Countdown to My Christmas Vacation: 1 Day to Go

Can I tell you how excited I am that tomorrow (Wednesday) is my last day of work before my six-day Christmas vacation begins? It will be the longest chunk of time I’ve spent at home with my family since I came back to work from maternity leave in August.

If you see the little cutie pictured at left, I think you’ll get some idea of how much I have to look forward to.

I feel like a kid in school, literally watching the clock tick by until the bell rings and it’s Christmas vacation. “WOOHOO!” Homer Simpson might whoop. (In fact, I’d like to apologize in advance to any coworkers I annoy tomorrow in meetings when I ask, “Is Wednesday over yet? How ’bout now? Now?”)

What’s really nice about this vacation is that I don’t have to go anywhere. We’re staying in town this year (don’t feel like hauling across the country with a 7-month-old in tow) and making memories (for us, anyway) of our daughter’s first Christmas. Taking Cassie to the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. Getting her first haircut. Visiting with my friend Meg who’s home from New York. Watching my family open their presents. Aw hell, opening my own presents! Watching Badder Santa (the unrated version—it’s not that bad), It’s a Wonderful Life, and A Charlie Brown Christmas all in a row. Eating those chocolate-covered bourbon-soaked maraschino cherries that my Great-Aunt Grace makes every year (they can get you drunk if you eat enough of them—seriously!)

As you’ve probably gathered, I plan to completely leave behind my working mom status for a few days, and just relish the other part of my life. Guilt, be gone!