(no subject)

The office is terribly hot, and so i am actually counting minutes until i can be released. (Why don't phones have thermometers on them?) The president of the company announced a 2 pm closing, which always drives me nuts. So, i work, and get a three hour holiday, but my colleague takes the full day as vacation. WTF. I ranted a bit to my new hire, and we both think it's absurd. And we both acknowledge we're engineers.

December hasn't been good for my posting, has it? And i have a stack of lovely questions to answer. I'm not entirely sure where the reticence has been coming from, other than that scapegoat, work.

Yesterday afternoon was the first moment i began to feel a breather due to the holiday. I'll come back to the (virtual) office on Friday to furor. (I will so work from home.)

At this point, i realized that i should check in with staff and answer any questions. Then i barreled home, and we did a dizzying tidy to the house, and put out a spread of noshes. If my brother is on time (ha) i've two minutes before he and his little ones arrive. (Oh, cookies!)

So, my mulled cider is getting started with all the shortcuts i've learned over the years. What was great about mulled cider growing up was so much water would boil off, that the second and third day cider would be thick and sweet. (Perhaps cloyingly so.) So, i started using concentrate and not adding as much water. Instead of all the brown sugar my mother would add, dark molasses provides the depth of flavor. Nothing acceptable to rush the cinnamon stick, star anise, and cloves so that will just have to wait.

So... do i have a time for a breather?

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A belated happy solstice, a merry Christmas, and happy holidays/enforced vacation to all!