The unthinkable happened. I requested six days of paid time off at once. I have so much paid time off accumulated that I was told I could no longer accumulate more and would need to start taking off or lose out on my PTO. So I am taking next Monday off to decorate my parents house with the help of some of my siblings. After last year’s awful Thanksgiving and Christmas season, we’re ready to pull out all the stops this year. The other five days I am taking off are during December. I was very strategic about these so that I can avoid going into the office between early December and early January.

I’m so excited about Christmas that I’ve already decorated my December section in my planners and I’ve penciled in a few things I’d like to do to celebrate the season. More than anything, I want to make sure I make a point of taking my out to places that are festively decorated for Christmas.

The other thing I was to do this Christmas is really take the time and reflect about the meaning of the season. I am afraid and embarrassed to admit that I want use the spirit of the season to get me closer to Jesus. Isn’t it tragic that I feel this way? I’m ashamed that I don’t have the courage to openly work on my Faith. With the mainstream world being intent on secularizing everything ridiculing Faith, I have felt a rekindling desire to go back to my Catholic upbringing. I know there are some fanatics out there and some teachings of the Church need to be updated, but there are far more good things than bad. I sincerely envy those people that are joyful about their Faith.