Passing The Time

It's a quiet day here on Wall Street - even though the markets are open, all the big traders have passed their accounts off to the junior varsity and split out of town for the holidays. It is also a quiet day in our little office - Brent is in Chicago, Efraim is marlin fishing in Key West, Stuart went home to England, Nelson is out with strep throat, Louis is at a meeting and James is missing in action. This leaves me and the mostly quiet phones. It's all good though; it gives me a chance to actually take my time and post a few thoughts.

I will be picking the kids up tonight for the Christmas weekend and will be keeping them until next Wednesday. In preparation, I went out the other day and got a Christmas tree - it is kind of a small sad-looking Charlie Brown kind of tree, but it fit the budget and it will do. This whole Christmas is going to be rather humble, as I am way broke and the kids got a bunch of stuff from the family over Thanksgiving, though I don't think they really remember it that way. I picked up a few things anyway to wrap and put under the tree - art supplies, batteries, glue - you know - stocking stuffers. Fortunately, at this age it is kind of like trading with the Indians - a few beads and trinkets can go a long way. I haven't even put the lights on the tree yet, opting instead to wait for the kids' help/participation in the tree trimming process - mostly I am looking forward to being out of the office for five straight days and getting lots of cuddles and snuggles.

Next week (Thursday and Friday) will also be very slow - Europe seems to be closed for business until January 2nd - so Louis is planning to rig the big screen on the wall with his Xbox so that we can play Guitar Hero - good work if you can get it! I will also resume studying for my licensing exam - something that I had put on hold due to all the legal drama in November and December and all the time that it required. Actually I am looking forward to this, especially since I will be able to really immerse myself in it. I need 4-5 weeks of cramming to get ready, which will mean some very long hours - I'll sleep when I'm dead.

That's about it for now- I'll post some photos (Christmas Monkeyshines) next week, which may be my last post of the year. Stay tuned and Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka, Joyful Kwanzaa, Good Ramadan, and may Buddha bless you.