The beginning of everything else

The week that time forgot

27th December

The week between Christmas and New Year is always odd, especially if you have taken vacation time from work. The days seem to merge, or somehow become out of order and you end up in this strange alternative timeline until the morning after the ball drops.

For the last few Christmases, I had practically worked straight through, maybe flying home on Christmas Eve night and then back to Boston in the morning on 26th. I'm not suggesting I was full-on morose for the entire six years, I went out, I dated a little and I had a supportive group of friends, but celebrations had always been the most bitter pill to swallow because it could never really be an occasion when the person I loved wasn't there.

Elle says she has some work to do to make her return in January less stressful, although it's not full days, and so we have agreed that she'll work in the morning whilst I hang out trying not to be too distracting, and then no later than lunchtime we'll find something to do. I have a few tasks myself to do this week, not work-related, but things that need arranging and so after doing a quick coffee run, I make my way to our office to make a start.

Straightening out my laptop, cradle, stationery, and screens, I take a notebook and a pen before getting down to work. Today's plan is to finish booking everything for the Vegas trip, we'll fly out Friday night and then head back on Sunday. We'll need a flight that fits in with all four of our work schedules plus two nights in a hotel and something to do during the day. 

Trying to concentrate, I start to question the sanity of having our desks facing each other. Whilst Elle is diligently working away I find myself glancing at her often, and every time she is doing something that leaves me staring. She has her pen in her mouth with a look of deep concentration, or she did until her voice startles me.

"I keep telling you, one-track mind" and that smirk could rival any of mind

"How do you know I wasn't thinking about important lawyer things?" I laugh knowing that I have been caught

"Because I know that face" she giggles getting up from her seat and walking over to me, "I'm due for a 15-minute break though" she tells me as she settles into my lap, facing me, chest to chest as her fingers start to play with my hair, "anything that you can think to do in that time?" she grins as I react immediately, standing whilst lifting her with me, before laying her across my desk. 

If this is what working from home is going to be like, I can honestly say that it's the way forward. Elle's 15-minute time frame was blown out of the water however, but it's entirely her own fault when she pointed out that round 2 was a must or her desk would "feel left out".

Luckily Lee's online by the time I make it back to my chair fully clothed, and so we ping ideas back and forth for the trip, he knows Rach had mentioned a hotel that has an aquarium on its site and so after a little googling, we've booked to stay at the Mandalay Bay. It's on the strip and has a casino attached, which means we can play a little blackjack on the Sunday before we go home. As we scroll through pages to find something fun for Saturday morning we both end up on the same 'Things to do in Vegas' site, and we know that we've found the right activities when almost simultaneously we email each other a link to Kayaking in the Emerald Caves, which is part of the Colorado River. 

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28th December

After spending the morning working whilst Noah went with my Dad to look at the car, we decide to do one of the challenges from the book I got for Christmas. I flick through the pages quickly and let it drop open in a random place before getting Noah to pick one of the four squares. Taking a quarter from my wallet, I scratch off the silver foil to reveal what we are going to be doing on our date.