Today officially starts Christmas break for our kids. NO SCHOOL!!! No school, starting today, and all of the way into January of 2013!!! Yes, both kids are quite happy about this. :-)
For me, this is a reminder that Christmas is very fast approaching now. Just one week away, with only this weekend ahead to do our Christmas shopping. Yes, you read that correctly..... we have NOT done one bit of shopping for Christmas as of today. WHY? Well, because of a lack of sufficient funds up until my paycheck came on the 10th. And then, because of a lack of time available to do any shopping since then!!!
Interestingly, it seems that when I make any sort of comment on Facebook about not being happy or excited about having to work my second job at Westside Pizza, I tend to get all sorts of negative feedback from people, letting me know how that this is how their work lives and home lives are all of the time. :-(
My first response to this is, if that is completely true..... then I am really sorry for each and every one of them. That breaks my hear for them. I wouldn't wish for any of my friends or family members to be stuck working 60-65 hours each week, with 24 hour shifts thrown in to the mix twice a week, and having to work weekends and holidays as well. :-(
My second response to this is, I am guessing that most of the people who are making such comments don't actually realize that I am now working 60-65 hours a week, with 24 hour shifts thrown in twice a week, and still have to work weekends and holidays!!!
The fact that I may complain about having to work a second job, for minimum wage, at a pizza joint, where I am 12 years older than the owner, and old enough to be every other employee's dad (thus, don't exactly fit in perfectly)........ well, it really has nothing to do about the job itself!!! No, it really has everything to do with how it has altered my personal and family life...... missing out on very important life events in my kids' lives, missing out on things I have been a part of for the past 11 years, missing out on my routine of fitness and health and cycling lifestyle, and simply feeling like I am now more or less just a "part time" dad.
I know that others have to work long hours, five or six days a week, etc. But the fact is, that is NOT the career path I chose. At an early age, I started down a career path that would afford me a wonderful work schedule, and would allow me to have plenty of time off to be with my family and lead the life I wanted to lead. For the past 22 years, I have enjoyed the firefighter work schedule and lifestyle, because I worked very, very, very hard to earn the position of professional, career firefighter.
So please, excuse me just a bit if I come across as though I don't care about everyone elses work schedules or routines, etc. That really isn't the case at all. Simply, I care more about what I have recently given up, and how it is effecting me and my family.
I most certainly hope that this will be a short term pain experience, which will bring about long term gains. I pray for that, in fact, daily. This is not a situation I ever planned to be in, or thought I would be in. I can only pray that sometime this next year, a light may begin to shine at the end of the tunnel, and that it will grow brighter and brighter. I really do not want to be working at the pizza place a year from now..... in fact, I really hope to not be working there in six months from now. But, I will do what I have to do in order to help my family out of the mess that I put us in.
OK, stepping down from my soap box now........ whew!!!
So, Christmas break is here. The kids are out of school. And today, it is cold and snowing, and the wind is blowing! We no longer have any TV in our home, and I will leave for work at 10:40am, and not be home until after dinner this evening. I have no idea what these kids are going to do with their day...... I can hear them both already, "I'm bored. There's nothing to do" :-)
But alas, the weekend will be here in a few days, and we will be very busy once again. Grammy and Papa will be here on Sunday, and hopefully Tracie and I will be able to go do our Christmas shopping. I have six days off beginning on Saturday, so I will get to spend time with my family, and enjoy Christmas at home!!!
Time for more coffee......
I feel for you. It can not be easy.
ReplyDeleteI praise you though for what you are doing for your family. For your kids. Part of me wants to move back it so that I can pay you $800/month in rent to help you guys out. Especially after everything you did for me.
Love you - Praying for you.
B
No Way!!! As much as that money would be awesome to have..... there is no way that you are coming back. You have worked too hard to get to where you are at now, and you have a great place, and are doing so very well. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your concern and your prayers. I so appreciate them.
What we did for you was NOT so we would get anything in return from you. What we did for you, we did purely out of our love for you, and our concern for you, and because God called us to!!! We have already received everything we could have asked for or hoped for from you, simply in how things have turned out with your life as of to date!!! :-)
It would appear, at this point, that I am stuck working Westside until at least June of 2013. I did the math on Tracie's program, and at 10 hours of time each week, it would be into May before she is done! This should be more than easy, and yet, now that school is out for Christmas break, she is sleeping in and not doing her two hours of study time each day, as we had planned and discussed. :-(
So, who knows...... I really don't want to be doing this lifestyle next summer, but until she is done and has a job to replace my income, I am stuck.
Thanks for your comments..... nice to know you read my blog! :-)