I had ten glorious days off in a row, six of which were paid. That has never happened to me before. I made use of my time by training Tootie and sleeping. I slept like I had something to prove. It was so awesome. I’d wake up at 8 or so, then hit the hay again at noon or something. It was seriously ridiculous. I spent most of those first few days off with pillow seams carved into my cheeks.
I spent some of my time before Christmas making gift baskets. I decided to handmake bath items for friends and family. If you know me this is completely out of character. I can’t sew on a button. I’m utterly uncrafty. But I saw how easy it was to make bath salts and homemade soaps by looking directions up online, so I started gathering supplies. After the lavendar essential oils and all the baskets and the extras, it was just as much as I’d spend if I bought something. Unfortunately, most of the projects were a failure.
My homemade soaps with lemon zest and lavendar came out sort of brown looking and bumpy. Not good. I think it could be because there was some leftover cornstarch in the mixing bowl (and why the mixture expanded like a balloon in the microwave). The bath powder turned out fine, but I made way, way to little, so only my mom got that. By the end I was filling baskets with store bought things, which wasn’t the plan.
Oh, and I’m never shopping for Christmas items online. One thing never arrived (Sorry, Lou!) and my mom’s Rusty Wallace sparkle shirt was entirely too small. I used the sizing chart very carefully. It looked like a child’s shirt!
A couple of days after Christmas the boyfriend and I took his new (used) car to Chattanooga to visit his family. That was fun. The boyfriend’s sister was down from Iowa City and there was a new puppy in the house. As you may have read below that new puppy, named Ladybug, a miniature weiner dog who weighs under four pounds, ate a pile of Tootie’s poop then puked it up on the boyfriend’s mother’s cream carpet. It was maybe the most vile thing I’ve ever seen come out of something that cute. And the smell: indescribable.
We took Tootie to visit the boyfriend’s aunt and her two Boston terrier, CJ and Pippy. They basically chased each other until they collapsed. And sniffed much butt. Everyone was sort of horrified by the amount of crotch sniffing, and I still laugh out loud every time I remember looking up to hear the boyfriend’s sister say, "I mean, he’s just eatin’ it."
Also, there was a pot-bellied pig that belonged to one of the neighbors that had gotten out. I didn’t get to see it, but others of us went looking for it and touched it and met its owner.
I thought I’d go ahead and have a nice little panic attack at the dinner table the night we planned to go out and play pool. That was embarrassing. But more than that it was crippling and I’m thankful for the medicine I was given that night to calm my nerves. My panic had been growing steadily over the course of many hours and became too much when I tried to eat. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I’m glad I don’t have many of those attacks anymore.
We brought the boyfriend’s sister back with us so we could take her to the airport the next morning. We spent New Year’s Ever drinking cheap red wine and playing Mario Party and Mario Kart Double Dash. I got the boyfriend a Gamecube for Christmas. He loves it, and so do I. Even though he is totally better than me at all the games we have.
I feel fully rested and refreshed after my time off. I am very grateful for it. Paid vacations pretty much rule on all counts, but you probably knew that already.