...Job Flexibility

Day 124
Yesterday I was thankful for living close to work and today I am thankful for a job that is flexible. I wasn't feeling well yesterday and this morning I still wasn't feeling that great. I sent a text to my boss that I would be late and she said to take my time. I came in late and I wasn't worried at all because my job is flexible. A lot of jobs just aren't like that so I am very thankful for the flexibility.

...Living Close to Work

Day 123
Today I am thankful that I live close to work. I have not been feeling good and living so close allows me the opportunity to go home for a little bit and rest or get medicine. Sometimes, I leave things at home and I have to go pick them up and I love how convenient it is.

...Soccer Season

Day 122
Mindy started playing soccer when she was five and Mason started when he was 3. I have been a "Soccer Mom" for almost 5 years now and I love every minute of it. When I was growing up I always imagined myself driving my kids around to all of their sporting events in my mini van. I don't have a mini van but we do just fine with my little Honda.

The thing about soccer is that I have no idea if they are really good or really bad so the games don't stress me out. I love sitting and talking to the other moms and I feel like it is my time to chill out. I don't like the temperatures during soccer season though. Last night was our first practice for the spring season and it was 48 degrees outside. There weren't enough clothes, gloves and blankets to keep me warm!

I am thankful for soccer season because it gets my kids outside and exercising and it gets me outside too. I don't really enjoy being outside. I'm more of an inside girl but soccer season gets me outdoors and in the sun and I love it.

...My New Knee Brace

Day 121
Last week when I went back to the knee doctor I completely broke down in tears because I really don't feel like the surgery worked. In fact, I feel like my knee is worse now. The doctor suggested we try this knee brace to see if that would relieve some of the pain and help it to heal better so I said ok. They measured me for it because it is a custom made brace and I went and picked it up today. I really felt like it might help because I felt like I was walking better with it while I was there. Of course, on the way to my car, my knee started acting up again so who knows. I am going to give it a month and then re-evaluate.

...Mindless Reading Material

Day 120
The other day my husband brought a magazine home from work. One of the girls that works with him had purchased it but had left it at work by accident so he brought it home for me to read that night. This was the magazine:

It was so excited about it and I read the whole thing. Of course it was the National Enquirer so you can only believe about 10% of what it said but it was very entertaining and I didn't really have to think while I read it. I enjoy reading and most of what I read is complicated and you have to store information in your head throughout the book so you know what is going on. I love those books but sometimes it is nice to have some mindless reading material.

...Legos

Day 119
Legos. That's what I am thankful for today. I'm not so thankful for them in the middle of the night when I step on them but during the day they definitely keep Mason busy enough that I don't feel like he needs to be watched over every second. Now that I have color coded bins for his Legos it makes things even easier.

...Father/Daughter Dance

Day 118
Tonight was the annual Father/Daughter Dance at the church. When Mindy was in Kindergarten, Danny was pretty excited about this even though he doesn't dance. But in the years since, he seems to dread it more and more. I think he doesn't like it because he doesn't like to dance. He can't dance actually so it makes him a little uncomfortable. But he has made friends over the years especially as the kids get older. Anyway, I enjoy this event too because I love to get my daughter all dressed up especially since she doesn't like to do that much anymore. I love taking pictures of the two of them together and I also love the Mommy/Mason time that I get.

 

...Power

Day 117
Now that I am at day 117, I may end up repeating some things that I am thankful for. But there is nothing wrong with being EXTRA thankful for something, right?

I can't remember if I have done this one or not but today I am thankful for POWER! We had a pretty big storm system come through last night and there was actually some tornado concern for a small bit of time. I know. Snow last week, tornados this week. I live in Alabama. What can I say? Anyway, the storm was hitting us pretty bad and the wind is what actually causes us a lot of concern so it gets very noisy at our house. The power went out about 10:30pm.

