Monday, 26 November 2012: Planning ahead?

Planning? What planning? My last work day was 14 November, the department gave me a lunch-time party, during which David arranged to have 35 roses delivered (for my 35 years of work for the department). They ordered an extravagantly decorated cake, with little plastic beach chairs and invited the whole department to stop by for sandwiches, pizza, and reminiscence.

Since that day, David and I have been straight out, running errands, clearing up loose ends before our trip, starting the Christmas letter (which I should probably be working on rather than this diary), Christmas shopping, keeping medical appointments, buying a new dishwasher and getting it installed (how do these devices sense the approach of events like Thanksgiving dinner?), baking 36 pounds of shortbread, making Thanksgiving dinner, stabilizing the leftovers (making and freezing turkey soup; freezing turkey for sandwiches), and (on the last possible day) packing for the trip.