It's never too soon to start dreading the holidays

Things are moving right along. This week has alternately crept and sped by. I think today will be the day I officially start celebrating my birthday, which is actually Sunday. Usually I celebrate for a full two weeks, but I'm feeling low-key this year. Come to think of it, the fun began on Tuesday with an unexpected invitation for some latenight activities so I guess it's a party kind of year after all. I'm going to a conference at a fancy resort near Miami next weekend, so I plan some continuing celebration then.

This is the time of year that I start making plans for Christmas. Unlike my mother, I don't actually buy gifts this time of year, but I arrange my flight to Florida, where my parents spend the winter. Last night I was telling them that, b/c I'm lucky enough to get a week and a day of holiday time through work, I'll be arriving on 12/23 and leaving 12/30. That's a full week, and I can still get home to be with friends for New Year's.

Ah, but with parents, no matter if they see you every day as mine do, it's never enough. If my mom had her way, I'd be taking extra days off to extend my stay in FL well into January. You give a week, they take a month. It's nice to be loved, but really annoying when you think you're being generous with your time, only to be met with a sour, disappointed face. ARGH.