My husband doesn't sleep well when it storms and I don't sleep well when the power is out so it was a very restless night! The storms would get really bad and then it would almost stop raining completely. Then the wind would pick up again and then taper off. It was off and on like that until about 4am. Danny and I tried to sleep. I ended up getting up and using my flashlight to read my book because I was wide awake. Danny finally fell asleep and I turned out my flashlight. Mindy came in, we sent her back to bed. Mason came in, we sent him back to bed. Mason came back two more times and I finally set him up on the floor. My in-laws live next door and have a generator so at 4am I woke up because I heard the generator start up and then Danny's alarm went off at 5:45am. And guess what? Still no power! We got ready for school in the dark and went on and of course the power came back around 7:30am. Figures.

reading by flashlight at 2am

...School Masses

Day 116
Working at a Catholic school is great. The elementary school has Mass every Thursday and the middle/high school has Mass every Tuesday and at least once a month we come together and have a full campus Mass. Those are the Masses I really enjoy because all of us are gathered together in one room, preschoolers all the way up to seniors in high school. It is so great to see the little kids look up to the older ones and it is equally great to see the older kids look at the younger ones and influence them in a good way. Mason is in Kindergarten so he has a 6th grade "buddy" that sits with him at Mass every week to help him learn how to behave during Mass. He LOVES his buddy A.J..

The best part about the Mass at school is that every so often I get to watch my kids participate. Mindy has been a reader and has done songs with her class. This was Mason's first year to really get to participate and he was chosen as one of the gift carriers in our Catholic Schools Week Mass. Since this was a special Mass there were things other than the usual gifts that were brought to the front. He and his co-kindergartener Criss were chosen to represent service to our community so they carried food and a towel. He was extremely nervous but doesn't he look cute?

 

 

...Insurance

Day 115
I don't say this often but today I am thankful for my insurance. My knee troubles aren't getting any better so the doctor wants to try a new brace on me. The problem is that brace is about $1,000. But today I got the phone call from the company that says insurance is going to cover $700. $300 is still a lot of money but it is manageable.

kind of what my brace will look like

...Anniversaries

Day 114
Today I am thankful for my parents who have been married for 47 years today! These days 47 years is a really long time. I am extremely grateful for them and for the influence they have had on me and my marriage. Happy Anniversary!!

...No Cavities!

Day 113

Today we are thankful for NO CAVITIES!!

...Panda Express

Day 112

We just recently got a Panda Express. I have heard about this restaurant but I've never seen one in Alabama before. Naturally, we had to give it a try and it was good. It isn't my favorite Asian restaurant but I liked enough that I will eat it again. I had the fried rice, shrimp and teriyaki chicken. I didn't eat the chicken because it looked like dark chicken meat and that makes me gag. The shrimp was good and we have some of that orange colored shrimp sauce which made it even better.

...Margaritas and Big Macs

Day 111
Last night my husband and I went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant. I used to drink a lot but as I've gotten older and had kids I have really backed off of that. But since it was Valentine's Day, I decided I would go crazy and get a "fish bowl" margarita. It was delicious! I loved it and I loved how it made me feel so relaxed and I enjoyed the evening.

my fish bowl margarita

That being said, the next morning, I wasn't as thankful for margaritas as I was the night before. So, to help curb that hangover feeling, I had a McDonald's Big Mac. There is something about having some grease the day after drinking that makes you feels so much better.

I don't really know which one I loved more but I am definitely thankful that both exist.

...Valentine's Day

Day 110
I am not a huge Valentine's Day person. I do however enjoy the fact that my husband and I definitely take time out of our schedules to spend some time together just the two of us for a dinner. This Valentine's day was no different. I wish I had gotten a picture of the two of us but I honestly didn't think about it the whole night. Valentine's Day, to me is a day where people actually think to take a minute and tell the people that they care about that they care about them! It only takes a second but for most of the year everyone rushes through life and doesn't take the time. Valentine's Day reminds them.

...Snow

Day 109
Living in Alabama, we don't normally see a lot of snow so the past couple of months have been interesting. Am I tired of snow days? Yes. But I don't think I could ever get tired of watching it snow. It is so peaceful and pretty. Since we are usually suffering from heat stroke, the snow has been a welcome sight and I am thankful for it.

big chunky snow, falling heavy like raindrops

fun little snow graphic but you can see all of the snow falling in the back

...Weird Schedules

Day 108
Ever since Christmas, our weather around here has been crazy. We have had so many snow/ice days it is ridiculous. There have been days where we have left school early, days where we have come to school late and days where we haven't gone to school at all.

I am a very scheduled person so all of this uncertainty drives me a little crazy. But, sometimes I need more time at home than I do at work. With these weird schedules I get that opportunity. I have gotten all of the laundry in our house done because I have had so much extra time at the house.

my empty laundry baskets

I am also thankful for weird schedules because they make me appreciate my regular schedule. My day to day doings can get frustrating and monotonous. Since we have had these strange weather days, I really have started to appreciate the normal things in my life. So today it is the weird schedules that I am thankful for.

