'Tis the season.

Whoever created vacations is the greatest person ever. I've had many a winter break, summer vacation, spring break, and the like in my life. But never before have I had the pure joy and relaxation that comes from choosing my own vacation days and taking an entire week off from work. I ignored my blackberry like a pro. I enjoyed running outside during the day on a weekday. I got hooked on a new (old) tv show (Veronica Mars). And I even accompanied Sister to a few law school classes. Ah, memories. Sister showed me a great time in Vermont. We saw the new HP (after driving over an hour and crossing state lines to get to a theater with more than one showing per night), cooked meals (and baked!), watched glee, worked out (though after my one trip to the Vermont Law gym, I decided I had encountered a few spider webs too many and resigned myself to a Tae Bo DVD in Sister's apartment and running through the rolling hills for the rest of my week's workouts), and began our Hanukkah shopping. Oh, glorious days!

After nearly a week in Vermont, Sister, Sister's friend Z, and I piled into Otto (oh, so good to drive Otto again!) and headed south to Boston for some QT with The Famous Auntie Bevy, Gramps, and the rest of the gang. Oh, and Mother, Pops, and Brother met us down there, too. The standard Thanksgiving fare did not disappoint, and we headed back to TFAB's house for a bit more food and a photo album viewing session. There's nothing like being around family - people who have known me my whole life, who have seen (and still loved me) when I had a black eye, who have stood by me when my tastes evolved from special order grilled cheese sandwiches to sushi, and who never cease to ask me whether I have found "anyone special" - to make me feel warm, fuzzy, and ready to listen to a John Mayer album while burning a vanilla lavender scented candle. I jest; my days of listening to John Mayer albums in their entirety have long since passed.

I mentioned my Four Point Plan in my last post. Point One, as you now know, is figuring out my next career move. A week with sister up at VLS helped me power through Point One and get a hold on where I think I need to be in order to "move on up." (And no, I don't mean up the chain to partnership. Why anyone would want to do that to herself is completely lost on me.) My goal is happiness (corny, yes), and I am on my way to starting down that yellow brick road. Check back in for more on Point One in the next few months. For now, knowing there's a way out makes going to work each morning much easier. Point Two is kicking up the fitness level. So far, so good. I even bought some $2.99 Billy Blanks Tae Bo DVDs on Black Friday! Now I just need to figure out how best to move my couch out of the way so I actually have enough room in front of my tv to do the workouts. The joys of NYC apartment living. More on Points Three and Four another time.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas spirit is all around. In fact, as I write this, I am watching/listening to Martina McBride sing "O Holy Night" on the CMA Country Christmas special on abc. It's pretty fantastic. My office building has erected in its lobby the most massive Christmas tree I've ever seen indoors. I wonder if they keep the lights on all the time (and if so, whether the firm's Green Committee is going to do anything about the electricity overload). (As a side green note, I forgot to mention earlier that Sister's law school building has composting toilets. Yes, that's right, rather than being flushed and washed out to sea, your business drops down two stories into a contraption that converts it into fertilizer. Don't tell me you don't think that's absolutely genius.) The holiday season brings out the subway Christmas carolers. Now, I am a huge fan of subway musicians (when they are talented, I mean), but adding Christmas songs into the mix makes me stop and turn off my ipod every time. It takes me back to my days of singing gospel in college. What a blast. I wish I could give all the (talented) subway Christmas carolers money. But I can't. So instead, I give my extra change to those people dressed as Santa, ringing Salvation Army bells next to a bucket. I think that's fair. Oh, and a message to those (talented) subway Christmas carolers reading this: go audition for American Idol! If it can happen for J. K. Rowling and Jewel, it can happen for anyone. (And maybe one day it'll happen for me!)

Before I trot off to bed, I am allowing myself a shameless plug: with only 26 days of holiday shopping left, check out the senioritis designs and find something delightful for your loved (or even liked) ones! http://www.etsy.com/shop/senioritis Enjoy!

Off to the races.

I started to write a post about Halloween. I wrote about the craziness of Halloween in New York City - the way New Yorkers become incredibly outgoing, fun-loving people, talking to any stranger in the street, and making friends left and right. People in my building smiled when I walked into the lobby and commented on my (rather clever) Amelia Earhart costume. I started to write this post, but then. Then two weeks passed, and I decided it's too late to post about Halloween. So I won't. Check out facebook for costume photos.

Moving on.

I signed up for my first half marathon last week. Well, I entered the lottery, so I will train for the next few months, with the hope that I am given the grand opportunity of running my very first half marathon in March. And if I am not given said opportunity, I will just be in kick-ass shape, so I guess it's a win-win situation. I was totally inspired by my co-worker slash friend, Nittany J, who ran the ING NYC marathon a few weeks ago. I went out on Marathon Sunday, donning my Nike dunks and some leggings, ready to show off if I needed to. I met up with Co-Worker A and some others and did a bit of cheering. I caught up with Nittany J around mile 18 and joined in the race for about a mile. Wow, what a rush! Aaaand, I don't mean to brag, but Nittany J's stats indicated the mile I ran with her was her fastest mile of the 26.2. Wahoo!

Do you remember the book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"? I remember being read the book before I could read, then reading it on my own. It was around the same time in life when "Where the Wild Things Are" was huge. I don't recall the specifics, but it was probably something about a kid having a bad - like, really bad - day. Then he wakes up, and finds out it was all a dream. Or he goes to bed, wakes up the next morning, and everything is better. Whichever path the story takes, it's meant to teach the kiddies that things generally aren't as bad as you think they are; things get better; tomorrow's a new day; blah blah blah. Well, this week has been one of those weeks where every night I've gone to bed hoping I'll wake up in the morning and discover the few days before were just a dream. But unfortunately, that doesn't happen often in real life. In children's books and sitcom episodes, yes. In real life, not so much. I won't go into detail, but let's just say, Point Number One of my Four Point Plan (which those of you who see me regularly know about, and those who are reading this and don't even know me have never heard of) deserves some acceleration. Okay, I'll elaborate a bit.

Working at a big law firm has taught me several things. One thing is that my time doesn't matter. Wait, that's not right. My time spent doing things other than billing hours doesn't matter. Like when I email a partner a draft at 11am and request comments or approval to send it out, for an external deadline that night, and the partner ignores my 11am email, my follow-up 3pm email, and my further 6pm email. Oh, and the partner is working from home. Per usual. I call the partner at home at 615pm, and I get no answer and no voicemail. I am ready to leave the office, figuring if the partner doesn't care about it, why should I, when I receive a call from the partner asking why I was looking for the partner. I then work until 12am, when I send the revised draft out. Repeat. Daily. Not too fun, eh? But I will stop the sob story right there. My Four Point Plan, and several pep talks from my co-workers (not to mention, amazing chocolate chip banana bread and Hermione Granger, our newest associate on the hall), will get me through the tough week, right? Sure.

On to the Four Point Plan. Point Number One: think about (and I mean seriously think about) what I want to do when I grow up (career-wise) and how best to get that rolling. (See immediately preceding paragraph for why this Point has to be accelerated. See future posts for Points Two through Four.)

I feel like a fifth grader on the last day of school before Christmas vacation. Tomorrow is my last day of work for a whole week. Yes, I am taking an entire week off. Well, our office is "closed" Thursday and Friday. But yes, I am taking Monday through Wednesday off. I will see Sister. I will enjoy the late fall foliage of rural Vermont. I will spend a lovely weekend in the company of The Famous Auntie Bevy. I will stuff myself full of turkey and pumpkin deliciousness. I will go Black Friday shopping.

I guess tomorrow really is a new day.