I’m home alone this week. DH left for Pittsburgh on Monday and won’t be back until Friday. I don’t mind being alone but I do miss him. He’s often the only human contact I have from one day to the next, though, sometimes I do get to chat with store clerks. One of the drawbacks of being unemployed, I guess. I have the cats and Ivy to keep me company but it does get lonely when DH is away. One of my sista-friends is supposed to come over tomorrow to make sure that I get some human contact but an icy mix is being predicted for tomorrow evening so that might not happen.
I’ve been working on decorating the house for Christmas. Most of the decorations are up but DH will have to assemble the tree. We bought an artificial tree last year. It’s prelit and looks just fine. I think it’s “greener” to have a fake tree, it makes less of a mess and the cats aren’t interested in trying to climb it. I burn a Christmas Wreath Yankee Candle and it smells like we have a real tree (and garland). Call me silly but I don’t want 18 feet of real evergreen wrapped around my beautiful banister. I worry about sap getting on to it.
The job search is going slow. I had an interview on Monday. I didn’t get the “I really want this job!” feeling but the people were very nice and it’s less than two miles from home, which is a huge deal for a snow wuss like me. I really hate driving in the snow and ice. It scares me!
I’m trying to enjoy the holidays as much as I can. The budget is very tight this year so I don’t have the normal “what am I going to buy so and so” stresses and it feels strange. I heard someone say this morning that Christmas should be about loved ones and charity, not about presents. That sounds right to me. I helped a friend shop for 5 kids that she and her boss picked from a giving tree and it felt great to play Santa’s helper. I get verklempt every time I think of a little kid without at least a few toys on Christmas morning. My brother and I were VERY lucky growing up. My parents didn’t have a lot of money but they made sure that we had great Christmases. If you can, please give to Toys for Tots this year. They’ve run out of money and toys and this year, the need is greater than ever.
ETA: I did not make it to the second round of interviews. I’m not devastated…it’s probably for the best.
