What is it about the New Year?

As I sit here on the cusp of New Year's Eve, I'm encouraged to start the New Year with some fresh vision and goals. What is it about the New Year that fills me up with hope and a sense of renewal...verging on the sense of a do-over? Or have I just bought into the commercialism of "New Year Resolutions"?

For better or worse, the resolutions I'm tossing around in my head look appallingly similar to last year's goals. Or like everyone else's.

Hmmmm.

After finishing "The Watchmen", I know one goal--to read more. I think I'm going to make a reading list of books I've been meaning to read or finish ones that I started.

What else?

Dayquil, what time is it?

What is in DayQuil that makes me want to jump into a bed of flowers and whisper my secrets to them?

What day is it? I just remember getting ready for Christmas and passing out. In and out of consciousness, I vaguely remember things like opening presents, watching the X-men trilogy, finishing the Watchmen, eating myself into a See's-induced coma, waking up late, seeing "High School Musical on Ice", going to the Page Museum, and eating a stick of butter in one day.

And now I'm off to work.

Happy Monday.

Secret Santa Revealed

On the last and final day, my Secret Santa gave me:

Actually, there was some gum too, but I chewed that already. It turned out that my suspicions were right and my Secret Santa was none other than my good friend, Heidi.

Having Heidi as my Secret Santa was awesome. It was kind of like when you were a depressed teenager and you would fantasize who would come and cry at your funeral if you died--and looking down you'd be amazed how a lot of people did care for you after all. (Relax, I know I wasn't the only teenager whose mind wandered like this.) It's kind of like that but without the dying part. The Office collage and the Pringle face was pretty darn amazing and it's really touching that Heidi did it all for me. Thank you so much, Heidi.

As for my efforts as a Secret Santa myself, I had Erika. For Day 1, I had a feeling she appreciated Star Wars so I put Darth outside her cube (the sign says, "Erika I am your Secret Santa"):

I also gave her some DIY hot cocoa and a scratcher (I had the girl do the writing):

I put it in a hot cocoa box and wrapped it in Batman paper, which I hope she'd appreciate:

As of Day 1, Erika didn't suspect me...

Day 4 - My Secret Santa is Nostradamus

It turns out I should have totally been ingesting those Emergen-C packets when I got them on Day 2 from my Secret Santa because I've come down with a case of the sniffles. How did my Secret Santa know that? And darn smug me, I didn't heed the gift. You can bet your good hair day that I took one this morning.

Anyhoo, because I didn't receive anything from my Secret Santa yesterday morning, I narrowed down my Secret Santa suspects to those who were absent yesterday. But I got thrown for a loop because when I came back from lunch, this was on my office wall:


Here's a close-up of the delicious part:

Yes, my Secret Santa is Nostradamus. How did she (or he) know I was getting Pringlie inside? Or more specifically, wanted to get Pringles inside my tummy...all the time? So my Secret Santa knows I have a weakness for Pringles. Hmmm. And is also crafty enough (or knows someone crafty because there is evidence of glue gun use) to make an awesome smiley face Pringle sculpture, complete with unflattering pictures of me (and some of my friends at work--hee!) from previous holiday parties. And perhaps as an unplanned bonus, they taped it in front of the motion sensor of my light switch so my lights would turn off every 20 minutes. Which of course, is the best excuse to get up, turn on my lights, and eat Pringles.

And does it get any better? YES. Extra Pringle cups in my mailbox:

Too bad I didn't check my mailbox before I ate so many off my Pringle face:

I think I have a very good idea who my Secret Santa is. Today is Day 5--the final big day of Secret Santa. We're opening final gifts, having a guess, and doing the big reveal at 2pm. Can't wait!

Awesome Day 3 from my Secret Santa

I got to my office door yesterday morning to see this:

As you can see it's an AWESOME photo collage of "The Office":

Plus, I got a package of Rainbow Twizzlers in my mailbox!

And could it get any better? YES. Later, photos from OUR office, specifically from our Holiday Awards Banquet, were added:

Including this gem with me on the dance floor:

This was, by far, the best gift from my Secret Santa. I'm pretty sure I'm leaving this on my door for, like, forever. I will have to say this has thrown me off the trail a bit in terms of the identity of my Secret Santa. Though, I have to say, she (or he) is pretty darn, well, awesome.

Secret Santa work on the Side

A couple of us Secret Santas got together to do something nice for "M", someone who wasn't doing Secret Santa but had volunteered to keep the master list and be the go-between the Secret Santas and Secret Virginias. So we spent an hour after work turning his cube into a little gingerbread chalet cubicle:


Do you like the tiling on the door in Hammermill salmon, green, and ivory?


And we brought a little winter magic "inside" with a sky full of snowflakes. Kind of like the dining hall ceiling at Hogwarts, right?

And a little peek of the gingerbread chalet from the outside, complete with a feeling that it's "forever snowing":

You're welcome, M.

Second visit from Secret Santa

So on Day Two I came to my desk and found this from my Secret Santa:

And inside were these items:


So here comes the fun part, trying to decipher who my Secret Santa is. From Day One's gift, I have determined my Secret Santa is female. Let's face it, ornament buying is pretty much a lady's game. I equate the enjoyment level of buying ornaments to taking my car in for an oil change, so my Secret Santa is a LOT more femmy and high classy than me.

But wait, is my Secret Santa trying to throw me off with Day Two? These items could easily be purchased on a pit stop at the 7-11 on the way to a party while picking up a 6-pack of Zima. Or hastily purchased that morning at the gas station--crap! I've got to do Frances's Secret Santa stuff again! ummm...I'll get these Vitamin C thingies, some gum--yeesh is there any cheaper gum? And some Slim Jims for myself... Not so femmy and high classy, now is it?

Or is my Secret Santa trying to tell me something? When I told other folks at work what I received from my Secret Santa, the common reply was, hmm, interesting...did you put that stuff on your wish list? And unfortunately, my reply would be, uh, no. And the tacit response was of course, that maybe my Secret Santa is telling me to lay off the strong coffee and garlic hummus and quit my annual case of Mucky Lung Fever.

Perhaps the 3rd visit from my SS will be more enlightening...