Like a Kid at School

I am so antsy today!
I just want to be done with work for the week and head home to knock of the remaining items on my to do list and hang out and CELEBRATE! I'm like a kid at school knowing that there are only a few short hours until Christmas vacation and I can't concentrate on anything the teacher says because I'm watching that clock.

Of course there is a LOT to do at work. I hate my job most when I have nothing to do and I sit here, useless, reading blogs or updating flickr or some sh*t all day. Then all of the sudden, an avalanche of worked is dumped on me. I do excel under pressure, but when you add the holiday season to it, I feel like my head is spinning around! It's funny because sometimes I feel bad because my coworkers have a steady stream of constant work that may become more or less intense at one point or another, but it stays pretty even. My job has become feast or famine. While I used to feel bad about blogging during the work day (ahem) I don't feel so bad anymore because recently one of my coworkers acknowledged one such "feast" time, asking me "what the hell are you doing that is causing you to sweat?!"

Anyway, the work stuff will get done. I'm here for another 4 hours and I'm pretty optimistic that I'll get an impressive lot done before I leave for the rest of the week (oh happy day!). The trick will be getting Christmas stuff done. Luckily the gifts are done, except friend gifts, but I won't see them til after the holidays. I just have some ornaments to finish up for the family, though they're not really part of their gifts, they just saw them and I think liked them. Well ok, I know my grandma did, she mentioned them a couple of times and asked "sooooo.......who are those for again?" which also means "sooooo....can you make me one?" She deserves it though, more than deserves it, as she made yet another faberge egg ornament for my collection, even though she had a positively wretched spell of health this fall (kidney stones, stomach issues, now gallstones - she's getting her gallbladder resected January 9th - I really hope it helps and the recovery is shorter than last January's rotator cuff repair!) I will have to post a picture of it, it's amazing and the cut out work she did was really fantastic. I keep meaning to make myself her apprentice, and one of these days I will just have to so I can learn the art. Of course she can paint and draw and I can't do that for sh*t, but I think I could design fairly nice stuff if I know the technique. I'll have to ask her....hmm....another to add to the to do list!

So the color-coded to do list was freakin' brilliant. It really helped a ton. Of course I have now gone and added to it, and some green things have become red items, but I am impressed with how well it worked, and how many major things I was able to accomplish, and I seriously credit the list because I think they might have been forgotten otherwise. Now I'm down to some last minute items, making a couple phone calls, scooting down to a stitch shop in Plymouth to buy my mom some last minute things for her Christmas gift (fabric, thread....of course that's just fun stuff, not really a "task") Buy some items for a Christmas centerpiece....I was looking for a colonial design, you know, the old style pineapple, apple, pomegranate type pyramid with cloved oranges and stuff? I had almost no luck. You would think the power of google would've helped with this a bit. I consulted my magazine clippings binders last night as well as my back issues of Martha Stewart Living Holiday special edition issues and came across a contemporary piece with kumquats, blood oranges, clementines, lemons and grapefruit. It rocks. Of course now I'm second-guessing myself about the potential holiday-ness quality of the centerpiece. Seriously? Will anyone except me give a sh*t. NO. But I am stressing over it nonetheless, very typical. Ohhh wellll.

What else is up? Hmm. We have a craft marathon scheduled for tonight. My sister and I plan to be up until the wee hours crafting (she has some stuff to get done by tomorrow night) and I am going to procure snacky snacks. This will be fun. Of course I will probably do the classic Christmas Eve routine: eat too many appetizers, get drunk on Poinsettias, and then fall asleep at 11. I'm cool though, it's one of my favorite nights of the year. Hell, it pretty much IS my favorite night of the year, the only thing missing is Jamaal! Luckily we are spending New Year's together and going out to what sounds like a fantastic restaurant. Their three course pre-fixe menu sounds.......a-maz-ing. Ok now I'm just rambling on......

I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with craft pics!