...Friends With Books

Day 107
I have mentioned before that I love to read. Books are not cheap. I usually buy them from a used book store in Birmingham but occassionally I will buy them. But the best thing is to have friends that are readers too and that will let you borrow from them!

There is a man that coaches one of the sports teams at my school and he is an extremely avid reader. He reads a lot of the same fiction books that I like to read. He is generous enough to let me borrow books from him with no time limit. It started out as just a book at a time but I have gradually started borrowing more. Yesterday he brought me about 12 books! It probably won't take me too long to read them either.

Today, I am thankful for friends with books because without them I would be broke from spending money on books.

...Likenesses

Day 106
I don't know if that is a word but I am thankful for it. Today, I caught my son sitting just like my Dad sits. He had his legs crossed and was working on his kindle and it reminded me of my Dad and how he used to sit while he watched TV. I think the reason my Dad sat this way was because he was a journalist and had to interview people on TV. I notice that Matt Lauer does this too.

...Leftovers

Day 105
Since we had a party last night we have a TON of leftovers! Today we put all of the dips on the table with the chips that go with them and that was our lunch. So thankful for those times that we don't have to cook anything new and we can just heat something up.

...Sip-n-Dip

Day 104
Tonight I had my first ever "Sip-n-Dip" party. A bunch of girls from work came over and everyone brought their favorite dip and then whatever they wanted to drink. It was such a success that I think we might do another one in the future. We had buffalo chicken dip, spinach dip, crab & artichoke dip, bacon/cheese/ranch dip, taco dip, and I made a cake batter dessert dip. We also had lettuce wraps, bacon cheeseburger puffs and sausage balls.

We had a great time and watched movies and hung out. So thankful for good work friends and our first "Sip-n-Dip" party.

...Girl Scout Cookies

Day 103
I love them! When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a girl scout. All of the activities were fun and I loved Girl Scout Camp but my favorite thing was the cookies!! My daughter wants to be a girl scout but we can't seem to get a group together. Luckily we do have a few girl scouts that are older that go to our school.

My favorite girl scout cookies are tag-a-longs. I feel the need to eat a whole row at a time but they are worth every bite!

...Unintended Humor

Day 102
February is Black History Month so my kids are learning all about it in school. Today Mason came home and was very excited. He said they had colored a sheet with my favorite president on it. He pulled out the sheet and it was Bill Cosby. Cosby for President!

...Spur Of The Moment Excitement

Day 101
I can remember when I was growing up that there were times when I would see something and want to go see it up close but my parents didn't take us for one reason or another. I always thought that when I had kids I would try to do those spur of the moment things.

One time when Mindy was in preschool, we dropped Mason off at daycare and on the way to school we passed the park. In the park was a huge hot air ballon in the shape of the Energizer bunny! When I was a kid my parents would have pointed it out and we would have looked and driven right by it. But when I saw it, I pointed it out to Mindy and then turned into the park. We got out and went over and looked at it. I even took a few pictures of her in front of it. It was an exciting moment that just happened!

We have had many moments like that and today we had another one. Mason and I were waiting for Mindy to get done with piano and the middle/high school was having Open House. One of the teachers came and told me that they had some interesting things down in the science lab. I knew Mason would think it was cool so I took him down there. They had a snake, scorpions, HUGE hissing cockroaches and a tarantula. Mason didn't want to hold any of them but he did think it was really cool to see them.

We picked up Mindy from piano and Mason was telling her about it. She thought I was so cool that he got to see those things so I asked her if she wanted to go back and see them too. Of course she said yes and the Open House had 10 more minutes before it was over so I turned around and took her back. She loved it! She held the snake and the tarantula and was all smiles the whole time. I still couldn't get Mason to hold any of it but he did pet the snake.

These are the moments I am thankful for. The spur of the moment excitement!

...The Right To Complain

Day 100
I can't believe I am at 100 posts! Only 265 more and I will accomplish my goal! I have noticed that I do try to think a little more positively but I do still have moments where I am judgmental.

After 100 days of doing this blog, I think I deserve the right to actually complain about a few things. Everybody needs to vent so I am going to do a little venting session.

