Tis the Season

As Christmas gets closer I am sure we are very well aware what time of year it is but I have only just started feeling a little bit festive. This is my first Christmas as a care worker and after three Christmases in the Bookstore it feels like a relief. My job is exactly the same as it was a few weeks ago and I am no more under pressure than I would be at any other time of year. I only have to step back inside the Bookshop to remember the frantic energy this time of year brings to those in retail. Its nice when the bad weather just means you wont get out for a walk rather than sales being impacted and thus your manager being extra grumpy (which would be the only reason you'd really have cared). The one thing that was likely to be different this year is that while all shops close for a day or two over Christmas, you are not guaranteed that same break, however short, when working in care. Some clients are with family over Christmas and others need constant care. I have been waiting with baited breath for my Christmas hours to be released and to find out if I would be home for Christmas. I don't want to be churlish but I didn't want to get home some time in the afternoon on Christmas day, I wanted to be home for the whole thing. The email finally arrived yesterday while I was in work and when I finally got it open I may have left out a small whoop of joy. While I was working till 9 Christmas Eve, I was off for three blessed days after that. 

 I know at some point in time I will probably cross over to being a full fledged adult although if I don't feel its happened in my thirties then I am not sure when it will. For now though the thought of having to miss Christmas with my family has me a little heartbroken. This year is already going to be a bit different because it will be our first Christmas in my parents new house and we're all going to be a bit emotional about not being in Beechmount over the holiday season, although notably warmer. This makes it more important for me to be home. Also I had promised my boyfriend he could come home with me again this year, having survived last Christmas he is happy to come back, and that would require me to actually be there or else I imagine it would have all been a little awkward for him. Now that its all sorted I guess I should dig out my Christmas classics album and my santa hat and be about as festive as I can 

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