Five More Days

TGIF! What a long, chaotic week this has been. We've had rain, we've had snow, we've had wind. But it has not been without accomplishments. First, the commencement program is done! We had gremlins in the file that caused text to disappear and a comma to randomly appear where it wasn't wanted, but all the powers that be signed off on it and it was posted online Wednesday. Second, I successfully donated blood for the sixth time in 2025 yesterday. That's the first time I've ever managed to donate the maximum number of times in one calendar year, and it feels really good.

I've also finished most of a gnome:

All that's left is a beard, a nose, two arms, and two feet. Those all seem very likely to get done soon. What's less certain is whether my niece's Cat Stack will get done -- I'm only about halfway through the first cat. I'm hoping that once the gnome is done, I can focus more on the cats and see some real progress.

The title of this post is how many days of work I have remaining this year (I'm taking a few days of vacation to start the break early), and Molly has five and a half days of school remaining. But we have a lot to get through before we're officially on vacation! For starters, this evening we start a multi-day celebration for Molly's birthday. Tonight the three of us are going to to dinner with my in-laws. Tomorrow, Molly is have a small group of friends over for a birthday brunch, and then one is staying to sleep over that evening. On Sunday, we're getting together with my parents and my brother and his family for a joint birthday/Chanukah dinner. And Monday is her actual birthday, so I'll make whatever she wants for dinner.

It looks like it's going to be a snowy weekend here, so it will be good for staying inside and knitting cats. I hope you have something good planned, and feel free to use Molly's birthday as an excuse to have a treat!