it's something that i hoped it would be better, but it's something i get nonetheless.  as they say, it's better to end up with something than nothing at all.  my boss and i had a talk a day (night) after i sent a lengthy, two-paragraph email the other day (night) about my decision to not report to work from the 24th to the 31st of this month (excluding my rest days on the 29th and 30th, plus the 25th, which our department didn't have any work scheduled), with or without their approval, including how i felt about the decision they handed down on the leaves on those dates.  i made it clear to her (them, including her counterpart-slash-partner), that it was a decision i made with such difficulty because of the perfect attendance record i had the whole year, which i was planning to complete, and the personal desire to spend the holidays with my family.  plus, that i had no personal ill-feelings towards them for that decision.  hey, i'm a manager myself, so i know how it feels to make a tough decision.  business is business, as they say.  she opened up the conversation by thanking me for expressing what i felt on that email and that it is highly appreciated.  she continued on by saying that it was an eye-opener for them on how to create a procedure to put in place same time next year.  but, she stopped short of granting approval of my request, saying that they wanted to avoid an issue wherein a decision was already made, and then suddenly there would be exceptions to the rule.  i completely understood where she was coming from.  again, my decision is not to undermine their authority or defy the decisions that they make.  it was, on my part, my own decision to not to report to work on those dates.

but then, my boss proposed a compromise.  she told me that i can be out on the 24th and the 31st, but have to report back to work on the 26th to the 28th.  she cited numerous reasons, including some important deliverables which i knew really had to be done.  and that those two dates won't be counted as VL, but i'll get paid nonetheless (like an sick leave).  it'll just be two occurrences of absences that will be reflected on me, but not enough to merit me a warning of some sort.

hey, i'm a level-headed, easy-to-talk-to guy.  so, i agreed to the compromise she offered.  at least i'll still be able to celebrate both holidays with my family.  in the end, everything worked out benefitting both of us.  i don't mind coming to work for three days on christmas/new year's eve week.  besides, the deliverables really, really, and i mean really have to be done by that week, so it's all good.  i'm officially feeling a lot better now, like a thorn was plucked from my arse.  here's looking forward to a wonderful christmas weekend, and i hope the same for all of you.  🙂