The email came from corporate in October. Remember that vacation and floating holidays are "use it or lose it" rather than "rollover." A horrible policy I've bitched about in the past.

I'd used four vacation days in the summer to visit my family in Kansas City, but none since. That left six vacation days and two floating holidays. Except that I didn't start accumulating vacation days until two paychecks into the year, so technically I had five and a half vacation days. And you can't take a "half" day for vacation. They have to be taken in eight hour chunks. So says the employee handbook.

So the magic number was seven. Seven would be the number. And it was so.

Starting on the last Friday in October there were ten Fridays left in the year. But three of them would be holidays (the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's...although technically New Year's is in 2010). So if I took Friday off for the rest of the year, I'd run through my vacation and holidays.

October 30: The day before Halloween. My band had played two gigs the weekend before and would play two the weekend after. I thought I should ease into the Fridays, so I did errands and took a long walk around the neighborhood (I hadn't done this since I started working for the man again). After my long walk, I stopped by my brother's and took his daughter out for a walk (long for her) around a couple of blocks. It gave her mother a half an hour or so away from the young 'un.

November 6: An early bird movie (they are cheaper) to see A Serious Man. A very Jewish comedy from the Coen Brothers. Hilarious and harrowing. And then a gig at night. We were supposed to go on first, but ended up going on last. A difference of about two and half hours. But all was good.

November 13: The weather was supposed to change, but hadn't yet. My brother wasn't working so we went to the mountain for a mid-morning hike. I hadn't hiked the mountain in over a year, but did pretty well. The second we got back into the car, it started sprinkling. Then raining. For the rest of the day. Perfect timing.

November 20: I'd been promising to send a slightly used child's drum set to my older brother since the summer. It would be a birthday present for his younger son. This was the day I would actually pack and send the thing. I'd dismantled and cleaned it the week before. My packing tape wasn't working for me. I spent close to a half an hour trying to get it to pull a box length piece without shredding. And then another half hour. Eventually (and without great frustrated harm to other things in my house), I got the boxes packed and sealed for shipment. Drinks would begin when I got home.

November 27: Thanksgiving II at my brother's house. Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas were made by his fiance (this doesn't count as one of the seven Fridays because it was an official office holiday).

December 4: Despite my being off, I had to go to our client's Holiday party. Why so early in the month? Not sure. But I showed up, chatted with a few people, ate a plate of holiday food and a piece of cheesecake. I also left a white elephant gift I'd been trying to pawn off for years. Why is there a game called Rules of the Game?

December 11: It was very cold. I did some shopping, but spent the afternoon under a blanket reading Chuck Klosterman's latest book, Eating The Dinosaur. Good stuff.

December 18: Recycled the numerous boxes I'd been holding onto for holiday shipping (I'd braved the post office earlier in the week). Wrapped local gifts. Worked on lyrics for a song. Then had a bit of white wine whilst reading Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard.

It ain't Hawaii or a wine tour or a cruise of the Bahamas. It was piecemeal, but I used up my vacation and extra time. And there are still two four day weekends coming up before the beginning of the year. I don't know how I'll get through a five day week come January, but I'm sure I'll manage.

I can feel change coming. Good, bad, indifferent change. After this weekend, I'll be the only tenant in my triplex. Is this a sign? The NM Lobo men's basketball team is ranked and undefeated, almost erasing a horrible college football season. A wink and a smile from the heavens? And this whole thing about being in the office five days a week until the middle of the year (when I'll have accumulated a few vacation days) seems...well, that might be an opportunity as well.

Enjoy what time off you have for the rest of the year. Trust me, we've all earned it.

Matt Worley knows there will be a definite difference between 2009 and 2010.