Tuesday night...no energy

Our holiday plans are piling up, and chores are bunching into each other. How can it be just over a week until Christmas? I have, as many of you know, quit my 'full-time' job. (I use the quotes only because it WAS my full-time job, then I cut my hours for sanity, then got another part-time job and had to cut my hours even more. It is simply the closer to full-time of my two part-time jobs.) Christmas week was going to be one of those 'short' weeks, with an extra day off. Instead, I am working every day that week except for Wednesday. So it's a very full week. On top of work, I am also hosting our family holiday party on Christmas Eve, so I am doing all sorts of things in my time away from my job. Including lots of trips to the grocery store, work parties, dinner with Dad and the sisters tomorrow, cleaning (mostly making sure the pet smells and fur are minimal!), shopping for those last minutes for Hubby, and wrapping gifts (which I just remembered!). Plus I am now working tomorrow for a few hours, so there goes that day off. I wanted to make Dad this Polish poppy seed cake he used to always make. That was going to be my afternoon task tomorrow, but I am actually doing it now, since my baking time slot is no longer available tomorrow. Now, this wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't for the fact that, once the dough is made and filled and rolled, it has to sit to rise for 90 minutes...then bake for 30 more minutes. It's now after 9pm and it's not in the oven yet. This is very late for me. Especially after working an 11 hour day today. No lunch break because of an afternoon meeting today. (It was a crazy day at work today. Not only did we have a meeting, but we also broke in the new laser so there were surgeries all day and every doctor was there, plus two extras! Crazy, I tell you.)
Anyway, my energy levels are low, and I have been determined to not drink this week, so I really just want to crawl into bed and curl up with the pets. I had one tiny glass of scotch the other night because it was very cold and rainy, and I thought the weather warranted it.

Sunday was the holiday party for my animal job. It was a brunch at a restaurant that I have always wanted to visit but it is far too expensive for the likes of us. So we went. It was shaping up to be a pretty nice day by the time we went, and there was a Christmas stroll going on in our town, so we thought we'd check it out after brunch. The SECOND we stepped out of the restaurant, it started to pour rain. So, instead we decided to go with our original plan and decorate the house. We didn't get a tree this year even though we are having the family over. We are having a Japanese themed dinner, so I thought a smaller bonsai type arrangement would be cute. Last year, I tied some pine branches together to make a tree-like form, and it was precious. I haven't had a chance to get a shot of it in the daylight because I have been at work the past 2 days, but here's a shot just after the lights went on it. It's a teapot that Hubby's friend made him years ago...filled with rocks for weight. Then I took some boxwood, pine, and Harold Lauder's Walking stick clippings and threw them together to form a clever arrangement. It is nice to put my few months of floral arranging to good use in my own home!

I've also been getting package after package since I've only been able to do my internet shopping, as I haven't had time to get my butt into town. Tomorrow morning I'm making myself go before I have to be at work. Anyway, one package I wasn't expecting was at my doorstep when I got home from work one day last week...Someone had left their tail by my porch!!! Kinda gross, kinda creepy, kinda cool.

And lastly, I wanted to share a photo of my darling Moxie reading the paper with her Daddy. I have far too many pictures of my dog!! (Not really, how could I??!)