Frankly...

I'm thrilled.
The national pension and continuing education office exerted themselves and yesterday in the mail, among the Christmas cards, was a cheque representing reimbursement for a summer course I took two years ago. In Rome. Which is partly why it took me so long to send in my claim. Like...SURE this was continuing education. Not a holiday. Nope. Education all the way, yup.
Anyhow, blessings be upon our much-maligned bureaucrats down there in National Hindquarters, Christmas is now FULLY FUNDED, folks -- or as my beloved Dad used to say,
"Throw the cat another canary, the heck with the expense!" (Not just the cost of the course, but the plane fare also...huzza!)
I sally forth this afternoon to find mildly staggering gifts for the offsprings. Cuz they're first-rate offsprings.