The first ever Bah Humbug Awards. You really don't want to win this.

OK. I have three days until Christmas...so I can still be feeling a bit cranky and Scrooge-like and I'm going to vent and get this stuff off my chest and then I'll be all merry and tinsel.

I'm going to award a few VERY deserving people my first ever "Bah Humbug Awards" - trust me, you don't want to win this. 

My first Bah Humbug "award" goes to people who choose to ignore my daughter's peanut allergy (or any child's food allergy if we're getting all technical about it).

Today was Olivia's "holiday" party in her class. I put "holiday" in quotes, because we all know we can't have a "winter" holiday party that celebrates all the winter festivities, for fear of not being 110% politically correct and offending someone. So, Liv's party celebrated ALL the holidays throughout the year. (Still shaking my head at this one). Her teacher sent home a note that said each child was to bring in a "traditional" holiday food for ANY holiday, and OH BY THE WAY there are kids with peanut and soy allergies in the classroom so please plan accordingly.

Me, being the responsible mom of a child with serious food allergies, I sent in tortilla chips and salsa. Easy enough. No peanuts, soy, sesame, etc.  (We didn't have any "no gluten" warnings, and I'm not even sure if there is gluten in chips and salsa). Other foods sent in included meatballs, sugar cookies, Hershey kisses and Jell-O cake. Oh, and then we had Buckeyes (peanut butter and chocolate), PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES, and an apple pie with a crumb topping made with, you guessed it, peanut butter.

Sure, there were "warning labels" by the offending food stating that they contained peanuts and soy, but c'mon people. How difficult is it to just NOT bring food like that?

The peanut butter/apple pie mom even said to me "well I knew we had kids with peanut allergies in this class, but it was late and I didn't feel like looking for another non-peanut recipe so I guess those kids will just have to skip my pie. Oh well."

Imagine how stupid she felt when I looked her in the eye and said "Yeah, my kid is the one with the peanut allergy. Guess it's a good thing she doesn't like apple pie." [What I really was thinking was "you stupid, irresponsible, b*tch..what if my kid couldn't even be around peanuts? Would you be so blasé about it then?]

And my next Bah Humbug "award" goes to the employers who keep rejecting me in such wonderfully unprofessional and incredibly stupid ways.

First there was the institute of "higher education" who went as far as to call my references, but only because I was ONE of the "finalists" and they hired the other finalist, telling me via email how "lucky" they were to have so many "talented" candidates. Whatevs.

Then, there was the school administrator at another interview who said "you're very impressive on paper but even more impressive in person and we WILL be in touch soon." He lied. They were never "in touch" again, unless you count the GROUP rejection letter that was emailed out by the school receptionist on the administrator's behalf. Yeah. I said group rejection letter. It mentioned "all of you" in every sentence. All of you were talented. All of you were impressive. Oh, and all of you suck so you aren't getting the job. [OK, it didn't say that last part, but it was implied.]

And then, there was the rejection I received today. On the phone. Three days before Christmas. This school [wow..I'm sensing a trend here...no more schools for me] invited me out THREE FREAKING TIMES for interviews and a tour of the school (!!!!) and then they decided to COMBINE TWO JOBS into one, thereby eliminating the position I was interviewing for. The position I really would have loved. The position that I "interviewed excellently for" and "was highly considered for" ... the position that they gave to a MAN.

Are. You. Freaking. Kidding. Me. ??????

I'm just not sure what to do anymore in this whole job search circus.

Here's the thing. NO. I do NOT wish I had kept my job within the fifth level of Hell. I am still happy that I made the decision to leave the organization and their cookies and badges behind. I do no regret telling that bully exactly what I thought of her, and while we're on the subject I hope she has a miserable Christmas and drinks bad egg nog.

But this job search thing SUCKS. It sucks a lot. I'm a talented gal (if I do say so myself) and damn it all I can't understand why I can't find a job. (I mean other than the whole economy being in the toilet thing). I'm pissed off. I'm frustrated. I'm angry. I'm feeling like a failure professionally and that totally sucks.

So where do I go from here? Frankly I have no freaking clue. The job market in Toledo is craptastic. Maybe I start looking for a job out of this city. Out of this state. A friend of mine suggested that perhaps this last rejection means 2012 is the year for me to FOLLOW MY DREAMS AND PASSIONS. Maybe she's right. What is my passion? Writing and social media. Now I just need to figure out where it's leading me and take that route.

And with that...I move on.

To Christmas with my family and too much food (and maybe even too much wine). And then on to 2012. And damn it all, it better be a good year. "12" is my lucky number, so if the gods and karma are listening...make it a good one for me, OK?

Merry Christmas to all.
And to all a good night.