Applehead

I am officially an Apple head. Russel surprised me with an iPad for Christmas with a pretty green cover. I still haven't given him enough kisses to thank him. I also got 2 Keurig coffee makers. One from my dad and Lupe and one from Russel's sister Lisa. Now I don't have to pack it when I go to Russel's I can have one in each location. I can't wait to get more k-cups. I am definitely not happy with the blogger interface on the iPad and the blogger app is even worse because it is more for an iPod or iPhone. I can't make the text any bigger or use a different font. Christmas was pretty good this year. I am completely spoiled with the gifts from everyone. I appreciate them all very much. Sometimes it is so overwhelming I have to fight back the tears. As always, I missed my mom horribly like I do every year. I was thinking about what she would think about the iPads. She was a gadget girl before there was such a thing. She bought one of the first VCRs when they first came out and were very expensive. She bought one of the first laptop computers before I even knew what it was. I have no doubt she would have owned an iPad. I wish I could have shared this awesome gift with her. Thank you everyone for working with my crazy schedule and my grinch personality. I love y'all very much. I am blessed. My cup runneth over.

My Point Exactly

LOL Sorry for the harsh words...but I am going to wear this as a sign around my neck!

The long month of December

I have said how difficult it is for me to work long stretches at work or more than my usual 8 hour shift. I have to complain a little because my December is going to be the l-o-n-g-e-s-t month ever.

I am on a 10 day stretch now. Later this month I have an 8 day stretch. I am housesitting in Elgin which seems a bazillion miles away from Lago, Leander, and Georgetown. These are the places I want to be over Christmas. I somehow managed to say yes for two different times in December.

My dad is having knee surgery this month. I love my dad but he is a man. Men act like they feel pain magnified 100 times worse than it really is. I want him to feel better and skip the pain.

I volunteered to work all of the holidays this year to build up my vacation time. I did this because I would automatically be off on New Year's Eve and New Year's day because those would be my regular days off. We lost another dispatcher at work. Well, we didn't lose them, we know exactly where they aren't. So the rotation goes back to the old way. Work 2 months of weekends and you get rewarded by having 1 month of weekends off.

I shouldn't have gotten myself into half of this mess. Housesitting helps with the cost of Christmas. I need more vacation in case I get some money put away to go somewhere. Or, here is an idea take off for absolutely no reason other than to seclude myself in my house and watch the entire 4th season of Heroes.

There are days my job is extremely stressful. There are days when it's more stressful than that. There are days when you can literally stare into space for an hour or two before anything happens. Actually I haven't seen one of those days in a long time.

So here is how December would go down if I was rich and didn't have to work.

1. My nephew would have gotten the iPad he wanted for his birthday.
2. I wouldn't have to work to pay the bills, I would work because I wanted to work. Trust me there is a difference.
3. I would be able to buy gifts for my entire family....cousins and all. Plus all of Russel's family not just the one who's name I drew.
4. I would be celebrating Christmas Eve with my Dad, Lupe and Russel.
5. I would be celebrating Christmas Day with Russel's family
6. I would be celebrating New Year's Eve by staying up past 8pm with Russel and Dinah.
7. I would definately buy Dinah more nip toys. I would take Bella and Ranger to Petsmart for new toys.
8. I would be off on weekends and only have to work 5 days in a row.
9. I would definately volunteer at the animal shelter.
10. I wouldn't be so damn grumpy, moody, pissy, and having a pity party.

I know this IS a pity party for 1. I write to vent, not really to solicit help. It's ok for me to work hard. I know some of you are thinking that I should be thankful for what I do have. I am. I completely am thankful. I thank God every night before I go to sleep. Things could definately be worse. Stress is relative. I could probably find stress in cleaning a toilet if that was the only thing I did all day.

The point of this story...if I am a little edgy, short-fused, or just need quiet time cut me a little slack this month ok? I promise it won't last forever.