a spoonful of random...

Merry Christmas, y'all!

written at 3:28 p.m. on 12.25.05

First of all, Merry Christmas to everyone! It's been a day of smiles and presents and laughter and cute little messages from old friends.. Makes me smile.

Second order of business.. last night. Drama, anyone? I managed to get off of work at 5pm instead of 6:30, leaving me barely enough time to dash home, change, run out to Barnes & Noble to get my bro his gifts, run home, and leave for the family shindig. Yeah, no poking fun at me for not having all my gifts bought. Three cars at my house, four people, and no time for the Rachel to get out to the crazy stores. Raaawwwr.

So anyway, the shindig. Here's the scoop. I have one uncle who is homeless right now. If you're the sort of person who prays, add him to your prayer list immediately. He's a sweetheart, but he has a bit of a temper apparently. The woman he's been living with for seven years kicked him out when he apparently choked her and spat on her. You may not find him a sweetheart anymore, but.. well.. There is more to the story than I can tell here. We're not even sure what all went down. It appears that this "aunt" of mine may have just been looking for a way to get him out of the house so she can move on to some new guy. I'm not sure. I just.. would really appreciate prayers for my uncle right now.

He went to leave last night at around 9pm, which is relatively early for our get-togethers. He didn't make it out the door for at least another hour. There was some emotional breakdown in the kitchen and people came out crying.. it was crazy. It hurts me to see my family so broken. I'm usually a bit of a snob in regard to my dad's side of the family because they always seem to pit us against them. We're the only ones with relatively no drama in our lives. No pregnant teens, no divorces, no major financial issues, etc. But for whatever reason, this issue with my uncle seems to have brought about the caring and nurturing side of each person in the family. I cried the whole way home last night, just thinking about what an awful position he's in. He's lonely, hurting, and mentally incapable of really grasping what a tough time he's in for these next few months. *sigh*

It's really put my life in perspective. My parents are forcing my uncle to sit down and analyze his financial situation and to prioritize. They've taken the same steps with me. I see my life heading down a wrong path, and I don't want to end up repeating the mistakes that my uncle made. I don't want to be forty and single and depressed and incapable of running my own life. I need to get some direction in my life, set some goals, and throw myself into making it happen. I may not get to my dream life tomorrow, but hope is not lost. I haven't ruined my entire future yet.

*deep breath* 2006 is going to be a crazy year, folks. Keep your fingers crossed (in prayer, preferably) that things start working out for the best this next year.

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