Twas The Day Before Christmas

Are ya'll set for Christmas?  I hope so... only one more day left!  I really didn't have time to set up my usual Christmas decor, so I did the best I could on short notice.  Here's my tiny little tree with an actual tiny working Santa train underneath.  If you look carefully, there's a tiny little present, too.  Fake, of course.

On the other side of my dining room is the wrought iron tree that I keep up year round to hang the ornaments as I make them.

Right next to the tree is the doorway to the kitchen.  This year, I hung my Christmas cards around the door.

WORK
In my previous post, I mentioned that my new employer held their 2nd Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest.  I did try to find an "ugly" sweater but I didn't have much notice so I was just an observer this year.  There were some interesting contestants though!  Winners were chosen by coworker votes.  Take a gander...

1st Place

 

2nd Place

 

3rd Place

 

Honorable Mention

 

Honorable Mention

 

Apparently, suppliers send the company lots of gifts during the holidays.  The company calls the 200+ corporate employees to the front of the building to draw names for the gifts.  Management puts on Santa hats and passes the gifts out as names are drawn.  My name was drawn 2nd!  Can you believe that?  What gift did I get? Something called gourmet cheese straws.  They're kinda like cheese nips.

 

 

Later in the day, my employer catered in lunch.  We had Chicken George, salad, and french fries.  Chicken George is basically chicken fingers with a special dipping sauce.

 

Two of the other staff accountants are behind on their account analysis so I've been trained a little bit on it and have been muddling my way through their accounts.  There's a lot of research involved to ensure the entries from other departments are correct.  I met the CEO and he gave me a warm welcome and told me the company would keep me busy.  :)

 

WEATHER

Winter has hit the midwest with a vegeance!  I left work early on Wednesday and what should've taken 40 minutes to travel home took me 2 hours.  I drove in whiteout/blizzard conditions and barely could see the road.  There were 7 vehicles in a line going the same direction as me... we all were going 15-20mph.  As I pulled into my city, my Dad called me to tell me to stay at a hotel/motel in the city where I worked.  Oops, too late... but it was touching that he was thinking about my travel home and thought enough to call.  The next day highways were closed and sheriff's depts in two counties recommended not traveling when I called them.  I finally ventured out around noon to head for work.  Once I got out of my county -- which was nerve-racking -- the rest of the roads where clear.  I spent two days chipping ice off my driveway!  Here's what The Homestead looks like after our first snowfall of the season:

 

 

Someone asked me how Celeste likes the winter weather.  She's got a double coat, so the snow doesn't seem to phase her unless it's deeper than her little legs... which is most of the time.  I clear out a good section of the backyard so she can do her business.

 

HEALTH

For the past 3 days, I have been battling 100-103F fever, sore throat, and slight cough. Today, I woke up with white spots toward the back of my throat so I decided to go to the doctor.  The doctor said I have an upper respiratory infection for sure and the lab was slow for the strep test, so I don't know if I have it or not.  He put me on antibiotics and said it would take care of both.  I'll be foregoing Christmas festivities in an effort to get more rest, and don't want to take the chance of getting anyone else sick.

 

STITCHY STUFF

I received word that an ornament I did for an exchange finally arrived at its new home.  (It helps if I put the correct address on the envelope!)  The recipient is Glenda of Cross Stitch and Cat Hair.  Here's what I stitched for her:

 

Design: Christmas Cardinal

Designer: Stoney Creek

Fabric: 14ct Zweigert White with Silver Metallic Aida

Fibers: DMC, Kreinik

Embellishments: Handmade Cording, Snowflake buttons

 

Until next time,