Not being Canadian, Australian (no offense Matt), English or a Kiwi (I think that's the slang for a New Zealander). I've got a vague idea of what the hell boxing day is.
If I'm correct, it's a holiday that kin of reverses the roles in a society where the rich people give the poor a gift.
I know that sounds vague, but that's the best summation of Boxing day that I can offer, having just read the origins a few minutes ago.
I'm looking around my apartment, having just come from an interview with a security company in Rhode Island, and surveying the damage.
Riley's out with her Grammie who hasn't seen her in a few weeks, and I'm just numb. Christmas was sort of a bust for me. The kids made out well from all reports, and having asked Riley directly, she'd only missed out on one gift that she'd wanted for Christmas this year. A cat.
Yuck. I dislike cats. Luckily, I'm saved by the fact that my landlord will not allow pets in this apartment of that size. Rye's got a mouse, had a fish, and also had a hermit crab. She's under the impression that the fish is having a sleepover with at one of her cousin's house, and after talking to her last night, she knows that the crab is long gone.
After explaining to her that we just can't have a cat or a dog in this house, she was willing to compromise on a crab. She'd actually wiped her eyes and asked me outright, which I was very proud of. It showed a lot of emotional maturity on her part and its something that I lack when I get heavily invested in something as it unfolds in front of me.
Matt, according to the conversation that I'd had with Keri last night, got tons of cars and trucks appropriate for a boy his age. He'd also gotten a Fisher Price, Learn to play Baseball set, which I think every little boy his age should get. Some books for Keri and clothes, and I think Matt got a few other things for his Christmas, which escape me right now.
As for yours truly, I got a new set of Joe Boxer sleepwear (just some fleece pants and a matching long sleeve tee shirt. Which I LOVE!), the American Christmas staple of a package of brand new tube socks, and Twenty Five dollars. The 25 dollars kind of upset me. It was given to me by a woman who has more or less been the only constant and positive mother figure in my life for the past eighteen or so years. She's been sick lately, and had to go to the Emergency Room for respiratory troubles and it kind of hurts me that she would give me 25 dollars, knowing that she's financially strapped for cash as much as me, and she could use the money even more for antibiotics or something to help her get well. She wouldn't take it back. No matter how adamant I was about the whole thing. It stung. I just kept picturing getting a call because she'd passed on from not having 25 dollars to buy Thera Flu, or something that would have helped her breathe a bit better. Kind of reminiscent of Jim Henson dying because of not taking a common aspirin.
The interview went as well as could be expected and I have another, separate interview next Wednesday with a residential treatment facility for boys with severe emotional issues. I think that an environment like this would only make me a better human being, one that has a lot more to offer society than some out of work guy who applies to every job under the sun and gets rejected all day, so he decides to blog about it.
Anyway, the upside to the residential job is that it's nearby, responsible, and looks like a great long term opportunity.
The security job is more or less a civilian version of my job in the military and I'm sure that I could not only make that work, but also excel at it.
I recently read one of those spam emails that I usually get in my IN box. This one was about my future in the next year. It said that certain planets were coming into alignment, in order to create focus for my long term goals, as my life seems fuzzy and out of focus right now. It describe the planets' alignment as creating an effect something akin to an Autofocus Lens for me and my long term goals for my future.
I didn't get my Christmas wishes, but maybe my patience just needs to hold out a bit longer? They say that everything happens in God's time, so maybe I just need to sync up my watch or something.
Given the events of Christmas and today's interview, I'm beginning to wonder if somehow Boxing Day has some effect on me and my life here in America, a country that only puts it on their calendars to sell overseas?
I hope everyone has had a great holiday and that next year brings everyone one step closer to the things in life that they're looking for.
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