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I have very much enjoyed my time off this past week.  Like a complete weight was lifted off my shoulders.  I did go into work today and busted my booty for 5 hrs straight.  Luckily Dec 31 is not our year end, but month end is always busy.  And on top of that I had an email distribution to do.  The database is not completely up to date, so sifting through hundreds of clients and removing ones which are inappropriate took a bit of time.  And of course I left this task until the very end as I was very much dreading it.  We were waiting on boss approval for the final letter going out but it looked like he was in transit and wouldn't be able to respond.  Wanting to get out of the office asap, Dean gave me approval.  And just as I was about to send, an email came in from the boss with the stamp to go ahead.  It felt good having the real final nod, and it also felt good to have waited for his approval and not to have sent it seconds before he said yes.  Then I would have looked like a total dingus.  I also got to reveal to my boss a banking error I had made earlier in Dec.  She does the bank rec so I can't get away with any foolish mistakes.  I was waiting for the bank to correct my mistake, which they normally do, but it seems to have fallen into the too-bad-so-sad category, and we'll have to see what our bank rep says in the new year.  She said it was no biggie but it had been eating at my soul for almost two weeks and I'm happy to emotionally move on.

I ran a bunch of errands with Nikki after work.  After the bank deposit I swung by her place to pick her up.  Shoppers, LCBO, Home Depot, T&T, Food Basics, and Dollarama.  I didn't get home until about 7pm which was a full 12hrs since I had left for work.  Woofty.  Nik helped me pick out some caulking because YAAAAAY I need to recaulk my bathtub.  I am massively not looking forward to this.  I've heard it's easy, but I tend to take extremely simple tasks and turn them into total disaster shows.  Example, at T&T it took me a good 15 seconds of staring at the cart trying to figure out where the loonie went until Nik grabbed it from my hand and shoved it into the obvious (yet somehow hidden) slot.  How?  Why?  And how???  Also at the LCBO I almost cried foul when my gift card didn't work.  I went to Customer Service and said WTF-mate.  They said it was zero balance.  I asked if they could tell if it had ever had a balance and they said no.  Well first of all they're lying, if you look online you can see when and how much you have redeemed.  But secondly, when I did that I could see a full redemption from May 15, 2013.  There are two occasions for which I tend to buy alcohol.  NYE, and May 2-4.  So mystery solved, with minimal embarrassment.  I don't think they heard me yell, "Enjoy my $50 you thieving bastards."  All's well that ends well??  I'm going to go with yes.

Christmas was nice.  For once I wasn't the one causing problems and throwing tantrums, so that felt nice.  I could write an essay about the foibles of my family (myself included) but I shall refrain.  My mom and I rocked the G&M giant crossword.  It seemed to us to be a lot easier than years prior.  Not as many random proper name references.  One year we went over and over the clues and felt like we were making zero progress.  And this year it was like butter.  The answers just poured out of us.  I feel a great deal of satisfaction working on crosswords and figuring out the answers.  I think it started at U of T, when I would pick up the Star and do their crossword, 2-3 times a week.  If I got stumped I would text Ausma, "Coup D'____", and she'd write back, "ETAT".  And that fondness for crosswords carries on to this day.  Except for dumb ones that I can't figure out lol.

I have tomorrow and Wednesday off.  It's like a mid-week weekend.  This xmas season has been so amazing for days off.  But I guess the reason I started this post was to share two photos.  First, my mom framed a poster I bought from the AGO.   Perhaps I was fooled into believing the rights to reproduce prints was being taken back by the family descendants.  Either way I'm glad I got a copy.  And since it's no longer rolled up in a cardboard tube, Sim we are officially wall art twins.

And also a few weeks ago I brought my varsity arena bench inside, as it was starting to age rapidly.  It has found a new home in my front lobby.

Right now it's sitting on a layer of drawer insert from IKEA.  I will at some point give the edges a trim so it looks less tacky.  And yes, I do need to physically move the bench to use the front closet, but I actually don't use it that often.

I have a short to-do list for my two day break.  Continue cleaning this place up.  Use my brown bananas to make something delicious.  Finish the book I'm into so I can start fresh Jan 1.  I need to make some more laundry detergent.  I'm hoping use of a nice mandarin fragrant soap will add a much needed pleasant scent.  The previous bar of soap I used was rather bitter smelling.  But it was called laundry soap so I had to try it.  Clean out my car?  Not likely tomorrow but maybe on Wednesday.  My parents actually got me a little car garbage bin that attaches to the head rest.  I desperately need somewhere to throw my garbage because I currently just give things a blind heave over the shoulder.  More than ever I feel that it's time to make a new year count.  This just might be my year.

So happy new year loyal readers, all three of you.

2013, out.