Giving Thanks - Day 25 of 30

Day 25:
I am thankful that my workplace automatically gives us the day after Thanksgiving off.

I know people whose workplaces consider the day after Thanksgiving a regular workday. Anyone who works at a hospital. Anyone who works at a newspaper. A regular workday! So to have a 4-day weekend, they have to burn a vacation day. I am so happy my current considers it an automatic holiday. Actually all my past employers have considered it a holiday.

Giving Thanks - Day 24 of 30

Day 24:
I am thankful to be spending the holiday with family.

Being able to have both the kids and the Hubs with me today is something I am grateful for. Back in September, I thought I'd be sending the kids out to the Hubs for the holiday. But we're all together. And I am so thankful for it.

Giving Thanks - Day 23 of 30

Day 23:
I am thankful that I've got the day off today.

Yes. I've got the day off. Travel day! It'll be an easy 6 hours in the car. Why? Because I won't be driving. The Hubs will be. Woohoo!

Giving Thanks - Day 22 of 30

Day 22:
I am thankful that my husband is coming into town tonight.

It's been about 6 weeks since we last saw him. The kids are excited that he'll be coming out already. That they'll be able to spend almost 5 days with him. I'm thankful that he and I are at such a place that we'll be spending the holiday together.

Giving Thanks - Day 21 of 30

Day 21:
I am thankful that the issue with my car was less serious than I anticipated.

The check engine light came on as a result of an O-ring becoming unseated. An O-ring that they changed out the last time my check engine light went off. So NO CHARGE for that.

What's funny is that I called my service coordinator around 11am to see if they'd found out what was wrong. He told me that the tech had been working on my car since I dropped it off at 7:30am and the service manager hadn't heard anything yet. Yeah. Go figure. Because there was NOTHING really wrong with it. It was something that THEY had supposedly fixed a few months before.But thankfully there was no charge for them to fix things up. Yeah!

Giving Thanks - Day 20 of 30

Day 20:
I am thankful that I have a car that gets me where I need to go.

I do have a complaint though. My car had no problems with it for the first five years. While I was still making monthly payments. I finally paid it off in February. Now that the darn thing is paid off? I've had maintenance issues with it since. Check engine light. Computer chip that senses amount in the gas tank. Brake pad installation. The check engine light went off on Friday as I drove home. ARGH! I have definitely enjoyed having my car but all these issues have been exasperating!

Giving Thanks - Day 19 of 30

Day 19:
I am thankful to have a little surplus cash to get myself an indulgence or two every month.

I walked over to our local shopping area this morning and got some monthly girlie maintenance done. Afterwards, I was able to grab a hot breakfast sandwich and a large decaf caramel latte. It was a nice 45 minutes just for me.

Giving Thanks - Day 18 of 30

Day 18:
I am thankful that I am able to still be strong enough to pick up my kids to give them HUGE hugs.

My kids are getting so big. But I am still able to pick my daughter up a couple inches off the ground when I hug her. I'm actually still able to carry my son and hug him as he wraps his arms and legs around me. It's a great feeling, especially when I've had a long and trying day.

Giving Thanks - Day 17 of 30

Day 17:
I am thankful that I'm close with my family.

Most families have skeletons. Rifts between siblings. Separations created by small and large reasons. I am happy to say that I don't have any in my life with my family. When I was younger? Yes. But now? No. It brings joy to me. It brings a lightness to my heart.

Giving Thanks - Day 16 of 30

Day 16:
I am thankful that my kids are growing like weeds.

My kids are getting SO tall! My daughter falls just below my nose and my son is about mid-chest now. I'm only 5'2 1/2". I hope they grow as tall as PD, who is 5'10 1/2". The way they're growing they'll most likely fall closer to PD's height than my own. Yeah!

Giving Thanks - Day 15 of 30

Day 15:
I am thankful that I have a job.

This morning I received an invite for a noon meeting upstairs. I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was going to be a team lunch. It wasn't.

At noon they announced that there would be a RIF. A reduction in workforce. That's right folks. They were letting people go. Today.

Thankfully, the folks in MY meeting were all the "safe" people.

The folks who were being asked to leave were in a different room.

It was a very somber afternoon in the office.

Giving Thanks - Day 14 of 30

Day 14:
I am thankful that my kids' teachers are so invested in my kids' success.

I had a parent-teacher conference last Tuesday with 2 of my daughter's teachers. It was at 7:30am. That's right. SEVEN THIRTY in the morning. It was VERY informative. Let's just say we're building on the foundation that's been put in place. Her teachers are very supportive of her and have set an action plan in place to gauge her improvement. I'm on the homefront trying to push her along.

I have a parent-teacher tomorrow with my son's teacher. It'll be at 7:45am. Yes. SEVEN FORTY-FIVE in the morning. I'm sure it'll be chock full of information as well.

I just am so thankful that the teachers in this school district are so actively motivated to see the kids excel. It's exciting to watch the kids get into a groove. It can be a pain to get the kids going. But it's totally awesome!

