December 2003 Archives
Well, Christmas has passed here at the Project BS home offices, and it's been a great holiday. I'm about to embark on my sole road trip of the break. I'll be visiting Gina in eastern Virginia, but first I'll be making a stop in Blacksburg to rest up and check up on my digs and the fish. Thus, this will be my last post made during 2003.
I came home to a pile of presents under the tree (which is only getting bigger the closer we get to unwrapping time), decorations and lights all over my neighborhood, and my own room, just about how I had left it. My nieces are in the family room right now, shaking their presents, trying to figure out what they got. I just got off the phone with Gina and wished her good luck on her singing performance at her church tonight. It had started snowing while I was talking to her on my drive through town this morning. So even though I just drained my bank account helping to pay off my tuition for the spring, I feel good. I finally found my holiday spirit, I guess you could say. So everyone out there that reads this in time: have a safe and joyous Christmas.
Remember: it is the most wonderful time of the year. :)
I just don't have good luck with fish, it seems. I already related my close call with Gina's betta this week in yesterday's post. Part of my responsibilities at Wesley include the care of our fish pond, a job passed on to me by the great Steve Lloyd. It's a real pond that a few of us installed last year to replace the former model, which was little more than a concrete square. Now, the pond is a kidney bean-shaped headquarters of fun for the finned friends of Wesley. The only problem is that the water evaporates quickly with such a large surface area, so if there's not going to be anyone to care for the tank for a while, the fish must be transferred to a regular aquarium.
It's been a few days, my friends. I've been remiss in my duties as a blogger. However, I do have a good reason for this, as I've been caught up in finishing up the semester. Tomorrow is my last day of work for this term, and while I ultimately feel like I've had a good experience here, I can sincerely say that I'm looking forward to being in class in the spring. Normal college stuff. Towards the ends of semesters or school years, I'm usually too exhausted to feel much of anything other than a desire to sleep. This time, however, I have a sense of excitement about the break and the new year that I haven't felt since maybe my freshman year in college. For one, this will be one of my last extended stays at home for another year or so (which puts a lump in my throat), so I want to make the most of it. I expect to get rested up and to do great things with many of my projects, including this site. That always makes me feel creative, which gives me more energy, which should kickstart me into 2004 just fine.
I got two words for you: SNOW DAY! Well, I'm celebrating because, obviously, I didn't have to go to work today, but also because the people at work are understanding enough to realize that their co-ops shouldn't be out on the roads in conditions like this morning and this evening. In the meantime, I've gotten a chance to be refreshed and hang out with my friends and Gina during the day. And the first real snow of the season always puts me in a better mood, anyway. It's just so cool looking. See what I mean?
So if you get a chance to go enjoy the sights of Blacksburg under this new snow, I say do it! If you'd rather sit inside and stay warm, that's cool too. Just open up the curtains and look out the window or something. To quote the inimitable KT's favorite saying for the holiday season, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!"
Today at lunch, a huge amount of people turned out for a co-worker's retirement party. The other co-ops I work with know her quite well, and though I've only met her once or twice and didn't want to "crash the party" as it were, they convinced me to come along. It was a touching tribute, as it turns out. Nearly 70 employees were there, as far as I could count, all giving her hugs and celebrating her time at the plant. She'd certainly made plenty of friends and touched a lot of lives both in her work and in her personal life. At the end of the party, her manager gave her a plaque celebrating 36 years of loyalty and dedication to her job. That is a long time, my friends. And what's more is, although she was genuinely touched by the friendship displayed today, she also said that she really enjoyed the work itself and felt that it was ultimately rewarding. She'd come in as a high school graduate and filing clerk, then worked her way up to a very comfortable position. Will I be that content with wherever I end up, I wonder?