And before I forget, something else that’s made the holidays so hectic has been my situation at the office.

So I’ve been officially promoted! (Although the raise hasn’t been applied yet) I’m now “Manager, IT Projects,” and even have a direct report now. Up to this point I’ve been a project manager without a staff and without direct reports, meaning I’ve had to master the delicate art of making people do things for you without having managerial status or without those people reporting to you to make your tasks a priority. Hopefully that’ll get a little easier now, but a lot of the same things I’m doing now I’ll continue to do. A lot of things have been changing at the office, not all of them good, and not all of them finished yet, so there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs in the near future. In the meantime though, this is a big deal for me, will hopefully mean a significant raise and some impressive new challenges.

That being said, remind me to update my resume – I don’t think I’ll need it, but this is definitely a worthwhile update.

So that’s the big news; right before the holidays! My director sent out an email to the whole damned company congratulating me on my promotion, which was really nice of him. My inbox promptly exploded with congratulatory messages, and I was flattered every time I got a new one – even from people I didn’t particularly like.

So that’s my big news. Aside from that, I’m going to rest, relax over the holiday break (I don’t have to be back until after New Year’s), and try to de-stress, catch up on sleep, and definitely find some ways to just chill out.

To you and yours, regardless of what you’re all doing and what you’re all celebrating, I wish you a safe and joyous holiday season. Toss more kindling on the Yule Log, don’t forget the stocking stuffers, eat all your candy canes from the Christmas tree, remember today’s the solstice (yay longer days), I know Chanukah is over (but I hope it was good!), and best wishes to my Muslim friends who couldn’t make the Hajj this year. To all of you, Happy Holidays.