Giving Thanks - Day 13 of 30

Day 13:
I am thankful that my kids are developing their own relationship with the Lord.

Today as I sat on the couch drinking my coffee, my daughter came up to me.

Prin:  Mom, can we go to church today?

My son and my daughter have both asked me on a Sunday morning if we are going to church. They like going to church. Amazing. Most kids dread it. But mine WANT to go. That gives me comfort. When my husband or I are no longer here, they'll have each other and their faith in God.

Giving Thanks - Day 12 of 30

Day 12:
I am thankful that my son had a blast with his football buddies at their team party today.

The head coach said something about each boy as he gave them a trophy. We saw a "highlight" reel and my little guy was in there making a great save. It was a good time all around despite of the rain.

Giving Thanks - Day 11 of 30

Day 11:
I am thankful that my Mom & Dad are available to watch my kids when I'm in a bind.


The kids (and about half the city) had today off while I was one of the unlucky group that still had to go to work. So the kids spent the day with my folks. They had a leisurely breakfast, they baked, they went out to lunch, and went shopping. Yes. They had a full day while I schlepped about at the office.

Giving Thanks - Day 10 of 30

Day 10:
I am thankful that this week has been slower than normal.

I've been able to finish up a project that's already taken about 8 hours. Hopefully our tech person can fit all the documents on a CD so I don't have to email the documentation out. That would take another 3-4 hours of my day.

Giving Thanks - Day 9 of 30

Day 9:
I am thankful that the lady I work for is pretty flexible with my schedule.

When my kids started school and I found out my son's football schedule, I knew that I needed to change things up at work. There would be NO WAY that I could fit in all my work hours. I requested that I get temporary access to a laptop so I could fill in my hours from home.

I approached the lady I work for on Monday to let her know that football would be done this coming Saturday. I wanted to find out if she wanted me to email all the pertinent parties to get the laptop switched out back to a desktop.

Boss: I like that you've got the laptop. It gives you flexibility. I mean, you have KIDS!

She said that she would email her boss, the lady I report to, and the IT person that she would like for me to continue using the laptop. We'll see what everyone says!

Giving Thanks - Day 8 of 30

Day 8:
I am thankful that I was able to buy new set of tires for my car 2 weeks ago.

We've had 2 solid days of rain this week. Dropped the temps 20 degrees from one day to the next. Since it was a cold storm? The temp inside my house has dropped from a comfy 79* to a chilly 73*. Another storm like this and I'll need to turn on my heater. Brrr...

Giving Thanks - Day 7 of 30

Day 7:
I am thankful that I was able to save some money at the grocery store today.

I had to stock up on a bunch of groceries for the kids' lunches. Chips. Granola bars. Mixed nuts. Yogurt. Cheese wedges. It all adds up. Quickly. I was pleasantly surprised that my $160 worth of food ended up with me only forking over $120. That's 1/4 off the original total. It may not be as fabulous as those extreme couponers, but it was quite a feat for me. Woohoo!

Giving Thanks - Day 6 of 30

Day 6:
I am thankful that the fire department was on the ball and was able to stop a brush fire that was less than a mile away from my daughter's and my son's schools this week.

Yes. A brush fire. In November! Those darn Santa Ana winds were blowing hard the other morning. The school not only sent out voicemail blasts to us parents but a couple emails as well. Good communication was key in easing our anxiety.

Giving Thanks - Day 5 of 30

Day 5:
I am thankful that I'm able to have a good job that allows me to work full-time and still have time with my kids.

Almost at the end

My son is almost at the end of his first season of football.

Junior Mighty Mite division was the right place for my son. I think starting this year was a good decision. I don't think he would have enjoyed just playing flag. While it was an adjustment for him, he did get used to getting hit. He was tired after practices, but it was a good and happy kind of tired.

His team has been in the championship round these last few weeks. Tomorrow will be his very last game of the season.

We'll be taking a break from sports for the winter. A much needed break for this Mom.

Here are some photos from my guy's game last week.

Giving Thanks - Day 4 of 30

Day 4:
I am thankful that my health has settled into a nice groove.

One tablet in the morning. Vitamins at lunch. Three tablets before I go to sleep. This totally works for me --- yeah!

Giving Thanks - Day 3 of 30

Day 3:
I am thankful that my husband and I have decided to try to work things out in our marriage.

Giving Thanks - Day 2 of 30

Day 2:
I am thankful that my daughter is enjoying middle school.

She attended a small charter school from kindergarten through 4th grade. The school had fewer than 150 students from K to 8th. So when we moved to California and she started 5th grade at a school with about 500 kids, it was a big move. Now she's at a middle school with about 1000 other kids. AHHH!!! And I'm super happy she's having a good experience.

Giving Thanks - Day 1 of 30

I'm jumping on the bandwagon here and participating in 30 Days of Giving Thanks.

Day 1:
I am thankful that my son has stayed healthy throughout football season, which will be ending this Saturday.