holidays

Today is thanksgiving.

it is my first thanksgiving alone. no i didnt burn a turkey, or break a pie, or end up at the closest chinese take out. i worked most of the day. i came home and ate lots of starches and thought about how people create traditions.

Every family has their own traditions. i dont feel that mine has any special one for thanksgiving. we mostly just sit around watching tv, sometimes together, while my mom makes tasty things for us. But my favorite tradition is a christmas one. We moved away from most of our extended family a long time ago. So holidays for us are a little different. they are much quieter. not quite as full of drunk people. but the main ingredients are the same: food, family, drink, merriment, and arguing. what good is a holiday if someone doesnt get offended?

anyways, i got off topic. my favorite tradition isn't anything special. we dont go out as a family and cut down a tree, or even pick one out together. we dont sit around a fire place drinking cocoa and talking politics. we dont go caroling or to midnight mass. But, every year my mom puts up the village. I love this. It is a small collection of miniature houses and a few churches and christmas trees that my grandmother made. They are made of different colored cardboard, every house has different curtains. The churches have stained glass windows, and the christmas trees are decorated. Every year my mom puts this up on a long sheet of glittery fake snow, and every year we all pick out a house that we live in. I always pick the blue one. its my favorite. All the houses and churches have small holes cut in the back so that you can put christmas lights in them and light up the village for the holiday. i love this village. and this silly simple tradition. my whole family still does it, albeit grudgingly by most. but i look forward to it every year. its the simple things like this that make the holidays special to me.

happy thanksgiving. i hope your traditions make you feel closer to your family.

Hello.

Hello and welcome to the real world.

First a few tips: in the real world, no one cares if you are sick. Or having a bad day. Suck it up and do your job.
Also, life is not fair. Get used to it.

And now for a brief introduction. I am a recent college graduate. I spent all my non-existent money going to school for ponies. I spent about 35 grand a year. I was spat out last summer on my butt into this harsh lighting of existence. Luckily I am pretty good at surviving. I currently have two jobs that hardly pay, a nice but EXPENSIVE apartment, a great boyfriend, and not much free time.

This blog is a ranting place, a place for tips on being thrifty, a place for my mind to unwind, and hopefully overall a successful survival story. Please join me weekly as i take you on my journey.

This week's topic: stress. This week one of my bosses at one of my jobs has to fly home. Family medical emergency. That means, I get all her hours, students, and worries. (Its a barn manager job fyi). Plus i still have my other job, my students, and my worries. add on top of that, a bruised rib and a respiratory infection.

BUT: here are my helpful hints for destressing.
1) call a friend and just vent. thats what friends are for. trust me, you will feel better.
2) take a bath. i love baths. something about the feeling of being surrounded in water is just relaxing to me.
3) watch a funny show or a comedian, nothing like a good dose of laughter to make you feel better.
4) clean. i know this is a weird one, but something about a tidy environment helps my brain to focus and make plans to organize the rest of my day/week, which leads to less stress.
5) treat yourself. either with a small present or some candy or making a batch of cookies. You are awesome, you deserve it.