It's That Time of Year...

Things have been pretty busy around here the last couple of days. My company just rolled out a brand new product which has been taking up tons of my time and energy. This project is the result of something I have been working on and off on for about a year, with absolute focus for at least the past four months. It went live on Tuesday, so I have been spending the last few days constantly checking for technical bugs or oddball glitches. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out though, and what's more, my boss said he is going to turn all similar operations over to me for the future. It's nice to know your work is appreciated!

On top of work things, there have been part time jobs. I worked two last weekend, plus completed two Mystery Shopping trips, some paid surveys and sent out some eBay and Amazon sales. When people ask me what I've been up to, I don't even know where to start!

There have been Christmas things too - I've been wrapping presents, sending out cards and still trying to take part of some holiday traditions. I've spent some lovely time with friends and family lately at little gatherings and get togethers. You know, I wasn't going to send out holiday cards this year in order to save money, but it is something I do every year. Though it is a bit self serving, I also wanted to send something out to family with my last name on it - I've gotten a lot of mail from them lately with my formerly married name on it. It's funny, after I first got divorced I didn't really care what name I was called, but now that it has been over 6 months and some time has passed, I am really ready to be done with his name. Hence, I rather enjoyed putting those address labels on the cards! I bought most of my gifts online, but there are still a few in and around town I need to get. Nothing huge, just little things. I've been knocking those off in the mornings and on lunch hours, so that is wrapping up nicely.

One thing that has been hard this week is that a friend of mine lost his father. He passed away on Saturday, and though his father had been ill for quite sometime, the timing of his death was unexpected. It has got me to thinking...

Being at the visitation and the funeral the past couple of days has reminded me of all the wonderful people that I have in my life, even those that I don't see that often. It really brought home to me how very lucky I am to have these amazing people that I can rely on. Christmas time is when we are supposed to think about these things, but sometimes in the hubbub of holiday whatnot, that gets a little lost. This event, though terribly sad, also reminded me of all the good things and people I have in my life.

It also has spurred another thought - I am working on my resolutions for the next year, and I have decided that one of them is going to be regularly making sure I am touching base with folks I love - whether it be a card, email, phone call or getting together for a cup of coffee, I am going to make sure that I am regularly letting people know I care about them.

I guess that is what Christmas is all about.


Photo by: zacharmstrong