Monday

Today I am grateful that I didn't hear "Are you up yet?!?" this morning. Not even one time.

If you get this, then you know how this made today a good day.

The Weekend

Busy weekend. Had to think hard about what I was grateful for. I think that says something for my frame of mind. Especially considering how blessed I am. There is the ususal list of family, home, food, etc.; but I want this to be something unique about each day. Still, it shouldn't be hard, but for some reason it's not coming easy. Man, my head is screwed up! I don't have health insurance til Dec1, so that won't be medically fixed anytime soon........ this is going the wrong direction.:(

Okay, start over. Saturday I was thankful for my sweet daughter, Rebekah. After doing her mountain of dishes, she stuck around and helped me core, peel, and slice TONS of apples for the apple crisp I had to make. I had to make enough for 50 people for a church function on Sunday night. It took us 4 hours, and she helped the whole time, even with my quick temper, without being asked. It is so nice to have a 14 year old daughter without the usual teenage attitude! I am sure it won't last forever that way, but for now..... I am SO grateful for her. I call her a little MIT (Mom-in-Training) and she has surpassed my ability, a long time ago!

On Sunday I was thankful for the cute girls that came over on Saturday night. Two of the girls from church, Eric's age, came over and asked if Rebekah was here. She was out to dinner and a movie with a friend of hers. They stayed and just chatted for a long time. I ended up feeding them and then we watched a movie. I love impromptu movie nights! It was fun to chat and laugh with them. I hope they were as entertained as I was. When Rebekah came home she was a little surprised to see her mom and two girls watching a movie.... but when Eric came home and saw two of his friends 'hanging out' with his mom; that face was priceless. (the movie had ended by then).

When I look at my small 'list' of things I am grateful for each day, they are pretty simple. Not sure what that says about me yet.

The Oven

I know it's a stretch, but, today I am grateful that my oven is fixed. Since we moved in, everything in the oven has gone wrong. Crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside-but not in a good way. Cupcakes were misshapen, cakes were crooked, cookies were disasterous. The home warranty people came out and fixed it. Hooray! I made brownies the same night and they were perfection. Whew.... I thought I lost my touch or something.

Now if we can get the dishwasher working right...........

The Husband

Of course the husband is always tops on my grateful list. But today, especially. Eric texted me this morning to tell me that a new Sonic opened in Vista. HOORAY! That is enough to be grateful.... but Jay took the afternoon off to go to Sonic with me and then the beach. He surfed, I read while sipping my Route 44 Diet Coke. The ocean does something to my psyche (spelling?). I am now so nice and relaxed and stress-free now. I love the husband and am so grateful for him! The list of why is long and extremely cheesy, so I'll spare you that:)

bike helmets

Ahhhh, the bike helmet. Today I am grateful for this wonderful piece of foam and plastic because it saved me from yet another concussion. While I love my road bike, I seem to crash a lot.... and that I do not like. Before I became a 'roadie', I would have never been caught dead in a helmet. Bad hair, dorky lookin', etc. However, I now swear by the helmet. I have clipless pedals, which basically means that my bike shoes are attached to the pedal. When you stop, you have to clip your shoe out of the pedal by twisting your ankle and yanking. The bottom of the bike shoe is slick, so if you try to pedal while not clipped in, your foot is gonna slip right off. This contraption gets some getting use to. It took me about a month..... and a lot of falls. Now it's no problem (it's been almost 2 years I think), but... every once in a while something wacky happens and boom-I'm on the pavement again.

Today I went out for a ride with Jay (the 2nd ride since we moved here.... and he forced me to go-I was SO not in the mood). It's REALLY hilly around here. Really, really hilly. We had to stop at a stoplight. Okay, no problem. When the light turned green, I started to go but before I got my foot clipped in, I started to slow WAY down.... uh oh. The street was going uphill and I didn't have enough momentum and couldn't downstroke again and before I know it, in slow-mo, I was tipping over. Landed on my knee and wrist first (as usual) then the noggin. In the middle of the street! SO lame. SOOOOOOO lame.

Anyway, today I am grateful for bike helmets. I'm dingy enough these days without concussions to make it worse. Sheesh.

(Oh, and Holly-yes, I know I was suppose to be running, and if I had been running I wouldn't have this problem. However, I was in a mood and we're lucky I even left the house. I can hardly walk up these damn hills, let alone run up them. Can you tell I'm a little frustrated!!!!!

Friends

Today I am thankful for FRIENDS. Near and far, new and old. This particular category of friends includes family members who are also friends.....like sisters, my mom, cousins. You know who you are. You probably read my blog:)

Leaving my AZ friends & family network proved much harder than anticipated. I miss them and am thankful for them every day. I am so glad that I had a friend here already when we moved in. My good friend Kami is just 9 miles away, and is such a comfort to me. I have been very blessed to make new friends who have proved to 'have my back' already. Thank you, thank you, thank you! (I guess I'm also thankful for my big mouth:) My CA family-friends of my mom, Holly, Mary, and now Heidi have proved invaluable. I NEED them, and am SO grateful for them. I have reconnected with old friends and hope to renew some old friendships with more family. This network building stuff is hard work!, but so necessary for my mental well-being. It is taking a freaking village to raise my kids, so the more in my network the better.

Without rambling further..... I am grateful for my friends, all of you.

November = Giving Thanks

I am going to copy my sister, Julianne's idea from last year and post something I am thankful for each day in November. My attitude is pretty crappy lately and hopefully this will help turn my frown upside down and get me ready for the quickly approaching holidays.

November 1st (yesterday)
I am thankful for medicine. Lots of it. Excedrin Migraine to be exact. The spook-alley on my parent's street was AWESOME, but the strobe lights left me in pain the next morning. SO thankful for my meds:)

November 2nd (today)
I am thankful for Diet Coke. Yep. Silly, I know. But really, sometimes that's what it takes to get the job done. It's a Monday afterall, and I am truly, from the bottom of my heart, no kidding, seriously, SO thankful for my evil nectar. I happen to consider it part of my meds:)

Happy November, all! Give Thanks!