EbTheRedHead: Back to work!

Just finished having a three day weekend due to Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. I think it's kind of sad how the state of this country feels towards equality today. Considering everything this man did in his power to bring awareness towards love and peace, we should be passed this by now. Some things stayed the same. Some things changed. But is this change enough? I feel the growing hatred among my friends and colleagues towards politics. The differences in our neighboring states are astronomical. I live in the Midwest, but views within our nation is drastically different in the southern part, west coast and east coast. If we eliminate the views of our largest cities, we would have the rest of the states who despite not having such a large population, have a completely conservative view on how our country should be operating. Which way is better? When do we stop giving out excuses for our actions? When do we step up to own up to our responsibilities as an American citizen? I try my best to follow the law, to live within my means, to pay off my debt, and to live accordingly to my values. But there is injustice around me, and when you get older, you assume, that's just the way that it is. Pretty sad.
I will try my best to do what's right as a citizen, vote when needed, help out in my community. We have the right to get worked up over issues that have been spanning over the course of 60 years. We have the right to want things different than they are now. We are the only country in the world that is made up of entirely different people and cultures from all over the world. Let's embrace our country and continue to accept the changes that are happening everyday. Let's work on accepting our differences and to learn from one another. Let's be better people and remember that love and peace is what Martin Luther King Jr. fought for before he was assassinated.
Over the weekend I put away my Christmas decorations for good. My apartment looks so empty now. I got use to my colorful, cheerful décor. My apartment looks kind of boring now. Oh well. I did manage to go out on Friday for a birthday party, but the rest of the weekend I stayed in. It was too cold to do anything. I lit some candles, played my music loud, and did some exercises in my Italian language book. I was ok to be home.
Back to December events! I think I'll be able to catch up soon since I've been laying low this month due to the weather. I left off having my holiday party at the Four Seasons. I stayed in the rest of that weekend and low and behold, Christmas Eve crept up out of no where. I will say that our holiday party DID come late this year, so that made this month seem as if there was always something going on every weekend. That could make an introvert get pretty exhausted. My aunt was hosting again this year, so we made our way there. She managed to take a mini vacation with her oldest daughter to New York and due to the weather conditions, came in on a much later flight and landed at 4pm that day. She was one of the lucky ones. Lots of people were stranded for days out in the East Coast. I'm glad they made it home safely. I loved the fact that the rest of the family pulled together to get dinner ready. I knew that this holiday might make my mom emotional, but she was holding up fine. Besides, Christmas is really for the kids. Although my little cousins aren't so little anymore, the youngest one is 10 years old, so it was important that we made everything fun for him. I got a chance to use my new selfie stick I received as a gift from work. I loved it! My family is small but it's all I have. I love them dearly...