A Snowman Building Type of Day

It's another snowy day today. It wasn't supposed to snow anymore: Just the occasional flurry. However, it's been snowing steadily since sometime in the night and the cars are covered again.

I'm currently writing this with a string of tinsel around my neck. My three-year-old niece is here to visit and she decided I needed to play dress up. She, currently, is wearing a little fairy-winged tutu with a long strand of silver tinsel as a boa. I have no fairy dress but I got the tinsel anyway.

We just baked sugar cookies that are currently cooling, ready to be decorated. That's going to be an activity for later today. We have the springles and frosting ready to go. We're also going outside to build a snowman later. Apparently, it's a rarity that my niece has assistance building snowmen since her parent's apparently share the same dislike of snow that my own parent's do. I remember many a day as a child where I'd be outside alone, trying to build a snowman. Unfortunately, I never got further than a baby snowman or a blob before my hands would freeze and I'd give up for the day. Nevertheless, every year I tried. Some years were more successful than others.

I'm hoping today's snowman will be spectacular. If not, I hope he does, at least, look like a snowman rather than a blob with eyes. I'll let you know how he turns out.

I'm hoping the snow does abate a little though: I'm supposed to meet my brother to go shopping tonight. I tend to be the designated shopper's assistant in my family: When Christmas rolls around, I am requested to assist with picking out presents with my siblings and parent's. I actually love it. I love to shop, especially when I'm not the one spending money so it's quite a fun activity. However, it all hinges on the road conditions really. We're not supposed to get too much snow but then again, we weren't supposed to get more than a flurry so it's hard to say really.

Nevetheless, the snow is making everything seem very Christmas-sy which is the way it should be, really. With the scent of cookies in the air, the soft flakes falling outside and my tinsel boa around my neck, I'm feeling decidely festive. In addition, I'm not at work. I did check my email yesterday to discover that our company cannot afford Christmas bonuses this year because we have a deficit. I'm absolutely not shocked or even mildly taken aback. In fact, generally speaking, I just wanted to say, "duh!"

To be honest, I've never in my life received a Christmas bonus. I've never expected one. I think the most I've ever had was a $25 gift card/certificate. For me, that's always been something nice, a gesture to say, "Thanks for working for us and doing your job." Sometimes, that's all you need. Sometimes, the gift card is even unnecessary. As cheesy as it sounds, sometimes just a simple "Thanks, you're doing a great job" is enough. At my company, we're told that as long as you're not being told otherwise, assume you're doing a good job. I try to but, occasionally, an individual, 'hey, you did good," would go a really long way.

Nevertheless, it's Christmas and I'm not at work. Instead, I'm about to seek out my niece and mother and propose either cookie decorating or snowman-building. The snow seems to have stopped falling. It's like a picture postcard out there. All it needs is a lopsided snowman to complete the picture.

I think I can help with that.

Happy Tuesday!