Just gotta get through the next 97 hours

I think the anticipation of Christmas vacation is even better than the actual vacation. As of 3pm Friday -- when our office party takes place -- I should be done till next year (momentarily ignoring the very real threat of something popping up).

The last few days have been pretty good. Had a surprise birthday party at J&J's for Leigh on Friday night, which went off without a hitch. Jon had some cask-strength scotch which nearly burned a hole in my stomach. Wine is not a good chaser for that. And beer is certainly not a good chaser for both. But that didn't stop me. Seemed like good times were had by all. I ended up crashing on their couch for the night.

Saturday was pretty lazy -- usually what happens when I'm late out of the gate like that. But that night was pretty good. We headed to C&A's for some Rock Band and drinks (yes, even another belt of scotch!) and we all met Jenn's new beau. He didn't run away from us, so he passed that test. ;)

Sunday was much more productive. I started flattening (that is, unscrewing) some of the furniture I'm replacing, thereby reducing the clutter. And I got a fair bit done on the two ongoing projects -- I think it's still possible to get those done before Christmas. That'll be three out of the four that I'd hoped to get done -- and that's better than "ain't bad."

I also had a successful breadmaker experience last night. The first loaf I made (about 10 months ago) came out like a mountain of cracker. That's when I learned that the wet ingredients have to be heated. What a difference. I'm going to be using that thing a lot more now.