Simple Holidays

Looks like the holidays are going to be pretty quiet for me this year. Bo and I both have to work, so we can't travel to see our families. We're staying at home, but we don't really have the extra money to spend on celebrating the holiday. I don't even think we are going to get each other presents this year. We will have some presents to open, since family will be shipping us gifts, but I'm not expecting a lot. It has been a tough year all around.

I'm not really that disappointed, though. I don't mind that our Christmas will be simple and quiet. Of course, I'll miss my family and having lots of presents is always fun, but that isn't what is most important. Bo and I will be together for the holiday and that is the most important thing.

I feel like I am in the minority when I say that. I see all these advertisements for stuff to buy and sales to buy it cheap. Today, there was a story on NPR about people begging online for gifts or money to buy gifts for their kids. Gifts, not food or other essentials. When did gifts become essential to making Christmas special? How did we get to the point that "kids deserve presents" during the holiday season, as one of the people interviewed for the story said. And just to be clear, these people who were begging wanted money to get good gifts for their kids. Apparently, simple or small gifts don't cut it. I've had a tough year. I've worked hard and cut back to make ends meet, but I don't feel like I deserve presents. I'm just happy that I can put food on the table and maybe make something extra special for Christmas dinner. Granted, there are probably people out there who are in a worse situation and maybe the people interviewed for the NPR story are genuinely struggling. If that is the case, why are they begging for gifts? Why not food, clothes or something else along those lines.

I miss simple holidays. Does that make me a Scrooge?

Tis the season

So the holidays are starting to creep up on us once again. And, once again, I'm kinda annoyed at how quickly the "Christmas Season" has started. The day after Halloween, my local Publix shopping plaza was already decorated. My place of work has already decorated and they started playing Christmas music this week. *sigh*

What makes it all worse is that if I say anything about how I don't like this early, early start to the season, people automatically jump to the conclusion that I don't like Christmas. I went it to work yesterday and heard the Christmas music playing. I sigh and said, to no one in particular, "Chirstmas music already? Geez..." A co-worker overheard me, turned and replied in an offended tone, "What's wrong with it? Don't you like Christmas?" Before I could explain, he huffed and walked away.

I don't hate Christmas. In fact, I love it. But Christmas is special because it is brief and rare. I feel like having Christmas last for two months just dilutes it. Why make the time to celebrate the season when it is going to be going on for so long? Maybe that's just me...

Babysitting

This morning, I took care of a 6 week old baby while her mom went to a job interview. The baby is such a sweet little girl and everything went really well, but her mom was very nervous. I didn't realize until after she got back...apparently, this is the first time Mom has let someone else take care of baby. I'm the little one's first babysitter! I thought that was kinda neat.

I've been enjoying visiting with the new mom and dad, but it really has driven home the fact that I am not ready to have kids anytime soon. Not that I don't like them. I adore this little girls. She is so sweet and I can handle all the messy details of caring for her. That's why I offered to babysit.

No, the real lesson I've taken away from all this is the level of commitment required to care for a baby. These parents have rearranged their lives for her and every waking moment, it seems, they are caring for her. (Of course, she is their first, so they might be going overboard just a little.) I'm not ready to turn my life upside down like that. Yes, I'm happily married and will probably have kids....eventually. I have too much to do and see before getting tied down like that.

My Husband is a Rock Star

Sunday night was the first show for Bo's new band, Jump Radar. As with all first shows, there were some kinks that needed to be worked out, but on the whole, they did a fantastic job. The crowd was great and I heard lots and lots of people saying how much they liked it afterwards. A couple of people were surprised that it was their first show, since they were pretty tight throughout the set.

It was a lot of fun to see Bo up on stage in front of a band again. Watching him, I can see how much he loves it, how much fun he's having. Of course, I had lots of fun, too. I stood right next to the stage and jumped around, singing along to almost all their songs.

I can't wait until their next show.

Finally!

Seems like the weather has finally decided to cool off a little here. It has been so hot lately that you would think we were still in the middle of summer, instead of October being right around the corner. I know I live in Florida and I know it is hot here, but I think I can safely say that it has been unseasonably hot for the past few weeks.

I was so happy this morning when I realized it was cool enough outside that I could open up the windows for awhile. It also made the cats very happy and they have spent the morning dashing from one window to the other to look out and feel the cool breeze on their faces.

In other news, there really isn't any news. Still putting out applications and keeping my fingers crossed. Bo's first show with his band is this weekend, so we are both getting excited about that! And that's all I really have this morning.

Streamlining

So, I've added a gadget to my iGoogle page which allows me to post directly to this blog. Hopefully, that will help me make posts more often since I have my iGoogle page open almost anytime I am online. Part of my problem with making blog entries is that I just don't go to the Blogger main page. I don't think about it that often. If I am offline and think of something to say, I usually forget about it or get distracted by something else when I sign in. So, we'll see how this works.

One year later

So, it has been almost a year since my last post....and what a year it has been. So much and so little has happened and it has been a very frustrating time for me. That's probably one of the reasons that I haven't posted anything. I haven't been very keen on reflecting on my life lately.

Just a quick update for now, with more to come later.

I finished my Master's degree and graduated in May. It was rather stressful towards the end, but everything turned out just fine. My defense went surprisingly well, though I got a last minute shock when my advisor requested that I re-write a couple sections and add some more info. He had been away on leave during most of my writing phase and he felt my thesis needed to go in a slightly different direction. So, with all that, I ended up delaying my graduation to finish my thesis.

Though I was finishing up the thesis, I started looking for work in December. No luck yet...though I've gotten close a few times. That's the main reason for my frustration. I had hoped to have a job by this point, but it seems the odds are stacked against me. Thankfully, I have landed a part-time job and that has been a big help paying the bills. I don't know how long it will last and I keep hoping that I'll find a permanent position in a museum soon.

I try to keep my hopes up, but sometimes there just isn't much to be hopeful about. Little things do keep me going, but they are coming few and far between. Wish me luck.