And so it was Christmas
I count myself pretty lucky that this was the first year since I got out of sciences at the U that I had to work Christmas. My jobs through school, and even after allowed me to enjoy this time of the year. Granted I rang in the new year at work most of the time, but as a Christmas lover, I didn't mind.
I always get depressed over New Year's anyways....blah blah I should have been a better person...I'm too fat....I need more money...blah blah blah. Celebrating the new year while busy at work at least kept my sanity. This year I paid my dues, though. I worked nights over Christmas......the time when children should be nestled snug in their beds (anyone in their right minds would be in bed that time of night anyways) while visions of holidays and family and food and fun all danced in their heads. My grandparents came from Winnipeg this year, so it was doubly hard to go to work. When I came home Christmas morning, I had to endure the traditional Ukrainian Christmas dinner as breakfast. I think I ate one meal a day for 3 days.
And there's still leftovers of course.
But even with working over Christmas this year, I didn't lose the Christmas spirit. I was super excited to find out if everyone liked the presents I got them. I listened and sung Christmas carols all hours of the day (and I mean all hours....stupid nights). I gave my really sick HELLP patient a chance to visit with her baby Christmas morning. We had a gift exchange at work (along with a LOT of food), and I was merely happy to be able to work with a great bunch of people who would even think of doing a gift exchange. Not so much when I was working at the Alex....but whatever. That ship has sailed and I am not looking back.
All in all, it was a good Christmas. I am sad I couldn't spend more time with my family, but glad I was lucky enough to at least see them. I'm still not looking forward to New Years simply for the fact that it is New Years, but at least I will have people over to ring in 2008.
And a lot of booze.
Not much
With all the craziness of Christmas approaching, I have been neglectful of my blog....as have many people. But I think it is nice just to
sit down once in a while instead of constantly being on your feet and moving and doing and forgetting. I figured since I am sitting down, I should at least update.
So here I am.
Not much going on since my last post. I talked to Telus about my insane bill, and they insist that it was their error, as a computer malfunction caused the cancellation of many people's service, and therefore this shouldn't have been billed. I wonder how many people like me noticed a random cancellation charge on their bill. So I gave Telus $77 to cover my actual bill, and talked to Shaw about their home bundle. The jury is still out.
Work is going alright. Busy. Very busy. We must be getting people from Saskatchewan, because there can't be any more pregnant women left in Edmonton....we delivered them all. And then some.
My ridiculously huge box of presents made it to Chicago in one piece...and it better have for the amount of postage I paid. Stupid huge box. I really hope Jo and Eric like their Christmas presents.....or else I may not be invited to stay at their place anymore! LOL
The worst thing about getting all my shopping done early is that now everyone's Christmas lists are out, and most of the gifts I bought are not on said lists. And now I am worrying about whether or not anyone will like their gifts. *sigh* I'm not shopping anymore. You'll just have to like what I got you.
At least I kept the receipts this year.
Feeling like a doormat
Today has not been a good day. I started out alright, happy that my Christmas shopping is done, and half of my wrapping is done......which normally all happens on December 23rd. I work nights over Christmas this year, so instead of procrastinating like I always do, I thought I'd get a head start on everything. Very smart. Very stupid for my bank account.
Then while doing some online banking, I realized that my paycheck today was very very small. Granted I had some vacation time, but I thought I had 12 hours of OT on this check as well. I am going to have to get to work and count my hours again. It wouldn't be the first time I have had missed hours. Sigh.
Then I go looking for a box to send some Christmas gifts. I just moved three months ago, I should still have some boxes laying around somewhere in storage or whatever. All I found was a large Budget box, and a medium Budget box.....which is conveniently much much larger than what I need, but whatever. Postage and shipping may be costly, but my saving grace is that the box isn't all that heavy.
Then after fighting with my brand new printer (which doesn't print as well as my old one), I finally was able to wrap said Christmas gifts to be sent. In the not-so-small box. By the time I finished this I found out that the Post Office is closed. Which now means that I have to get up early tomorrow to send my box before I work 12 hour nights. BOO.
So I come home and find a Telus bill waiting for me. I open the Telus bill, expecting to find the REGULAR internet charges (and not the ENHANCED internet charges), and lo and behold, a $340 bill is staring at me in the face. This is 4 times the amount quoted to me on November 6th when I called Telus and yelled at them for charging me for the internet service I NEVER even ordered. Now I am to pay a cancellation fee of $260 for a service I was wrongly charged for in the first place?????
*%@$!*
I may not be the most vocal person at times, but I know when I've been wronged, and I will stand up for what I believe in. I'm not argumentative by nature, and so this may have been my downfall. Was it because I only spent 45 minutes yelling at some girl named Sarah last time? Should I have been more assertive? If I was, would they still have charged me the dam cancellation fee?
And so here I am blaming myself for a mistake I didn't even commit. I'm not sacrificing any more of my sleep tomorrow to waste time talking to some corporate drone on the phone that I'm being charged RIDICULOUS amounts for. It may have to wait until Monday.
I think I'm going to talk to Shaw again. I didn't like their internet service when I first had my computer, but if it means less money and hassle, I suppose it's worth a try. The only thing I need to figure out is my phone. I only have a land line at the moment (it was SUPPOSED to be cheaper), so hopefully Shaw can help me out with that too.
Wow, this turned into a really angry post. Sorry. No, wait....I'm not sorry. I should be upset, dammit!
I'm going to make myself a tea.
Holiday Spirit
I love Christmas. In fact, it's practically the only thing I look forward to during the winter. Christmas carols, Christmas decorating, Christmas cheer....just about everything. Though I think that Halloween is too early to begin to think about Christmas shopping and such, I eagerly await the first weekend in December to put up my tree and turn on the Boney M and Bing Crosby.
So for this being the first of December, I had planned to get up early and head over to mom's for brunch and tree decorating. It's a ritual, really. The sifting through a large assortment of boxes to find the lights and ornaments, the rearranging of furniture to accommodate the tree, the hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of lights all down the hallway so we can figure out which strings to use. Last year we bought LEDs, but we still had to plug them all in. Of course when the lights go on the tree, you have to stand far away and squint your eyes so you can see where you need to add more. Good times.
This year is the first year with my very own Christmas tree, so mom came over after we decorated her house and we started our ritual all over again. She gave me the angel tree topper that she has had for many many years to put on my tree, and although the lights behind her don't work anymore, she still had to be there. I'm very happy with my tree. It has everything I think a Christmas tree needs. Lots of lights, lots of love, lots of memories.
I took a number of ornaments I have had since I was little, along with ones my grandmother had made and ones my aunt had on her tree, and ad
ded them to my new ornaments I brought home from Chicago. Jo and I probably spent an hour in that Christmas store...I could have bought everything! I couldn't believe the amount of Christmas spirit I experienced after Thanksgiving. "Have a happy Black Friday" turned out to be more than just the shopping, it was a perfect excuse to decorate everything and spread the Christmas cheer. As much as Jo (and possibly Eric?) thought the Christmas concert last Sunday was ridiculous, I enjoyed the kids behind me singing along with the carols. Kids have the right idea I think.
"'Maybe Christmas,' he thought, 'doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!'"
