Christmas Fiasco

So this is kinda outdated, but oh well.

Christmas this year was possibly the worst Christmas I've had. All I really wanted for Christmas was to fly home and be with my family. I really missed all the kids, and wanted to be there for the Holidays. It was difficult to plan my trip home because I had just started my new job, and didn't really have any time off. I was scheduled to work on Christmas day, and was really bummed about it. Because I only work 4 nights a week, I essentially have 3 1/2 days off. So I planned to fly home Monday morning right when I got off work, and return Christmas day, so I could be to work that night. It would only be a couple days, but it would be worth it.

For Christmas Eve, my mom was putting together a little program for the family. She wanted us all to sing What Child Is This as part of the program. She told me she wanted me to play the guitar, my brother to play his violin, and my sister or sister-in-law to play the piano, and wanted me to find an arrangement for that. I was unsuccessful in finding one that fit, so I composed my own. I spend many hours each day for a week, composing and arranging my version of What Child Is This, for violin, guitar, and piano. I had it all put together and emailed out copies of the music to everybody so they could practice it. We were all really excited about it.

This is where the exciting things end! On Monday morning, I left work and drove to the airport. There had been an insane amount of snow in Portland, and many flights were cancelled that weekend. I was opitomistic, however, because reports were coming from Portland that they were allowing most flights in that day. I sat in the airport for a couple hours, and we were given the go ahead to fly to Portland. So we all boarded the plane, took our seats and buckled up. As they were closing the door to the airplane, a Southwest employee came running down the jetway to stop us. He got ont he loudspeaker and infomed us that Southwest had decided to cancel the flight anyway. People didn't move, they just sat there in dismay. I wanted to yell out to the guy, "you ruined my whole life!" but exercised some restraint. I gathered my things and slowly made the long depressing journey through the airport back to the parking lot. I called my family and told them I wasn't coming home for Christmas and they were pretty devastated. It was a horrible feeling. But to twist the dagger, I didn't have ANY money to get my car out of the parking lot. I had been working, but didn't get my first paycheck for a few more days. So I had to call the Bank of Dad. I sat there in the parking lot, depressed, and waited for my dad to deposit some money in my account so I could get out. The drive back to my apartment in Provo seemed much longer than usual, and I cried most of the way. I had talked to my sister, and when I told her, she was really sad. And that was the breaking point for me, cried all the way home. I would not be home for Christmas, I would not see my family, and we would not be able to perform the song I had put so much time into and we had all practiced.

The worst part about it, I was the only person in the entire city of Provo. The place is a ghost town for two weeks during the Holidays. All my roommates were gone home, so I was completely alone for Christmas.

A ray of hope came from some dear friends and their families. I was invited to spend Christmas morning with the Moses family in Highland, which was very nice. I felt very comfortable with them, and enjoyed my time. In the afternoon, I came back to my apartment to sleep, but my roommate's family came over and brought their entire Christmas dinner and cooked it in our apartment, so that I could join them. It was very good. In the evening, I went and spent a few hours at the bishop's house with his family. There was a lot of people there, and we had a good time.

So Christmas didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would be, but I was still very sad I didn't get to spend it with my family. However, I was able to move my flight to the following week. I spend a few days at home, and it was very nice. I was so happy to see the grandkids and spend time with my family and friends. The trip was short, and I soon had to come back to Utah and work.

Overall, the happiness was just enough to outweigh the incredible disappointments and sadness. It ended up a good holiday, but one I'd rather not have to repeat. I have always loved and appreciated my family, but I came to really appreciate the hospitality and love of other families.

Thank you to the Moses, Crandall and Yarro families, for inviting me into your family for the holiday, and even giving me gifts. Your love will long be remembered. Forever, thank you.

New Job

After months of job hunting, and lots of cold leads, I finally was hired on at a company called DirectPointe, in Lindon, UT at the beginning of December. They are and IT Solutions company, building and managing networks for small to medium size businesses, specializing in the medical and education sectors. My job title is Customer Support Engineer. I do network support, mostly over internet chat, for our clients. Right now I am working on the night shift, 10-12 hours a night, 4 nights a week. I really like my job. Even when I am exhausted and want to sleep at night, I'm still happy to go to work. The money is good, and I have full benefits, with room to move around within the company. I really enjoy the work as well, and have learned quite a bit about networking. However, the biggest thing I've learned is that I have alot more to learn. My body is getting used to the new sleep schedule, but not the new eating schedule. I was surprised how stubborn my body is to change eating habits. I usually eat meals at 7pm before I go to work, between 2 and 3am for my lunch break, and a small breakfast before I go to bed in the morning (usually between 8 and 9am). It has been rather difficult to get used to this, as I am constantly sick to my stomach after nearly every meal. I have started to figure out a few things to prevent me from getting ill, but its trial and error. Hopefully I'll get a handle on it soon, as it is no fun being sick to my stomach all the time.

Besides work, I haven't been doing much. My social life has suffered, cause I work Thurs-Sun nights, so I miss out on a lot of stuff. But I am happy to be working, and to finally have money. I am quickly paying off my debts, and once I do, I have a few treats to buy for myself. However, I think I'll try saving money to buy stuff, instead of buying it with the bank's money. It sucks when they ask for it all back.

So work is good, life is good, and 2009 is looking to be a much better year for me than 2008 was.