Thursday, December 28, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
This is for you, Jme-boo!
Jme chastised me yesterday for not updating more often. Yes, I realize that I haven't posted anything in about a month. In response to that, here is a beast of an entry!
(In my own defense, I have had a busy month.)
ANYWAY... Christmas was a nice break from the usual insanity of life. Santa was extra good to me this year, probably because I sat on his lap for the first time in a decade or two. (That requires a little explaining doesn't it?) I took my niece to a "breakfast with Santa" at Shanty Creek on the 23rd, and she was too scared to sit on Santa's lap by herself. Long story short, I ended up on Santa's lap while she sat on mine. That was a little ...creepy! I'm supposed to get a picture in the mail- I will post it if I don't look too ridiculous.
Karen and the radio gods were awfully good to me too- in addition to the Goo Goo Dolls' latest album, she gave me one of the two GGD concert tickets that she won on a radio contest. We were pretty excited about the tickets- they're in row B. After about an hour of fantasizing about second-row seats, we realized that they were in the BALCONY'S second row. :( I'm still in mourning over that.
Alright, there's no point in fighting my urge to turn this entry into a serious reflection on life, so here goes nothing. (Watch out!)
I wanted to send Christmas cards this year. I wrote my usual "year in review" letter to all of my friends, but I couldn't bring myself to send them. There wasn't much of anything good to say. It's no secret that the last year has been difficult. I never imagined that so much drama and hurt could fit into twelve short months, but I wasn't upset by all of the bad things that happened. I was more concerned with the virtual lack of good.
I started off pretty well. I told about how my car's engine exploded, how it was beyond repair, and how I bought a beautiful new car. I dedicated a whole paragraph to its specs. That was the end of the good stuff. The paragraph ended with "and two weeks after I bought the car, the windshield randomly cracked lengthwise. The dealership wouldn't replace it, even though the chipped glass was pre-existing."
Then I jumped ahead a few months, because I'm trying to delete Spring of 06' from my memory. Everyone has their moment of desperation. I took a look at my life and my cat, fast-forwarded a few years and lost my head. The next time I imagine myself a spinster and freak out, I will calmly weather the storm alone instead of dragging the first person to cross my path into it. I genuinely, wholeheartedly apologize to the entire city of Chicago.
Naturally, the next paragraph of my letter was about my former job. I tried to be as cool about it as possible- I didn't want my friends feeling sorry for me- but I wanted to let them know why I've been distant the last year. The toned down version goes something like: First I was harassed, then forced out of my position under the pretense of a layoff, then accused of fraud for taking the layoff at face value and applying for unemployment benefits, then accused of fraud a second time (because I proved my first case), finally, I was served with a court hearing for Christmas because unemployment fraud cases must go before a judge after two failed appeals. Oh, and I've applied to over 70 jobs and can't land one because every time I get an interview, my prospective employer calls my former boss and gets an earful of lies. All of this happened, and I'm not even sure of the cause. So much crap was going on there... am I desperate and destitute because I refused to wear a skirt to a job that required me to crawl under desks and climb ladders?
I finished that paragraph with "luckily, the UIA is providing a free lawyer for me".
The only other big happening in my year was the painful decline and death of my grandfather. I decided to skip that.
I read my letter over, and it was a real downer, so I took all the bad parts out. That left me with:
Dear Friends,
Merry Christmas! I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by!
This spring, I bought a beautiful black 04' Grand Prix GT. I'm madly in love with its heated leather seats and moon-roof.
Luckily, the UIA is providing a free lawyer for me.
I love and miss you all!
Aleisha
Needless to say... I decided to skip out on letters this year, so sorry everyone. (Jme, you're in charge of spreading the message since no one else will see this ;))
Here's to letting go, recovery, and new beginnings!
(In my own defense, I have had a busy month.)
ANYWAY... Christmas was a nice break from the usual insanity of life. Santa was extra good to me this year, probably because I sat on his lap for the first time in a decade or two. (That requires a little explaining doesn't it?) I took my niece to a "breakfast with Santa" at Shanty Creek on the 23rd, and she was too scared to sit on Santa's lap by herself. Long story short, I ended up on Santa's lap while she sat on mine. That was a little ...creepy! I'm supposed to get a picture in the mail- I will post it if I don't look too ridiculous.
Karen and the radio gods were awfully good to me too- in addition to the Goo Goo Dolls' latest album, she gave me one of the two GGD concert tickets that she won on a radio contest. We were pretty excited about the tickets- they're in row B. After about an hour of fantasizing about second-row seats, we realized that they were in the BALCONY'S second row. :( I'm still in mourning over that.
Alright, there's no point in fighting my urge to turn this entry into a serious reflection on life, so here goes nothing. (Watch out!)
I wanted to send Christmas cards this year. I wrote my usual "year in review" letter to all of my friends, but I couldn't bring myself to send them. There wasn't much of anything good to say. It's no secret that the last year has been difficult. I never imagined that so much drama and hurt could fit into twelve short months, but I wasn't upset by all of the bad things that happened. I was more concerned with the virtual lack of good.
I started off pretty well. I told about how my car's engine exploded, how it was beyond repair, and how I bought a beautiful new car. I dedicated a whole paragraph to its specs. That was the end of the good stuff. The paragraph ended with "and two weeks after I bought the car, the windshield randomly cracked lengthwise. The dealership wouldn't replace it, even though the chipped glass was pre-existing."
Then I jumped ahead a few months, because I'm trying to delete Spring of 06' from my memory. Everyone has their moment of desperation. I took a look at my life and my cat, fast-forwarded a few years and lost my head. The next time I imagine myself a spinster and freak out, I will calmly weather the storm alone instead of dragging the first person to cross my path into it. I genuinely, wholeheartedly apologize to the entire city of Chicago.
Naturally, the next paragraph of my letter was about my former job. I tried to be as cool about it as possible- I didn't want my friends feeling sorry for me- but I wanted to let them know why I've been distant the last year. The toned down version goes something like: First I was harassed, then forced out of my position under the pretense of a layoff, then accused of fraud for taking the layoff at face value and applying for unemployment benefits, then accused of fraud a second time (because I proved my first case), finally, I was served with a court hearing for Christmas because unemployment fraud cases must go before a judge after two failed appeals. Oh, and I've applied to over 70 jobs and can't land one because every time I get an interview, my prospective employer calls my former boss and gets an earful of lies. All of this happened, and I'm not even sure of the cause. So much crap was going on there... am I desperate and destitute because I refused to wear a skirt to a job that required me to crawl under desks and climb ladders?
I finished that paragraph with "luckily, the UIA is providing a free lawyer for me".
The only other big happening in my year was the painful decline and death of my grandfather. I decided to skip that.
I read my letter over, and it was a real downer, so I took all the bad parts out. That left me with:
Dear Friends,
Merry Christmas! I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by!
This spring, I bought a beautiful black 04' Grand Prix GT. I'm madly in love with its heated leather seats and moon-roof.
Luckily, the UIA is providing a free lawyer for me.
I love and miss you all!
Aleisha
Needless to say... I decided to skip out on letters this year, so sorry everyone. (Jme, you're in charge of spreading the message since no one else will see this ;))
Here's to letting go, recovery, and new beginnings!
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