Day 6: Church and Laughter

As you may have read in my blog from this morning, the day didn't start out well. I was grumpy, P was fussy and it was just a day where I wanted to crawl back in bed and pull the covers over my head. That being said, the day did indeed get better! Despite not feeling 100%, P wanted to go to church (I love that!!). We got to church a half hour early because I was all discombobulated this morning. So we ran across the street to Walmart and got the rest of the contents for our Operation Christmas Child box. We were able to turn in our box at church, knowing some little girl in the world will have a Happy Christmas.
The sermon wasn't anything new but it was nice to be in the Lord's house. P was well behaved and I was able to hear the whole sermon. Once we got home, P was running a low grade fever so I gave him some Advil and put him down for his nap. He slept for over 2 hours, which gave me time to get on the treadmill and read my Book Club book.
Once P woke up he was back to his usual happy self. It was really cute because we had bought new tennis balls for the dogs. He was adamant that both dogs each got their own ball. Then he discovered that they both wanted to play fetch with the balls. He was laughing hysterically as he threw the ball for Holly. It was a perfect match because she can't run far and he can't throw far. After we watched the final laps of the NASCAR race, I introduced P to the movie "Cars". He is currently watching it, asking questions and laughing when I laugh. This cold, snowy afternoon has more than made up for the crummy start to our day. So today I am thankful for the laughter I've shared with P and for a great church that I can call my home church, both putting me in a better mood!

Whatever!

We were supposed to get an extra hour of sleep last night, right? Whatever! Whoever came up with that obviously doesn't have young children, let alone young children that are attempting to get sick again. My lil man woke me up at 4:40am and didn't go back to sleep until about 6am, at which point one of the dogs clawed at the door, wanting out. Once we were all up, P wouldn't stop fussing and crying. He hasn't really eaten since yesterday morning and is running a low grade fever. I really want to go to church but don't want to take him out in the cold and expose him to a bunch of people. So I'm torn as to what this day will hold. Right now, because I'm so grumpy, I can't think of what I'm thankful for. But give me a few hours and check back in with me. I'm sure I'll have something then. Until then....whatever!

Day 4 and 5

Day 4: I am thankful for coffee and migraine meds. I woke up at 4am with a horrible migraine. Despite taking meds for it, it didn't subside until 10am. I didn't think I was going to be able to stay at school cause I was seeing black spots and getting nauseous. But I gave my students a heads-up and they were GREAT! They worked super quiet and were ok with me turning a light down low. Between that, the meds and a big cup of coffee I was feeling much better by lunch time.
Day 5: I'm thankful for my parents. My family is so good about calling and Skyping us when Rob is gone because they know that I have long days without him here. Earlier this week my parents called and said they wanted to come to town yesterday and treat me and P to a night "away". They got a suite at a local hotel so we got to enjoy going out to dinner with them, sitting in the hotel hot tub and having fun. P was completely surprised to see them after school and was delighted that he got to go to "Gee's hotel". My parents made the trip, despite the snow, which meant a lot. My parents always go above and beyond and are very generous. So I'm thankful for them, the bond they have with P and for the fun times we share together!

Day 3: Heat

Last night I couldn't get warm so I conveniently went and grabbed some fire wood. I built a nice fire, got in warm clothes and dressed P in his footsie PJs. Then, when I went to bed, I made sure the heater was set to come on throughout the night and crawled into my warm comfy bed. (Since my comfy bed has been mentioned the past couple posts, maybe that's something I should be thankful for.) When I woke up I took a hot shower and then I wrapped up in my warm robe. I knew it was going to be a cold morning so I bundled me and P up then started the car so it'd be warm when we left for school. I started thinking about those less fortunate. I know of one student, and possibly 3, in my class this year alone that are homeless. They don't have the luxury of having heat at their disposal. They have to go without a lot of times. I really hope I'm wrong, but I'll be surprised if they'll be warm during this upcoming storm. It makes me thankful for the easy access I have to warmth and heat. I don't have to wonder what it'd be like to be warm because I know. I'm thankful for the little things in life that I so often take for granted.

