Sentence 1: Eric was looking forward to his vacation from work. 
 Sentence 3: Finally, it was December 4th, his last day for the year 
 Sentence 4:  He spent a lot of time that day preparing things for his absence 
 Sentence 5:  He left the building whistling a tune, excited to go home and rest 
 Option 1: Every year, he took almost the whole month of December off. 
 Option 2: Every year he worked late hours almost the whole month of December.