empty. We are not talking the type of empty when half the company took the day off, we are talking about the entire company took the day off empty.

I was more than a little confused. I called a friend who I work with and she answered the phone half asleep which told me that I was indeed the only person who had no idea that today was a holiday for us.

Typically they send out an email letting us know that the new holiday schedule is out. This year we got no such email. Instead they just put it up on Sharepoint assuming we all looked at Sharepoint every day. Turns out I try to never look at Sharepoint if I don't have to. If you have ever used Sharepoint you know why.

So I turned my car around and headed home with a quick stop at the grocery store. Now I get to spend the day as I wanted to; cleaning my house. It will be an incredibly productive and satisfying day without the guilt of using a day of my PTO.

I think this is a good sign that the new year will be wonderful.


* I tend to describe anyplace that is far as being in East Jesus or Canada or Mexico or Egypt. It really just depends on what comes out of my mouth at the moment. In this case it refers to Arlington which is about an hour-ish from where we were.