I was told the other day, that I have to take a bunch of vacation before the end of the year or I will lose it. I always take time off at the end of the year, but since I didn’t take any time this summer, I guess I am closer to the max than I thought I was. A nice surprise, for sure.
So, I’ve been looking at the holidays a little sooner than I normally do, because I have to figure out which days I am going to take off. I have also been thinking about which doorstop (and I say this as affectionately as possible) I will be reading over Thanksgiving week and I think it will be this one:
I was hoping to get an ARC of The Abominable but I wasn’t one of the lucky few, so I think I will load up the Kindle with this one and spend the entire Thanksgiving week reading, eating and sleeping! Those that have known me for awhile know about my Thanksgiving Day in PJs, but yeah… we spend the entire day in PJs and lounge around. Sounds magnificent, doesn’t it? I can’t wait! I love so sink my teeth into a chunkster over a nice long break.
As for the other days I will be taking off, they will fall before Christmas and after, as my kids have over three weeks off for winter break. That is a long time to be off from school. huh?
Since I have been thinking about the holidays, I have been having fun looking up recipes and checking out the decor stores but this year, it seems as if all of the stores are skipping over Halloween and going straight into Christmas. I think this happened last year too, but not quite this early. I suppose retailers want us to start buying earlier and putting out all the Christmas stuff is supposed to get you into the mood. In theory, it would be nice to be able to enjoy the Christmas lights longer than we normally do (I love twinkly lights!), but at the same time, if my neighbors hung Christmas lights up now, I would snicker for sure.
This weekend is a long weekend for my kids. A four-day for The Teen and a super long one for The Girl as it’s fall break in these parts. Monday, we are celebrating her 10th birthday so I am taking the day off to spend it with her. She has a lot planned. Shopping, eating and movie watching. They both have rehearsals next week though which puts the kabosh on it feeling like any sort of holiday week. Speaking of rehearsals, auditions and callbacks are over and now we are waiting for the final cast list. We won’t know what they got until Tuesday.
Well, that’s all I have. Hope you all have a great weekend and if any of you plan to read The Abominable, let me know. Could be fun to read it together.
Book Chatter 
It’s great that you have the vacation time to take off over the holidays! I love your Thanksgiving pj tradition, it’s the best idea. I know nothing about the abominable but will check it out and let you know if I want to read it.
I hope your kids are happy with the audition results. Good luck to them!
Have a great weekend, Ti!
Wow, 3 weeks off sure is a long time! We have about a week and half off over Christmas around here. I’ve noticed the Christmas displays at stores were being set up last weekend, which does get me start thinking about shopping for gifts….something I don’t particularly enjoy doing (I know that makes me sound like a grinch)…..but I’m looking forward to putting on the Christmas music!!
I always feel rushed at Christmas which makes the gift buying stressful. My kids are getting older now so they are more into the stuff we do, than the stuff we get for them so that part is nice. Getting started earlier would make it easier, for sure. But in So Cal the weather hardly cooperates with what is going on with the calendar so it could be Turkey Day and it could be 100 degrees out. Doesn’t really make me want to pull out my shopping list. Although, today is super windy and on the cool side.
It seems like a lot of retailers are want to get a jump on the season, especially because Thanksgiving is so late this year. I suppose it’s time to start planning! Three weeks is a very long winter break.
You know, I had not thought about Thanksgiving being late but you are absolutely right. It’s not usually the last week of the month.
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Lucky you all that vacation time – I’d love the time off even without pay:) enjoy – This one’s on my list, but will probably do the audio at some point.
A day in your pjs sounds divine. Having a lot of vacation days to use sounds like a good problem to have!
That does sound like a relaxing holiday and your vacation plans sound intensely relaxing, as well. Enjoy!
Extra vacation days sound lovely! I so hope I get time to start a fun book soon…it’s been a couple weeks. All my reading has been school/work related. =/
Hmmm…I might read that with you! It sounds a lot like The Terror, but in the snow. Nothing bad going on with that…I loved that book. Just remind me when it gets closer. We are going to the panhandle for Thanksgiving, and I cannot wait! Beach, seafood, antique shops, yeah baby. It is interesting that this vacation has presented itself, because you need this.
Oh man! Will you be biting your nails until Tuesday? I can’t wait to hear if The Girl was cast as Oliver! Would be so fun. I wonder if Christmas is being advertised so early because it’s going to feel earlier this year since Thanksgiving is SO late. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is already December!! Hate when it falls that way. I think I might pull out some of the holiday decor this afternoon and have Elle help me decorate. Sadly no village this year–just don’t have the energy. Did Dan Simmons do Drood? I have that chunkster on the shelf but haven’t read it yet. I dream of the day when I can read a chunkster in a reasonable amount of time. 😉
I know that the girl did not get Oliver since she didn’t get a callback earlier in the week. I am now waiting to see if she got the other role and if the teen got the role he wanted. I have to wait until 4pm today. Ugh! Simmons is the guy who wrote Drood. Drood was great but a slow read. The Terror wss much better. I managed to put the inside stuff up, but I don’t have enough to really make it look like fall. Not in this warm weather! The outside will have to wait until this weekend. Hopefully the wind will not kick up again.
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I would be ecstatic over the days off…yahoo! I am checking out that book now….
Sounds like you’ll have a restful holiday with all that time off. As usual for me, I’ll be working double-time as everyone else will be out of the office.
I am sorry that you will be working all that time over the holidays! I will keep you company 😉
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As much as I love spending Thanksgiving with my family, I love the idea of spending the day in my pj’s! I know you were disappointed not to get to take that time off this summer but what fun to get to think about ways to use the time this time of year!
I think this is our 4th Thanksgiving that we will be spending in pjs and the kids love it. We used to spend so much time trying to take the family Christmas photo and it was so stressful! The kids and hub did not want to dress up, they didn’t want to sit for the pics and I was always overheated from working by the stove and then trying to work the photo in. Now, everyone knows they can just roll out of bed. My daughter watches the parade with me and most everything is prepared the day before and cooked the day of so we aren’t rushing around.
Much more fun now!
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Oh, a nice long break sounds great! The Abominable sounds great too, I’m going to keep my eyes open for that one 😀
Spending Thanksgiving in PJs, reading, sleeping and eating sounds like heaven! Part of my weekends are like that already but spending a long time that way is just awesome.
It also makes it less stressful to not have people over. LOL! I used to cook for sometimes as many at 27 people and although I had it down to a science after years and years of it, DRAMA would add a lot of unnecessary fuss to the festivities. With it being just us, it’s a lot easier.
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Too much vaca! I wish I had that problem. Looks like you are going to put it to good use. Enjoy!
I am quite lucky to have the time and I am so grateful for it too. I remember my days in retail, when I was much younger and how I had to work Black Friday. Egads!! That was horrible! I did it for so many years too. And now these people work on Thanksgiving too!! Unbelievable!
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Three weeks in a row? I don’t know the last time I had one week in a row off. It comes close, though, coming weekend as I’m off Friday through Monday as my wife and I go to her 25th high school reunion. I think myself, I have three hours ! 😉 of vacation time still left. I don’t know what to do with it. 🙂
I’ve heard such good things about Dan Simmons’s books from you that I will definitely have to check this one out. Thx I have not read him before.
Simmons is great but nearly all of his books are chunksters. Some move faster than others. I loved The Terror. Probably my fave book of his. I am hoping The Abominable is great as well.
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