Just when we thought the pace would slow down for the holidays at DFA Headquarters, the staff arrived this morning to find Tom Hughes standing at an easel, marker at the ready. Apprehensive looks were exchanged across the room—Tom with an easel almost always spells trouble.

On a hand-drawn, scale map of the office, Tom gleefully explained his plan of attack. It seems that many months of Dean for America and Democracy for America mess had accumulated around the office, and a few days of quiet time presented a good opportunity—not just for eggnog and holiday parties—but to start 2005 with a clean office environment. Tom assigned each of us a color-coded area on the chart. I volunteered for the server room and the supply closet, secretly pleased because cleaning that server room has been on my list since I arrived at DFA this summer.

Team "Black Ops" (kitchen and conference room) found a box of telephones in a kitchen cabinet, Team "Red Scare" (Web and Political area) found three coats that don't belong to anyone in the office and a printer that was probably state-of-the-art when the movie War Games was in theaters. Chris Warshaw's unique method of cleaning involved shifting the mess from his assigned area to my supply closet. After my strenuous objections, we compromised and stashed 40,000 bumper stickers in Lindsay Lewis' office. Happy holidays, Lindsay! (...and to all of you out there cleaning before the start of the new year!)