Let's not cop out again, shall we?

So much that I really want to write about, but I can't because it's work-related. Discretion is the better part of valor sometimes. Not that all of it is negative, mind you. I'm in the midst of getting a promotion and a permanent slot under a director I've been trying to work with for over a year now. Still, there are some long shadows hanging over our department, leftovers from really bad choices for management, and the economic situation is starting to hit us hard. We're not out of the woods by any means, but things look a damn sight better at the end of the year than they did at the beginning.

This Christmas will mark seven years in the house for us. We moved in Christmas Eve 2001. We gave the movers a ginormous tip to get us in the house as soon as humanly possible. Then we set up the bed, took a long nap, and got ready for Christmas. Since we had no tree, we bought two Santa statues at a department store and set them up on a little cart the previous owner had left in the house. We put our presents on the cart. It was a sweet spot in a chaotic spot.

Keith freaked me out this afternoon, returning from his camping trip with a huge gash on his head. (Who camps in December? Not me for sure!) He slipped on some rocks in a lake bed and gashed himself on a sharp rock. He's a little sore, but seems to be okay. He's now banned from wintertime camping.

This is going to be one of those weeks where getting work done is a challenge. We have a holiday party for our department tomorrow afternoon. I've got a pot of chili going for it right now, and I still have a cake to bake. On Wednesday, I have an out of town meeting for the new position. Thursday, there's a retirement lunch for a colleague, then I have to do a training all afternoon. Friday is a staff meeting for the new position, where I'm going to be introduced to the team I'll be leading. This is followed by yet another holiday get-together. Compounding this is the fact that I moved inot a new office right before Thanksgiving, and I'm still unpacking.

When I start in the new position in January, I'm going to have to hit the ground running. I've got several slots to fill, a renewal grant to write, a report to prepare, and an evaluation to conduct. My predecessor would stay until 9 or 10 at night to get everything done. I don't intend to do that.

Hopefully, I'll get my baking started (and finished) this week. I've got the ingredients assembled. I just need to get my pans and racks up from the basement and get started. I'm hoping to make some new hard candies this year. This is also going to be the year that I'm going to best my nemesis: old fashioned chocolate fudge. It's been two or three years since I've been able to get a batch to set up right. We'll see. If I remember to set up the laptop in the kitchen, I might liveblog one night of baking. Or at least live tweet.

Despite the lazy tone of my tweets today, I did get a lot of cleaning in the kitchen done today in preparation for the baking. I still need to vacuum though. I also need to get the living room straightened so that we can get the tree. Last week was so crazy, though, that I really did need the rest this weekend.

My, what a Chatty Cathy I've been tonight. With such a boring post. This is what I mean when I say "rambly" in the blog description. Oh well.