Blue Christmas?

I have to confess, my current situation does not make for the most festive of holiday seasons. I know tend to be a whiner, and this blog is a forum for me to indulge in that behavior, but sometimes you just gotta whine, right? I have the song “Blue Christmas,” by Elvis running through my head constantly, which for the record, is a great song. Christmas also seems to have come out of nowhere. I realize there are several days until the big day, but again, I think because I’m not feeling the spirit of the season, it really taking me by surprise.

On that note, I’m not sending out Christmas cards, either, because the postage kills me. While I’m not a fan of digital holiday greetings, it’s better than nothing, right? Plus, you can’t beat the price, and there’s something to be said about creating less paper waste. I love when I find justification for things.

Now in my younger days, at times like these, I would wallow around my apartment in a pool of self-pity, but who’s got time for that? Not me, that’s for sure. There are too many things to do and places to be. It’s good, actually, to have a purpose in life, even if you don’t make any money doing it.

I can understand people’s desire to get out of the house and go to their jobs, it gives you a sense of purpose and even if you hate your job, and thereby hate your very existence, at least you’re making money, and in our society, that’s what it’s all about. You don’t make much in the way of money being a stay at home parent, but the work is hard and the hours are long. You have to find value in the process, because let’s face it, as much as people say it’s important to be a parent to your kids, spending time doing something that doesn’t make money is just not that valuable. Boy, talk about being cynical.

In the end, I could easily find a job if I gave up on being a stay at home dad. I know this because I went looking for a job and found opportunities within a week of trying, and they weren’t even in the field that I am most qualified in, i.e., science. I could find a lab job in a heart beat, but that’s not the direcition that we want to go in, at least for now. When that time comes, believe me, you’ll know it.

In the meantime, we’ll stay the course. I’ll keep looking for writing work, which I’ve found to some degree but not enough to make a living. Not yet, at least, but I’m confident it will happen. Then we can get on with our gloriously fabulous lifestyles.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Brenda Price for the pic.