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Time to get back to work

By Melanie Zimmermann | Hickory Daily Record

Published: December 1, 2008

Finally, it's over. My vacation. I have done my time off, and I am ready to come back to work. Don't misunderstand me. I love to go on vacation as long as I have company.

Sure, I had a long list of things to do while I was vacationing. I managed to conquer and destroy half of my basement. I did get my craft area organized. My living room, bathroom and kitchen were cleaned up. I even discovered I have a kitchen table at which we have been sitting down to dinner for the past few nights.

But, as it always is, even the best-laid plans will go awry. For example, it rained on Monday, offering up the excuse, "Well, it's raining. I guess I will clean up the upstairs today where I can be easily distracted by the television."

When will Nick get a clue that Sharon is still in love with him and Jack will never be on the up and up? And when did Ridge and Brook get divorced, remarried and divorced again, only to fall into each other's arms one more time? It seems like everytime I go on vacation Ridge is married to Brook, then Taylor, then Brook, and so on.

Tuesday rolled in and I was ready to get to the basement. I began with the laundry. I made $17.53. I got CDs, games and videos organized. I shop vac'd the sofa and the carpet. I am not allowed to use my husband's vacuum. It starts crying when it sees me in the room for some reason. I made a lot of progress, so I planned to finish the other half on Wednesday.

My "Martha Stewart Thanksgiving" was scheduled to be put on hold this year. My parents went to visit my brother and his family and our kids are out-of-state, so we decided to take my in-laws out for Thanksgiving dinner, which meant I would have a full uninterrupted day on Wednesday to complete my mission.

Dinner with my in-laws didn't quite work out so I got to shop for the mini-"Martha Stewart Thanksgiving" on Wednesday. It was just as I dreamed it would be - beautiful turkey and all the fixings. The pizza place was on speed dial, just in case, and no one got food poisoning, thank you very much.

My husband and daughter were off Friday, so finally, I had company to spend the rest of my vacation with. We did some shopping, got some Christmas decorations, played Monopoly, watched a really good movie, "King of California" and found a PlayStation 3 game that has all the Namco video games from the 1980s. Yea, baby! A little "Dig Dug," "Pole Position" and "Bosconian" was definitely the ticket. My thumbs are killing me, but I am still the reigning Queen of Galaga. Maybe I will get to the other half of the basement next year.

What did you do on your Thanksgiving break? I want to know. E-mail me at mzimmerman@hickoryrecord.com