Reasons to be cheerful

Oh, the Holidays. My poor stomach was the collateral damage of the overindulgence of the office Holiday Party last night. Fried rice balls, pizzetta, rack of lamb, chocolate cake, the mysteries of the always full wine glass took their toll on my digestive system. Tis the season, I guess. This was a scaled down version of the GMA Holiday Party; previous years have included smoke machine fueled dance parties and off-kilter Rockband sing-a-longs. Although somewhat quiet for GMA, it was still nice to celebrate the end of the year, although this year has taken a toll on our office. Those of us remaining are still on a 4-day work week, and although there is some hope on the horizon, some projects are finishing up. There were still the moments of hilarity, like when I discovered that my tattoo was visible over the top edge of the back of my dress when one of the partners and one of the associates noticed the ink and had all sorts of questions about it. A bit embarrassing, but funny nonetheless.

As I'm sitting here recovering from the night out, I've been thinking of reasons to be cheerful at the end of this year. Here's a sampling.

1. I still have a job. My office has suffered a lot of cuts this year; we're down to 15 architects, about half of what we were about 18 months ago. It's possible there may be more, but at this point I'm pretty confident that I'll survive.

2. I got a bonus this year. Totally and completely unexpected. It was smaller than previous years, but with the way things have gone this year, I was shocked to see it in my bank account when I checked my direct deposit on Tuesday morning. I found out today from one of the partners that they only gave bonuses to three people this year. This is what made me more confident about item #1.

3. Sailing. Being out in the harbor is one of the greatest places in New York in the summer. This season especially as I worked on my Mate checklist. I felt a lot of support from the Mates and Captains as I worked my way through all the different skills.

4. My friends. I know, that's a cliche, but really, I've got the greatest friends in the world. From accompanying me on my trip to the doctor for my biopsy, to introducing me to the guy I'm currently dating, to comforting me when the previous guy pulled a disappearing act, my friends are awesome in every sense of that word.

5. Skype. It's great to be able to see my sister out in California while talking to her.

Have a great holiday!