We just got the results from our schedule bid for next year. Of 158 possible lines, I got my third choice, an 11:00pm line. I am very happy. I didn’t get my first or second choice because they had six-day breaks during Christmas. It will be a while before I can hold one of those lines. I actually could have gotten a three-day break over Christmas for next year. However, Christmas isn’t my highest priority right now since most of our family is local and the rest of the family celebrates on the Sunday before Christmas. The lines that had three days off at Christmas didn’t have much else that I wanted. Instead, the line I got had breaks on several important occasions, which saves me from having to burn vacation days for them:

• Super Bowl Sunday (Cowboys watching party at our house – heh heh)
• Valentine’s Day
• Mother’s Day
• Father’s Day
• July 4th
• My birthday
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving (three-day break)
• New Year’s Eve / anniversary getaway

In addition, since I’ve hit my ten-year anniversary, I’m now up to 20 days of vacation. Now I need to study my line to decide where to allocate my days. I can’t have Christmas, but I could probably get any other days off I need. I’ll use some for birthdays for me, Jenny, and Brenden. Beyond that, I’m not sure yet – 20 days is a lot to allocate, but it’s a problem I’m happy to face.