UUUGHH!!

Time flies and I have been less than stellar about blogging. So, to the three of you that check this, I apologize for keeping you out of the loop. You see, I work in Retail and it's the holiday season. This means I spent two full months lost in the abyss of gift cards and compulsively checking my bottom line (red). 

It's amazing how I have come to appreciate the holiday season less each year that I spend in retail. November and December used to be a time for dinners with friends, holiday open houses and gift shopping with people I love, now I find myself missing most social events and gatherings involving both friends and family save for the ones involving...you guessed it...coworkers. In fact, the holiday season has almost become depressing. I see the pictures and hear stories from the events in which I don't get to participate. I'd be lying if I said I didn't occasionally wish that everybody was in the same boat as I so we could be miserable together. 

I don't write this to complain about my job. I actually love that I can outfit a couple for a holiday safari together or help a parent get their child set up in his first climbing harness. I guess, like most, I want to be able to have it all. I want to have my pumpkin pie and eat it too. Mostly, it makes me recognize that my current occupation MUST only be temporary. I think opting to maintain it as a life-long career (do those even exist anymore?) would slowly drain my passion for the parts of it that I love. Ultimately, I want to outfit a child in his/her first harness and TAKE them climbing. I want to guide that couple through the Ngorogoro Crater and help them understand its significance. 

I will never be able to do it all. I will always be wanting to. But I think there is a position out there better suited for me. One in which I can maintain a work-life balance year round. Even during the holidays.