So I have the next three days off, which is actually rather nice, considering that in a week and four days, things really kick off at my new job, and I'll only have one day off every week for three weeks.  This will be my mini-vacation prior to the madness of the holiday season.  Not that I'm going to complain mind you, because my paychecks for the entire month of December, will probably equal what I've made in the last two months combined, and probably more.  On that note, let me pause to say Huzzah!  The good news, is that during my brief vacation, I'll finally get around to getting my blog themes up on my website design blog.  Hopefully that will generate some extra post-holiday spending money for me as well.  So keep your eyes peeled for the unveiling of these themes over at Valued Jewels Design.

I just love this time of year, and for a few reasons:

• My birthday starts the 12 days of Christmas, because it's December 13th.
• I get to celebrate Thanksgiving and M's birthday sometimes on the same day, which means he gets to have a stellar feast for his birthday.
• I love Christmas Carols.  I love hearing them, and I love singing them.  Sometimes I cheat and sing them when it's the middle of July.  Why?  Because I'm a nonconformist, that's why.  *grin*
• It puts me in the right kind of spirit to take the time to look around me at all the wonderful things I have, and makes it harder for me to focus on the negatives.
• I just love Christmas decorations, and how they can make even the coldest winters seem warm and cozy, especially when you're surrounded by people you love.

Life took me on a bit of an off-road adventure as it were.  I'm in a new job, a new place, and I just needed some time off the interweb to soak up all the goodness of it.  While I was off the interweb, I went and redesigned my layout for this blog.  For those of you who might not know me well, I do this often.  However, with the new tools at my disposal, I was really able to craft this exactly as I wanted to.  If you keep your eyes peeled, here in the next week you'll see a new layout for my website design blog, and 8 templates I've designed to work with both Blogger and WordPress.  I had a request before my 'vacation' to do a layout for someone, and I'll toss up a link over on my other blog, along with links to other sites that have my work on it.  That's all the news from me for now.  Toodles!