Thanks for the input guys, and I appreciate the different thoughts, but I do have some very concrete expenses that must be paid for me to even entertain returning to school. rent, car note, insurance, books, tuition, etc. and though gifts are nice, any money helps when it comes time to pay the bills.
Budah, you may have a point about cherishing the time I spend with my family, but for those outside of my father and sister, sending me a card and a gift on major holidays is what they consider to be "being a good aunt" or "being a great uncle." Yes, I do work every major holiday, but for someone not even to make a phone call and say "Come spend a weekend with us" when they live an hours' drive away, that's not effort. I always extend the offer to my cousin to come see me (the one cousin I have left
) whenever he gets a chance, but to no avail. And ours is not the type of family where you show up on the doorstep w/ a duffle bag and say "Got a spare weekend?" These people live no more than 60 miles from me, and phone calls and offering their time is too much, so yea, there are times when it really feels like a waste. My mom lives 20 miles away from me, but won't even pick up the phone to get in touch with her youngest son and spend some time with him. I'm tired of making the effort for people who don't care. My dad, who I see maybe three days a week despite living with him, always says "hey, let's go grab a movie" or "what're you doin _____ night? Well, if you can work me in, lets get dinner" and attempts to plan things. Outside of him, the family is a waste who think that seeing each other on holidays counts as staying in touch.