My work shuts down for the holidays, a holdover from the days when the public agency I work for was a school. It was a productive Thursday, the last working day of 2023. The skies were gray but the temperature was moderate, and we were all glad that, except for a strange Hallowe’en night snow squall with about an inch of precipitation, Toledo has seen no snow accumulation yet this season. I did what I always do on the last day before the holidays- set my voicemail and email to ‘Out of Office, have a happy holiday season’, tented my houseplants, and locked my file cabinets.
The first day of my Twelve Days of Christmas begins when I don’t have to get up and race out the door to the office. I like my job, love my customers/individuals, but so look forward to these days of staying in bed a bit longer, reading while luxuriating over the coffee pot, and generally slowing down for the rest of the calendar year. Each day (I’m writing at the end of Day Three), I feel a little less tense, sleep better, and get a lot of things done around the house. By Day Twelve I hope to have about three times as much crossed off my ‘to-do’ list as I actually do, but none-the-less, it feels great to be accomplished before the new year begins. Looking forward to many more days of ‘to-do’ this 2023.
margaret.r.zotkiewicz 