Christmas is over. I probably should not be writing my first post in nearly three weeks at this particular time. I have a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth right now, so just be aware of this and take whatever comments I make with a grain of salt, alright?
We do not take elaborate trips for vacations. A big "vacation" for us is making the seven hour drive down to Gatlinburg for some time in a cabin in the Smokie Mountains. Alot of time we just stay home while on "vacation" and that's fine by me, honestly, as long as I do not even have to think about work the entire time. Having said that, supposedly I am on "vacation" right now. Now, I know good and well that a vacation for me at this time of year is not going to include a trip, and it is definitely not going to be a vacation where I do not have to worry about work. Why? Because it is the holidays. And that means that we are short staffed, everyone wants (expects) me to figure out a way for them to not have to work. This years holiday scheduling for me had been the most difficult of the 8 previous "holiday schedules" I have created since 1998. Unexpected personnel changes in the weeks just prior to Christmas have been the predominate reason why. I worked as the evening RC on December 23rd (while I was on vacation which supposedly started on Dec 20). And the entire time since I stepped out of the office on Dec 20, I have been worried about our schedule for at least on reason. I keep checking my YSB email (Kim says: "Why would you check your work email while you are on vacation?" - and of course I just think how I would love to not have to worry about it, but it is an absolute fact that I have to worry about it) and every time I do this while I am on vacation I just clinch my teeth because I just end up becoming aware of additional staffing/scheduling problems that I must deal with.
I just want (and i believe really NEED) a vacation where I am not constantly stressed. I mean, the holidays do that anyway, but add into it the constant worry about the shelter schedule and the only thing making it a vacation is that I am not physically in the office.
.......why am I putting all of this on here? I have no idea. I know that anyone reading this is probably on here because they want me to post how Christmas was and really has no interest in my aggravation with work issues. And that's fine, of course.....
Christmas....I have to be honest. This was the strangest Christmas I can remember. Do you want to know the first thing I did Christmas morning? Usually, I am woken by exclamations and announcements that Santa had indeed visited our home. Well, I slept absolutely terribly Christmas Eve night and when I finally did get out of bed first at 6:20am, the first thing I did walk walk quickly into our bathroom where I proceeded to puke my guts out. Kim and Jackson had already vomited on Christmas Eve, so it was my turn. Carson's bout with the illness was earlier in the week when he vomited an entire and intact McDonald's french fry on the living room floor. I could not for the life of me figure out how a 2 year old can swallow a 5 inch french fry without damaging the structure of it // Time out - I just had to take a few minute break from writing this because Jackson came out of his room with a worried look on his face and told me that he just had a bad dream. I picked him up and held him on the couch for a few minutes and then I asked him if he got scared about something and he said: "Well, Goldie and Marvin got shot. Some hunters broke into our house and shot them". (Goldie and Marvin are our goldfish). I look at him and was somehow able to keep from laughing and said to him:"Well, it was just a dream....Daddy's here and everything is alright, buddy."// Okay back to the story. So Carse was just recovering from his stomach flu and Jackson puked first thing Christmas Eve morning. Then Kim puked during the Day on Christmas Eve and then I hurled first thing Christmas morning. I'll tell you, for the first twelve hours of Christmas Day I felt like total crap...Nauseous, Headaches, no energy, no appetite, and of course not FESTIVE! That was awful for both Kim and I to feel terrible on Christmas and Jackson was better but not 100%. By the time we went over to mom and dad's in the evening, we both really started to feel better. It was also weird because for the first time in the 16 (total) years that Kim and I have been together we were not at Kim's mother's on Christmas eve, as she was in West Virginia.
So between the whole family being sick, not being with Kim's family at all, and me worrying the entire time about work issues, it really was a strange Christmas. Despite me feeling like dog-crap, I did get a couple of decent pictures from Christmas morning at our house, after the discovery that Santa had been there. Here they are:
Here is Carse running around after the great discovery. I love the expression. Notice how Santa knocked out one of the logs from the fireplace!
