Having a job has totally depreciated my quality of life. It's winter break, and I have not exactly been able to relax yet.
Part of it is that I have my entire family home-- which, don't get me wrong, is totally awesome. We haven't all been together in over a year. The dynamics are a little different from what I remember (were there ever any, really?) but I guess there never really has been a "normal" for our family. I mean, who doesn't love the "sweet, it looks like I'm sleeping on the extra bed again" game, and the "I need something out of my bedroom/bathroom but there's definitely someone in there right now" game, and the ever-popular, "sweet, it looks like we're all out of hot water again" game. I guess I'd forgotten what it was like to actually live with people other than my parents, and I almost literally don't share anything with them. But all joking aside, it's totally fun. I missed actually having a family that included active and participatory siblings, rather than just hypothetical ones that only existed in Facebook pictures or on the other end of the phone. Yesterday we decided to go to the beach, just for the heck of it. We drove there, had lunch, explored the beach, played some frisbee, and drove home. Just like that. And it was awesome.
But then I have to come back to reality. Even though it's winter break and I'm out of school for another week, I have yet to feel the holiday cheer or even a tiny bit of relaxation that's supposed to come pre-packaged with winter break. And I blame my job. I'm not saying it's a huge sacrifice; I'm only working three hours a day maximum. But it is draining the life out of me. I view my days now as work as the priority, then everything else comes second, obviously--but I can't count how many awesome days at the mountain and movie marathons and jam sessions and road trips I've had to turn down this winter break just because I have to work. When I have school, school and then work take so much of my day that I don't have any time for anything else, especially when I have responsibilities in the categories of school/homework, family, church, friends, etc. Last time I checked, I already applied to college. And I already got accepted to college. That's kind of a big deal, right? Last time I checked, I was eighteen, and a senior in high school. Isn't this the time in my life that I'm supposed to be living it up? Isn't this the time in my life that I'm supposed to look back and remember fun times with friends, partying it up? I've only been working for about two months, but at this rate, all I'm going to remember about my senior year of high school is how much I missed out on because of my stupid job. Having to pay for college tuition is entirely overrated.
Then again, I'm sure this is just a reality check. Life's not that awesome. Welcome to the work force, Kylie, and you might as well enjoy it because you're never going to get out of the system.
