Time of the Month

A December to Remember

12.22.22

Familiar sight to see
New leaf, old tree
With hollow fruit so tender
A December to remember

Hello from New York state, where we are going to spend Christmas hunkering down due to an ice storm and possibly in quarantine due to my parents coming down with a "cold" immediately after my arrival. As in, like, the same day. My mom tested negative this morning, but I think we all know how accurate home tests are. There's also a lot of nasty stuff going around that isn't COVID.

Which means I may be getting sick too, shortly...

It's been a month, folks. I know I said I might disappear for a while, but I didn't really mean the entire month of December. I've been working 10+ hour days, including many weekends, since Thanksgiving. To the point I couldn't even take care of myself, or my home, or my cat. And even so, it took me until just yesterday, on the 9 hour train ride here, to actually submit this damn paper. On 4 hours of sleep, after getting up before 5am to catch the train. We were meant to submit it on the 7th. And, technically, it's not even finished, because I submitted it without a supplemental table that's going to take me hours to finish when I get back.

Remember when I said this: "We'll see how I feel 3 months from now, when everything is in disarray and going wrong and I have no one to ask for advice on what to do."

"Eventually, they September" 

Yeah, well, looks like I should be looking for a new career as a fortune teller. Definitely not as a PI, at least. Turns out, I am not a replacement for my PI and we still very much needed her.

So I haven't been to any holiday parties or events, didn't even manage to decorate my place. Actually, I did go to one super fancy holiday dinner. For work, of course. Man, I sound pathetic.

But NOW I can take an actual break. I think I slept for about 10 hours last night. If I can, I might take off work until the new year. (Besides finishing that stupid table.) I've more than earned it. And I have so much leave to use, and I don't know if all of it will roll over into the new year.

So that's the update. Now that I have some time, you might actually see some writing from me. No guarantees. I was a little bit disappointed that I wasn't nominated for any Quills, before I realized that you have to actually write something to be nominated. As in, this year. Oh well, maybe next year.

That's the theme of December, isn't it? Maybe next year.

I hope everyone else is enjoying their holiday, whatever you celebrate. I know the holiday season can be really hard for a lot of people. Be kind to yourself (and others), say no if you need to, and treat yourself to something that makes you happy.

As a holiday treat, I got you this nice warm mug of positivitea :

”Last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice.”
- T.S. Eliot