That's what I used to call December 23rd when I was a kid. Pretty clever for a 5 year old, huh?

So as you've all probably heard by now, we're going back to work. My official re-hire date is December 26th. The first show will be January 2nd. I hope I haven't forgotten how to do my job, but without writers or scripts, I'm not exactly sure how much there'll be for me to actually coordinate. I'm guessing I'll be doing a lot of sitting around and looking pretty. And since a lot of people have been asking, yes, I was told I'm being hired back exactly as I was before--a full employee.

Now while I'm grateful to have my job back, there are tons of people out there still out of work and my heart goes out to them, especially at this time of year. The LA Times ran a piece last week called "Portrait From The Strike" the subject of which was actor Gil Smith and the affect the situation is having on him. There was one quote in the article that really expressed how I and many other people like me feel about the whole mess.

"I want the writers to get what's due them, but I would ask both sides to go out and see how people below the line are living and how it's affecting them," he (Smith) said.

Amen to that.

Last week, I also read some really insightful commentary over at Below The Line Magazine's online entity. I specifically liked the author's suggestion for bringing in all new negotiators on both sides. Sounds like common sense to me, which of course means no one will listen.

On a more festive note, Mike and I are gearing up for Christmas. We're hammering out the Christmas menu and yesterday we bought the tree. As usual, it's too big for the apartment, though in a shocking break with Kail/Levy tradition, this year it isn't too tall, it's too wide. That picture up top was the one tree we got that actually fit the space, but this year...well, picture that tree, but about twice as wide. We're considering pushing it back farther against the wall so that we turn it into a sort of bas-relief tree. At least then we can get around it. I'll post some pictures once we get the ornaments up.

Hope everyone is having a fun and festive Christmas Eve Eve.