My Week that Was - December 14

This year's outdoor lights. 12/8/24 dwm

 We decked our hall, living room, and dining room for the holiday Saturday. Sunday I tried to come up with a different design for the front of the house. 

 There was also the small matter of re-decorating the indoor tree. I failed to check the lights before the tree was assembled, it had worked last year, after all, but surprised me when the top half was dark.

 The answer was to replace it with different lights. Before next season we'll have to do something so the lights on top match the bottom of the tree.

 Monday I focused on getting the donor software resolved. I was able to download the back-up of the old system but had questions on several required steps. It took almost the entire day until I reached a information technology technician who found two critical files that had to be sent with the backup to the new provider. I went home thinking everything was fine, but it might be a day or two before I know for sure.

Office decor. 12/11/24 dwm

Thankfully, I heard the next morning that everything sent in was in good order and that the new team should have our database ready next week.

For the first time in five years there is a small Christmas tree in my office. It's a small aluminum colored tree with a handful of bulbs and a string of lights. To accompany the tree is a snowman mug with three bells hanging off the lip of the cup. As they say, "deck the office."

With the database behind me, I focused on working the phones calling donors who gave generously through the year. I made more calls Wednesday than I did the last two weeks, ultimately making more than 90 calls.

Thursday was the first of two holiday parties for employees on our two campuses. In addition to a buffet lunch, there were prize drawings, a gift for each employee, and holiday music.

Thursday was the coldest day this winter, it was 1 degree on the way to the gym and it was still 1-degree two hours later when I drove to work. Thankfully it warmed up 10 degrees by late afternoon; it is also nice that the cold snap isn't supposed to last more than a day or two.

Friday the news came we had been waiting for, our new database was ready. There are still several things to clean up but having a working record system is welcome news. It's a large project. The previous database served us 27 years, the next 27 will start with minutes, hours, days, and weeks. It begins next week.

There are less than two weeks to Christmas, if you haven't started, it's a good idea to begin shopping today... maybe I'll see you out there!  Thanks for reading!