Day 2: My Husband

The alarm goes off, loud enough to wake the neighborhood. It's 4:15am according to the clock. I nudge Rob and tell him it's time to get up. Once he's up, I roll over and fall back asleep in our nice warm bed while he gets dressed, ready to brave the 10 degree temps. Most people take their spouse's jobs for granted. I know I have on occassion. But, when Rob tells me stories about what his day's consisted of it makes me more aware of how blessed I am. You see, Rob's typical work schedule is 20 days on (10-12 hour days...if he's lucky!) and 1 day off. Yes, you read that correctly. For every 200-240 hours he works he gets 10 hours off. He works at a job he doesn't like in conditions that can be less than miserable, all so he can provide for his family. He works hard so I can work part time (by choice) and take care of P. Unfortunately his hard work puts him away from home and away from us a lot of the time but we manage. He's had 3 different companies show interest in him recently but the jobs have not panned out for one reason or another. Until a great job comes along that still provides me with job flexibilty he will stay where he's at. I'm thankful that he's such a hard worker and good provider for the family!

30 Days of Thankfulness

For the past few Novembers I've joined with others and have shared one thing I've been thankful for every day of the month. November is a SUPER busy month for us but I'll do my best to stay on top of this.
Today, Day 1, I'm thankful for my cameras. They help me capture priceless moments and share them with family that doesn't live close by. Being behind a camera lens also helps me to unwind, relieve stress, be creative, get away from the world for awhile.
This afternoon I had to go out of town to run an errand for Rob. I was excited about the little road trip because of the scenery. But when P decided NOT to take a nap I no longer had the energy to focus too much on photography. I took my Dad's camera along to snap a few shots, but when looking at what I captured I realized that my lack of enthusiasm was on display in the pictures. None of them are "Wow!" pictures but that's to be expected sometimes. Here are the few that I thought were okay.....

Blessed Beyond Measure

I went to bed feeling blessed and woke up feeling even more blessed. I feel blessed for many reasons but the 2 that are consuming my thoughts today are our son and "wealth". You know, people tell me I'm a good mom and I appreciate the compliment. But quite honestly, I'm just being the kind of mom my mom was to me and my brother. The compliments that mean the most are when people mention how well behaved P is or how friendly he is. Today he received both compliments. I met with our former school secretary about a cancer fundraiser that I'll be putting on to help local kids with cancer. While there she was amazed at how much P had grown since she'd last seen him. She was also amazed at how well he behaved while she and I were talking and how affectionate he was with her. At gymnastics, he did pretty good and even had his coach and me in stitches during the trampoline workout. She commented on his fun personality. At the grocery store the clerk secretly pushed the conveyor belt button, making P think he had done it. She was getting a kick out of his enthusiasm and mentioned that he had a fun personality as well. Hearing all these things made me feel even more blessed. Yes, the twos and threes are hard but lately we've had many more good days than bad. He makes me laugh several times a day and we thoroughly enjoy hanging out together.
The other reason I'm feeling blessed is because we, as individuals and as a family, have so much. We don't need anything and there are very few things we want for. When the holiday season approaches I realize how much we have compared to others. We have a nice house in a beautiful area, a healthy family, good food on the table, newer cars, more clothes than we know what to do with.... I understand that people in our community and all around the world aren't as blessed. That's why I like to "adopt" people around the holidays. To me, Christmas is not about getting but giving. If P never receives another Christmas present, but learns the importance of giving back I will be happy. We are donating most of his Halloween candy to troops overseas. We are also participating in Operation Christmas Child where we give to a child in another part of the world that doesn't have much. Depending on the troop status, we may send a box to a soldier for Christmas or we may adopt a local child through my school to provide for. To me, this is way more important than the presents with my name on them under the tree Christmas morning. If you have a little extra to give and would like to adopt a child or soldier for Christmas, please let me know and I'd be happy to make that happen. Feeling blessed is a good thing. Doing something about it is even better!