We do not take elaborate trips for vacations. A big "vacation" for us is making the seven hour drive down to Gatlinburg for some time in a cabin in the Smokie Mountains. Alot of time we just stay home while on "vacation" and that's fine by me, honestly, as long as I do not even have to think about work the entire time. Having said that, supposedly I am on "vacation" right now. Now, I know good and well that a vacation for me at this time of year is not going to include a trip, and it is definitely not going to be a vacation where I do not have to worry about work. Why? Because it is the holidays. And that means that we are short staffed, everyone wants (expects) me to figure out a way for them to not have to work. This years holiday scheduling for me had been the most difficult of the 8 previous "holiday schedules" I have created since 1998. Unexpected personnel changes in the weeks just prior to Christmas have been the predominate reason why. I worked as the evening RC on December 23rd (while I was on vacation which supposedly started on Dec 20). And the entire time since I stepped out of the office on Dec 20, I have been worried about our schedule for at least on reason. I keep checking my YSB email (Kim says: "Why would you check your work email while you are on vacation?" - and of course I just think how I would love to not have to worry about it, but it is an absolute fact that I have to worry about it) and every time I do this while I am on vacation I just clinch my teeth because I just end up becoming aware of additional staffing/scheduling problems that I must deal with.
I just want (and i believe really NEED) a vacation where I am not constantly stressed. I mean, the holidays do that anyway, but add into it the constant worry about the shelter schedule and the only thing making it a vacation is that I am not physically in the office.
.......why am I putting all of this on here? I have no idea. I know that anyone reading this is probably on here because they want me to post how Christmas was and really has no interest in my aggravation with work issues. And that's fine, of course.....
Christmas....I have to be honest. This was the strangest Christmas I can remember. Do you want to know the first thing I did Christmas morning? Usually, I am woken by exclamations and announcements that Santa had indeed visited our home. Well, I slept absolutely terribly Christmas Eve night and when I finally did get out of bed first at 6:20am, the first thing I did walk walk quickly into our bathroom where I proceeded to puke my guts out. Kim and Jackson had already vomited on Christmas Eve, so it was my turn. Carson's bout with the illness was earlier in the week when he vomited an entire and intact McDonald's french fry on the living room floor. I could not for the life of me figure out how a 2 year old can swallow a 5 inch french fry without damaging the structure of it // Time out - I just had to take a few minute break from writing this because Jackson came out of his room with a worried look on his face and told me that he just had a bad dream. I picked him up and held him on the couch for a few minutes and then I asked him if he got scared about something and he said: "Well, Goldie and Marvin got shot. Some hunters broke into our house and shot them". (Goldie and Marvin are our goldfish). I look at him and was somehow able to keep from laughing and said to him:"Well, it was just a dream....Daddy's here and everything is alright, buddy."// Okay back to the story. So Carse was just recovering from his stomach flu and Jackson puked first thing Christmas Eve morning. Then Kim puked during the Day on Christmas Eve and then I hurled first thing Christmas morning. I'll tell you, for the first twelve hours of Christmas Day I felt like total crap...Nauseous, Headaches, no energy, no appetite, and of course not FESTIVE! That was awful for both Kim and I to feel terrible on Christmas and Jackson was better but not 100%. By the time we went over to mom and dad's in the evening, we both really started to feel better. It was also weird because for the first time in the 16 (total) years that Kim and I have been together we were not at Kim's mother's on Christmas eve, as she was in West Virginia.
So between the whole family being sick, not being with Kim's family at all, and me worrying the entire time about work issues, it really was a strange Christmas. Despite me feeling like dog-crap, I did get a couple of decent pictures from Christmas morning at our house, after the discovery that Santa had been there. Here they are:
Here is Carse running around after the great discovery. I love the expression. Notice how Santa knocked out one of the logs from the fireplace!
Carson enjoying the moment as we opened presents after S.C. had already come.
Here is Jackson checking out the stuff from Santa...I think he is looking at a treasure map from his "Pyrates" legos.
Here is Mr. Jackson sporting the new Spiderman robe we got him.
