Feeling productive

I'm glad I had today off.  I managed to get a lot accomplished for a Monday.  My weekend was shorter than planned since I ended up working on Saturday so a co-worker could be with her critically ill father.  At least none of my Saturday plans were critical things.
But today was a good day.  It is cold and snowy outside, the perfect day to make a big pot of chili so that is simmering away in the crockpot.  I didn't have any big projects for the day, it was a day to get all those pesky little things done.  You know the kind of things. Those things that, in and of themselves, don't really take much time, you just need to MAKE time to get them done.  So, today I: made a trip to the bank and grocery store, mailing a few letters along the way, sorted and put away laundry (a chore since it tends to live in the laundry baskets once it's washed and folded- oops), made more laundry detergent, watered plants, gave the stove a good scrubbing (you know, more than the cursory wiping up spills), sorted through the junk mail that had piled up on the corner of my desk  and did a bit of pre-holiday cooking.
We've got a friend coming into town for the week on business and I'm looking forward to having time off to see him.  And, yes, he's in town on business over Thanksgiving.  He lives out of town but maintains an office here that houses his computer servers for his business and he's needing to do some maintenance. This is about the only time he can get away from his OTHER job to come do it.  So, we'll be having, I'm sure, many late nights.  I'm not sure what his plans are for the holiday but I've gotten the go-ahead from my brother (who is hosting our family feed this year) to bring him along if he wants.
I'm so, so glad that I have an extremely short work week at my job. I, in fact, have to work only ONE day this week- tomorrow.  I took today as a vacation day a while ago for several reasons:  I'm working on several sewing projects for holiday gifts and thought I could use some extra sewing time, plus, I"m dangerously close to maxing out my vacation time at work and if I don't use it, I lose it.  So, I scheduled a few days off here and there.  Anyway, back to my extra-short work week.  I would have had to work both Tuesday and Wednesday but since I ended up working Saturday, I get Wednesday as my comp and Thursday and Friday are holidays for me.  Add this onto my usual Monday off next week and I will end up working only one day in an 8 day stretch.  Heavenly!
Not that I don't like my job!  Let's get that straight.  I love my job. It's just that I've got so many other irons in the fire that it's hard to relax.  And I plan to get a lot done in those 7 days- as well as some much needed 'down time'.

I hope all of you in the US have a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday this week.