... not even a mouse

Christmas Eve. We've made it passed the winter solstice, the days are getting longer. Feel it??

We had our white elephant swap holiday party on Monday at work. We're a relatively small group - 8 staffers in total - and one had already skipped town for the holidays. So 7 of us plus one toddler got together for the rip roaring time. 

We actually gathered in the testing center while it was still open for the last hour and a half. There wasn't much business going on in there at that time on the Monday of Christmas week.

There was plenty of good food (no booze allowed on campus), and the swap was pretty fun, nothing outrageous. I don't get excited for presents, but I'd say I did pretty well with what I ended up with: two cat themed teacups, a cat themed bookmark, a sample of handcrafted soap, and a coupon for a local chocolate shop. Blossom revealed afterward that it was her contribution. 

I like the Japanese style cups, no handles. They hold maybe 4 or 5 ounces and go nicely with my teapot

I suspect that Party Girl was drunk or at least tipsy. She was acting rather weird, talking about stupid stuff and being more touchy-feely than usual. At one point, she got on the ground and tried to crawl into a large gift bag?  I don't hang out with her outside of work, though, so maybe that's just the way she is, but I still suspect some booze was involved. She's not secretive about her daily drinking habit.

So now the break has officially begun. Campus is closed until after New Year's.  Meanwhile, I'm trying to be productive and have something to justify my existence at the end of each day. We're staying here for the holidays this year. I've got my food fixings, so shouldn't have to be anywhere near a grocery store until after Christmas. 

Last night, while I was somewhere between asleep an awake, I sensed the cat doing his typical midnight zoomies. At some point later, I was awakened by what sort of sounded like rain drops or sleet spitting against our window. 

But when I became more awake, I realized it was the cat licking his chops. It was juicier sounding than his typical bathing. So I switched on the reading light to find the mighty hunter at the foot of the bed, digging in to the remains of a mouse. *GAG*

Magnum got up (better him than me), scooped the departed mouse into a bag, and that was the end of Napolion's Christmas feast. Apparently the zoomies I'd heard were not just a training sesh.

So today, I raise my cat teacup in honor of the mighty mouser, Napolion. 

stricken

I've never been a nailbiter. I know it's a thing, but I'd not given it much thought. Ever wonder where the bitten nails go?

It was back to reality this week after our DC trip. I worked Thursday and Friday in testing, and thankfully, Boss had turned off scheduling for some tests so we could ramp back up rather than have to hit the ground running. 

He and I were closing up yesterday and decided to do some decent cleaning since the place was pretty quiet. He washed chairs, I vacuumed. 

I vacuumed a fair amount of discarded fingernails. *GAG*

Some chew pencils, some muss with their hair, some rock back and forth, some chew and spit out fingernails...

I was honestly thinking along similar lines when we were out with the throngs at the various DC attractions. Here's a rundown of all the places we visited.

Outdoors:

• Washington Monument
• Lincoln Memorial
• Jefferson Memorial
• Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
  
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
• National Christmas Tree

Indoors:

• Capitol building
• Archives (Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights)
• Library of Congress
• Air and Space Museum, DC
• National Gallery of Art, East and West buildings
• National Museum of US Army
• Natural History Museum
• Air and Space Museum, Virginia

Looking back, we covered a lot of ground. While at the various attractions, I noticed all the glass, upon which people scrunch up to get a good look at things, kids plant hands and faces. 

"Dang, someone's gotta clean all this glass", I realized. I appreciate the glass cleaners. 

...and the floor cleaners, the bathroom cleaners, etc.. So many people, so much mess.

In general, every attraction was pretty darn immaculate. Oh, and I noticed this painting in the National Gallery right away. Featured recently by Fresca, I was pleased to see it in the flesh!

The Jolly Flatboatmen

I learned that the Washington Monument and the Capitol building were both struck by lightning on New Year's eve. An omen?

When seeing the Capitol for the first time, I was rather agog by the "badass" statue atop the dome. 

I wanted to learn more about The Statue of Freedom, my current favorite statue

So it was struck by lightning, and I imagine it wasn't the first time. 

But she's tough, I'm sure.

Personally, I made it to the rooftop of the National Gallery for this impressive cock.

So, a memorable and worthwhile trip.

And now... back to the nailbiters.

weird and gross

Gosh, seems like I've been gone on vacation. But nope, not the case. This week just pulled me in other directions. So, happy Friday!

Firstly, the college students dealt with midterms earlier this week, so the test center was bustling. And, as a result of midterms, several students said, "Oh, fudge!" (or something like that) "The semester's half over and I'm in a pickle. Maybe I should sign up for tutoring!", and they did. 

So suddenly, my tutor schedule's full and I'm filling in here and there a little extra at the testing center. Sarge is on vacation, and we haven't even started the process of hiring an assistant boss. So, in the spirit of the holiday, we're operating with a skeleton crew.

So a little catch-up in bullets:

A moment I'd like to remember forget:

• I stopped at walmart on my way home one night this week. I don't like going there, particularly around 5pm. BUT, it was a convenient stop as walmart tends to be, and I needed some Flonase®, and walmart has cheap drugs. 

Apparently a man wet his pants just before I arrived. An employee was standing by the "wet cleanup" so shoppers would avoid it. Soon afterward, I saw the same employee wiping it up with a flimsy rag, about the size of a hand towel, by swishing it around under his foot. 

No mop, no water or cleanser of any kind. He was essentially just smearing pee over a large area of floor. 

That'll teach me. All for the want of cheap Flonase®.

Something I learned and would like to explore further:

• I learned about Mike the headless chicken from Liz . Clicking on her provided link, I learned that Mike was from Fruita, Colorado - near to where I am right now! There's an entire festival commemorating a chicken without a head. Who knew? I might just have to attend this festival next year.

On a similar note, I learned about the Mothman and the resultant Mothman museum. How much further I wish to explore that one? Hmmm....

A news story that caught my attention:

• Didja hear about the vomit fee for people who can't handle their Sunday brunch mimosas?

Makes perfect sense to me.  Charge 'em.

There it is. A rather busy week featuring an unwanted bodily fluids theme.