Christmas Prep
On Friday night I made the 7-hour drive home to California. It’s good to be home. At work we have Christmas Day off, but not Christmas Eve so I got permission to take that day off as well. That allows me an extended weekend at home for Christmas. I’m really glad. This would’ve been my first Christmas away from home and wasn’t something I was looking forward to. So I will leave that experience for another year.
My sister is not coming for Christmas though, which will be different. She and her husband are going to do Christmas on their own, which we knew they were going to do. It’ll be a little sad not having her here, but I know we’ll still have a good time. It’s kind of interesting to observe my family changing and traditions morphing into other things now that my sister has in-laws and I live farther away. I think a part of me always envisioned my family living close to each other, but we’ve obviously busted up that portrayal.
It’s been so nice to be able to tell people here at home about my new job. So incredibly fulfilling to tell people I’m not serving anymore. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I always say that serving was good while I did it, but I don’t miss it. Not one bit.
Tonight I am going to my third (!) Christmas party. Last Sunday I went to the Christmas party for the Restaurant; on Wednesday I went to the Christmas party for my new job. And now tonight I’m going to the Christmas party for my Old Restaurant here. It’ll be really nice to see everyone and tell them about my new job. I must say that despite some of my frustrations with serving, it was because of the people at the Restaurant that kept me there so long. I really felt like I worked with my friends; thus, work was mostly one big night of laughs and jokes. It was a very unique group of people.
Christmas this year makes me think ahead to Christmases in the future. Christmases that I’ll celebrate in Arizona, with friends and family. Christmases of my own. It’s an intriguing thing to ponder, just wondering what’s to come…