My company shuts down for this week between Christmas Day and New Year's Day. I don't have to go back to work until January 3, 2006.
It's intoxicating to have an entire week-plus off work, all to myself. The feeling is akin to that euphoria of long ago, when the last day of school ushered in a summer that seemed endless in its length and possibilities.
Of course, each year that we grow older, we realize how much faster time seems to pass. Ten days off work is hardly the blink of a working gal's eye, but it is a luxurious change of pace. It's a chance to step out of the hamster wheel of routine, sit back, smell the pine boughs, and take stock of the year gone by. It's a golden opportunity to spend more time with family, catch up with old friends, and treat ourselves to some precious free time.
Today I met a good friend for lunch, someone with whom I rarely get to spend time. Yesterday I went to see "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," which I've been meaning to do for weeks. My January bills are paid, laundry is done, the next Soldier's Angel care package is ready to fly. I'm deciding which of my Christmas DVDs I'd like to watch after dinner tonight, and which Christmas gift book I'll start reading before bedtime.
Time off from work during the Christmas season is one of the best gifts of all.
