It's been quite a while since my last post. Over a year actually, no
excuse for that.
I've been really wanting to get back into it, but I can never decide
where to begin.
I love to write, but there's always been something weird to me about
keeping a journal. I'm much better at writing to actual people. But
the journal concept allows me to be a little selfish for a bit. I can
write all about me, my life, my feelings without having to stop and
inquire how the person on the other end is doing, or offer insight
into what's going on in their lives. Don't get me wrong, I love doing
that too. But sometimes people are just too burdoned with their own
issues, and I don't want to load my own onto theirs.
Not that I even have too many issues to burdon anyone with these days,
things are pretty darn good.
That brings me to my title, "Six Months".
Last Christmas, I had a meltdown.
I love Christmas, I always have, but working retail was ruining it for
me. It's always been important to me to keep my work at work, because
retail at Christmas is just downright horrible. To be completely
honest, you see people at their worst, their grouchiest, rudest, most
selfish. People have pretty much forgotten the true meaning of
Christmas. Little by little, year after year, it's become worse and
worse.
Anyways, a series of bad events, one after the other, caused work to
interfere with my personal life last holiday season, and come January,
I felt like I had completely missed Christmas.
I will never feel like that ever again.
I gave my two weeks notice to Aeropostale on April 28th, and after
many tears (of doubt, fear, and a mix of other emotions), I started my
new job, with an electrical equipment supplier on May 12th.
I didn't really realize what a huge impact it was going to have on me
to switch jobs.
But here I am, November 14th, six months later, looking back and
realizing all the things I did this summer that I definitely couldn't
have done if I still worked at Aeropostale...
I have gone out to dinner with Kris every single Friday night.
I have made breakfast every Sunday morning.
I planted flowers in my flower bed, cared for them, watched them grow,
and sat on the front porch many times just to enjoy them.
We met and became good friends with our next door neighbors, often
sitting outside drinking, talking & playing bags til the wee hours
with them.
We had a "Pulled Pork Cookoff" in our backyard for the Fourth of July
weekend, which we have decided will be a yearly tradition.
We spent a lot of late nights on our back porch, listening to music
and fantasizing about opening our own BBQ restaurant someday...
We took a trip to St. Louis to celebrate our 3rd anniversary weekend,
took a tour of Anheuiser-Busch, and travelled to some famous BBQ
restaurants just for fun.
I bet (and lost) $5 on a horse at Arlington Park Race Track with my
family on Father's Day.
I went camping for my first time in Missouri, with our close friends
Johnny & Michelle. We took a float trip down the very scenic Meramec
River on a perfect summer day, one of the coolest things I have ever
done.
We've had friends over, or gone out with friends every weekend with
the exception of one or two.
I saw Poison live in Springfield with Michelle.
I had Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day all off work, with
pay, without fuss.
I will have Thanksgiving, the Day after Thanksgiving, as well as
Christmas & Christmas Eve off too.
I helped my Mom plan my Grandmother's funeral, a task she would have
had to handle by herself had work not been 110% understanding. They
also sent me a sympathy plant and card the day I came back to work.
We flew to Colorado for our friends (Mike & Erica)'s wedding. We spent
a *perfect* day in the mountains with Johnny & Michelle, just taking
in all the amazing scenery. Another one of the coolest things I've
done in one of the coolest places I've been.
Above all, I've had a huge amount of quality time with Kris, Riley,
and our families. I could not possibly over-stress what an impact it
has had on me just to have more time with the people I love.
The time off is just a bonus though, I actually have a job that I
love. I can get out of bed in the morning, because I don't have to
fear a stressful work environment at all. Six months in, and I have
not had one unbearable experience or customer to deal with yet.
Life is good.
Just a side-note too, as I sat here typing this, my boss came and
handed me 4 tickets to tomorrow night's hockey game. A few minutes
later, I got an e-mail informing me that the company would be buying
all the employees a 15-lb. turkey for Thanksgiving.
I hope everyone is as blessed as I am :)