yay for vacay!!

Woohoo!! It's CHRISTMAS BREAK!! It's been a long time since I've gotten to participate in this ritual of lots-of-days-off...for the past few years my work calendar has meant that (even though I work for the school system) I work for several days a week even during Christmas break. However, this year, since I took a 13-day calendar reduction (and subsequently a 13 day pay cut, yippee!!) I get most of the break off! No work for me until January 4! Yippee!!

That pay-cut "yippee" was sarcasm. The last "yippee" was for real. Just so we're clear.

Anyway. I have kicked off the celebration by waking up at the exact same time as normal, since my sweet husband doesn't get to have the whole week off. And he still needed company and breakfast, so I got up to do my part. And then I always have these lofty of goals of going back to sleep after he leaves, but once I've been up for an hour, I have a hard time going back to bed. Hopefully this will improve, because there is really not a lot to do at home alone at 7:30 am when you have no home internet. It's even a little early for my beloved trashy TV shows...I can't handle the drama of Real Housewives at that hour. It has to be at least 9 for that, I think.

Anyway. Last night one of my former co-workers had a little soiree for co-workers past and present...not all of them, just the ones she liked. Ha. At least she's honest, right?? So we had a good time wining and dining and whining and dining. And I personally feel that someone should come out with a fad diet that relies on eating pigs-in-blankets and Oreo balls and drinking wine. I think I would be a major success at that diet.

I also think it is interesting to see where the conversations of 20-something educators go...even when we're not at work. You throw together a handful of outspoken, opinionated women, some throwback tunes, and a few bottles of wine...buddy, you just may change the world. Or at least we might. Before the night was over we'd all but written a grant to fund our innovative and flawless theories.

Does anyone else work in the world of grants? It's funny that when you do, that's just your first inclination for any issue. Need someone to do something? Write a grant for it. Need a new table for your classroom? Write a grant for it. Toilet paper running low in the bathroom? Write a grant. And then when you get your grant you can spend the rest of your days whining about how sucky it is working for a grant. It's awesome.

Anyway. Enough about working and grants. I'm on vacation!!

We have another Christmas party tonight and then Christmas with Matt's fam tomorrow night and then it's back to Augusta for Christmas with my family this weekend. I am pretty much done shopping, just need to get a few more things for stockings. And print a few pictures. And wrap the presents. But other than that, done.

Oh!! You guys were so helpful with all the suggestions about thermostat settings. I think that was the most comments I've ever gotten on a blog!! Since then we've been much warmer...and when we get the bill, we'll see if it is worth it, ha. You may notice me putting up a little money donation paypal thing on the sidebar: Help Erika pay her electric bill!! But I did want to share a link that Lisa shared with me. It's from the Department of Energy and deals with exactly what we were debating-- is it better to turn down the heat when you're asleep or gone, and does the heater actually have to work harder to heat up the colder air? What the DoE says is actually different from what many of us were thinking, so it may be worth looking at. Trust me, it's a reader-friendly article, not too science-y or boring. Check it out!

Well, this may officially be one of my most boring blogs ever. Grants. Science. I hope you'll still be my friend after suffering through this.

Oh wait-- before we go. I just need to share this really depressing fact.

I decorated my house for Christmas (like I do every year). It looks great-- I've posted some pics previously. And it occurred to me yesterday that NO ONE has come to our house and seen the decorations. Only Matt and I. NO ONE else!! And it's been decorated since the Saturday after Thanksgiving! I guess this is one of the drawbacks to living in the "country" (that is really only 15 minutes away from town), but it is making me really sad. I think I may just invite the UPS guy in the next time he comes by, just to make me feel like someone appreciated my decorations other than me. Does anyone else have this problem? I mean, it's not that I regret decorating...because I do really enjoy it. But I think the thing that made me saddest is that I got these cute towels to put in the guest bathroom...and no guests have been there to see them.

Please. Join me in my pity party. Actually, why don't you physically join me. Then you can see my decorations!!