Remembering December, Week 3

December 15 -

• Nothing like sleeping in on Saturday.
• Cracker Barrel for lunch. This has evolved into some sort of date-ish tradition. Nothing like gluttonously good fried food.
• Then there was time with friends at Lights at the Zoo. With a mix of Baileys and hot chocolate in hand, we walked aimlessly around the zoo for quite some time. After last year, I was prepared this year for no real animal spotting (aside for the stand-alone donkey)... however there were lots of lighted animals to been photographed.

December 16 -

• J.P.B. and I dined outside for brunch at Brooklyn Bagelry. While I am anxiously awaiting a white miracle, I could not pass up an outdoor eating opportunity in December.
• There is a lot I could say about the short afternoon window of time. But if you want the skinny, J.P.B. and I spent the 1 – 4:00 pm window watching NFL football at Union Jacks over a dose (or four) of Bloody Mary. To begin, I had no idea how hard it would be to find a seat at a bar for watching football on a Sunday here in our Nation's Capital. When we set off to our preferred bar, I figured the energized Washington Redskins had first priority… but literally, it was not until we went to a fourth bar, come the end of the first quarter, that I understood the real challenge associated with securing a seat in front of a television broadcasting the 'team of choice'. This led to a bit of tension. Mature. Truly. In spite of watching a team--the Packers--with a "guaranteed" win at hand, I spent the majority of time decorating our paper table cloth with scenes of winter wonderlands. I even created some table games, that remained unfinished because of the competitive spirit of both parties. Awesome. Truly. Then come 4:00 pm, about the time the 2-11 Chiefs were kicking off, J.P.B. was ready to head home. Charming. Truly.
• I took a nap to recover from the afternoon of sitting motionless. 
• We made grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner and watched 60 Minutes, in light of the recent tragedy in Newtown, CT. 

December 17 -

• It was a foggy day, from sun-up to sun-down. And I was OK with that, once I learned no flights were leaving from Baltimore/Washington International airport... which granted me a bonus night with my favorite person. Yippee Team Mother Nature. 
• In ordering a slew of Christmas gifts, I learned I have my credit card number memorized. I am frightened by this discovery. 

December 18 -

• For the first time in my professional career, I was in meeting from arrival to departure. This is the normal for the upper management, no matter where you work. I am not sure when tasks are accomplished in a schedule slammed with meetings...

December 19 -

• My day at work was frustrating, to say the least. Around 4:00 pm, I found myself firing off a third "well-crafted" hate email, each regarding a unique 'road block' with a different coworker. I might also add, this was not only the third 'road block' I encountered this week, this was the third 'road block' that merited this sort of response in my time at Company Crazy. The fact they all came in one week, the one right before the holidays, was just an added bonus. To my satisfaction, Boss Man told me he hopes to stay off my 'Bad List' in fear of my articulate emails.  

December 20 -

• Cube Neighbor Girl, a co-worker all of nine-months, gave me a bottle of Layer Cake for Christmas. I was dumbfounded by the thoughtfulness of this gift. She remembered Layer Cake is my wine label of choice from a seemingly insignificant grocery-store conversation the two of us shared shortly after I started in March. I wish I had been the giver of such holiday generosity.
• H.C.O. stopped at her halfway point--Washington, D.C.--for nine hours on her journey from Boston, MA to her hometown of Myrtle Beach, SC. We popped open the Layer Cake and blabbered on and on... far longer than we should have, considering her 3:00 am departure time.

 December 21 -

• The new recruiter brought Dunkin' Donuts into the office. There were more donuts (24) than people (16). That provided me with a good laugh.
• The office ordered pizzas for lunch. There were almost as many pizzas (12) as people (15, after one early departure). That provided me more to laugh about.
• I closed shop at 2:00 pm. 
• I attended Sweet Neighbor's Holiday Party. From her salad, to the homemade minestrone soup, to the honey baked brie, and molasses cookies... there was enough food to feed a village. And if you want to know just how much I overate, I will leave you with a comment from J.T.L., "You downed some food, enough for me to believe you came right out of the African bush!" These days, with the relocation, I rarely indulge in samplings from N.J.M.'s kitchen. So provided it is the holidays, and her food was so eloquently presented, I allowed myself to over-indulge.