Complaints

1. People that don't look at all angles of a situation. Just because you have an idea and you think it is great doesn't mean that it is going to work. It also doesn't mean that it will happen. There can be many reasons why something is not done that way and you should probably ask about it before you just assume that things will be done your way.
2. You give people an inch and they take a mile! Our work situation changed this year because the President of the school left and they didn't replace her. There were a lot of parents that weren't crazy about her. All of those parents had ideas of things they wanted to do and not even 48 hours after the President left, they were already trying to get things changed.
3. People that don't fight for what is right. I don't like having a meeting with people and then leaving that meeting thinking everyone is on the same page but find out later that not everyone in the room will follow through with the plan! We had such a meeting last week. One person was instructed on what she was supposed to do and say at a meeting later that day. Instead of being assertive like she was supposed to be, she let them walk all over her and she came out of that room with all of the plans changed to the way they wanted to do them.
4. People that interrupt. I understand when someone is talking to you that something might pop into your head and you just spit it out because you are afraid you will forget it. That happens. But don't start asking questions about my story mid sentence. Let me finish the story! Chances are I will have answered most of your questions and by the end of my story you will already know the answers and won't need to ask questions.
5. People that use the "F" word too much. I don't like that word but I understand it sometimes makes people feel better. However, I don't need to hear it come out of your mouth, every other sentence. Especially when there really isn't a need to do it.

I'm sure there are a lot of things I can complain about but I will just keep it to these five because they are obviously the ones on my mind right now. Maybe when I get to the 200th post I will have another venting session and do 5 more.

It is always good to vent and today I am thankful for the right to complain, especially in this outlet because I don't hurt anyone's feelings but I get it off my chest.

...Birchbox

Day 99
The first time I read about Birchbox I thought it was a rip off. Why would you pay $10/month for a box with a few samples in it. But I did a little more research and realized how cool it was. The samples are a little bigger than I thought they would be and the company makes your box based on the answers you gave to some questions so it is catered toward your interests.

So I decided to go for it and today I got my first box! The packaging is so fun. It looked like this when I saw it on my front porch:

Then when I opened the pink box, this was inside:

It comes in it's own gift box! How cool is that!?!

Then when I opened the little gift box these were the items inside: lip balm, mascara, gold glitter nail polish, dry conditioner and a few flavored tea samples. It also came with a few little cards with different little notes of advice and helpful hints.

It was such a fun little thing to get and I am so excited that one will come each month!

...My Marriage

Day 98
Yesterday was a great day but it always seems like when you have a day like that, something kind of slams you and you have something bad happen. We found out yesterday that my sister-in-law and her husband were splitting up. Nothing is final of course but she started packing up her things and moving back in with my in-laws.

I don't know all of the details but I do know that it wasn't her fault and she was completely caught off guard. I have always thought they were a strange couple. They couldn't have kids so they had other activities that they did and they always seemed to have a good time. I guess you never know what happens behind closed doors.

Hearing this news made me really realize how much I love my husband. My marriage has not always been perfect. We got pregnant and had Mindy within the first year of our marriage so immediately we had to turn our focus on something other than ourselves. We had such a great time though during her first year. The day she turned one we moved in with his parents while we built our house. That was when things started to go downhill a little bit. Naturally living under someone else's roof will do that. After a year and a half we finally moved into our new house and not too long after that we found out we were going to have Mason.

wedding day 10/11/03

the day mindy was born 9/30/04

After Mason was born, I had a really hard time with post partum depression. Danny was so great and helped me through it but it definitely didn't make things easy. So we went through a sort of slump. We got along fine but that spark had kind of fizzled a little.

the day mason was born 4/2/08

Things started to perk up though and now we are great! I love him more today than I did the day I married him. We have such a good time together and we know how to work together to make our marriage work. We compliment each other. We laugh all the time and we have such a good time with our kids. Is every day perfect? Absolutely not! But more often than not we are fantastic.

I love that man more than life itself and I am grateful for the marriage that we have.

the love of my life

...Proud Momma Days

Day 97
Today was AMAZING! I am thankful for days like today because I am so proud of my little family. It is days like today that make you want to cry because you are so proud.

We spent all day today at the gym for basketball. Mason had his final game of his first season. He improved so much and was a completely different ball player at the end of the season. He was so proud of his medal and he really seemed to have such a good time.

 

Mindy had a tournament today. Their team has been undefeated all season! Their team won the first game so they went in to the final round. We played a team we have played three times before. All three times have been close games. Today we were tied 8-8 and went into overtime. They made a free throw so we were behind by one point. In the last two seconds of overtime, Mindy shot the ball and made it!! She scored the winning points and won the championship!! SO PROUD!

 

And then there's this guy! So proud of his first season coaching. He wasn't thrilled about doing it and now he says he already misses it. So thankful to call him my husband.