365 Pink Feather Boas All in a Row - Day 357 : Last Day at Work for the Year

Oh thank the powers that be, wherever they may be, that this year is finally drawing to a close!

What with crazy work pressures - much reduced now I only have two bosses - and hectic social life, and exercise regime, and a gorgeous man in my life, it was all go, go, go this year and frankly I am running on empty. In fact I am running on negative and I can't wait for the 16 days that lie ahead.... sleeping in, lazy meals, walking, shopping, movies..... bliss on a great big freakin' enormous multi-coloured, neon-lit stick people!

Let the absurdly high calorie intake begin!

I am leaving work at 3pm today for a 6.45 flight to Melbourne where I fly (literally as it turns out) into the arms of my adorable man. I can't wait!!


Follow up: 


I had forgotten how utterly delicious it feels to finish work for the year! It is an over powering sense of relief that a long exhausting year is drawing to a close mixed with the delightful anticipation of the fun that lies ahead as you celebrate Christmas with family, spend NYW with close friends and the luxuriate soaking up a lazy week at home with no tasks begging to be done (save of course for the blog which waits for no man!). It is a heady mix, and I fairly skipped out of work, my body alive with excitement, bounded onto the 3pm bus, reaching home with 45 minutes to spare before my friend Fahmi picked me up.


I whizzed through all my pre-flight tasks - thank goodness I packed for the most part last night, although I did forget my camera, something that has NEVER happened before! - which included emptying the dishwasher, wrapping the gift my guy and I had got for Fahmi, and putting a 7 day dissolving fish food block in the fish tank, hoping that for at least one Christmas, a goldfish that my housemate owns would live through it!

Waiting for the flight to Melbourne

I reached the airport with oodles of time to spare - for once the traffic gods smiled on me - and after a speedy check in, had time to wander through the bookstore (one of my all time favourite airport activities but I was strong this time and bought nothing... my gorgeous guy will be amazed!), ate a spinach roll (it's the minutiae of information that makes my blog so compelling isn't it? LOL), bought some water and talked to my guy (already in Melbourne).

I made it to Melbourne just fine, and bar a small logistical snafu where my guy and his sister were in a bookstore around the corner when I came through the gate and thinking they were still on their way headed to baggage claim, all went smoothly. It was wonderful to see him! We got into the City by 10 p.m., which was full of Melbournians shopping for Christmas, put our bags in the room, and headed out, as is our custom, for a late night meal in Chinatown. 

Lots of places were closing early but we found one open till 2 a.m., ordered up and sat back to enjoy a meal at a time of night when both of us are normally happy to be snuggling in bed. But hey it's a holiday, it's Christmas, and the food was pretty yummy. Walking back we saw the MYER windows in Bourke Street Mall again - we had passed them on the way to Chinatown and to my amazement patient long queues of Melbournians stretched down the mall, waiting for their chance to see the famed windows (see above) - and while the music was now off while MYER was still open (this was at 12.45 a.m.!), the windows, which portrayed the Nutcracker Suite were moving and alive, and we got to see the windows with only a few other shoppers (see below). The mall too was awash in Christmas colour and light - the overhead curtain of light was particularly beautiful - and we walked back to the hotel and deep sleep feeling content and happy to be together with no agenda but being us.

Did I mention how much I love this time of year?!