FYI...

I have survived yet another 4th quarter close/year-end on my job. That makes a total of 7. Only about 9 more to go.

I don't really hate my job all the time, just sometimes. Once in a while, I'll hate it for part of the day; some days I hate it all day long. For anyone out there saying to themselves to me, quitcherwhinin and just quit... I will do so if you promise to pay my mortgage payments and buy iTunes cards for both my kids.

I have painted myself into a corner in respect to my job situation. Where I live, there are not a lot of opportunities. In fact, at this point, there is no other job available to me that would pay remotely what I'm making now. I can't even make a lateral move to another job at the company where I work because I have specialized skills that, without a college degree, won't transfer to another job easily. I can live with this situation because of my family. The four of us enjoy a nice life, we pay our taxes, and my husband and I will make sure our kids have more choices as adults that we gave ourselves.

On the plus side, I can wear jeans and sneakers every day to work, & I have pretty flexible work hours... and that's not all that common where I work.

So I can take the negative at work, since I have a bigger positive at home.

And at least none of my family is in Iraq, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, anywhere in Africa or working in a West Virginian mine...

Perspective.