Thanksgiving - What are you thankful for?

I know I don't write here often enough, but things are always so crazy! I think about writing, then something comes up. I have thoughts running through my head at all times of the day, but when I go to write, I'm all of a sudden blank. Why is that?

Anywho - with Thanksgiving coming up I thought I would post about all the things I'm thankful for this year. The list is long, but it's a good reminder for those days when I'm not feeling so thankful - this will be here to let me know I am truly blessed in many ways:

1. I'm thankful for my wonderful family. My husband, my two beautiful children, my always supportive and helpful parents and mother-in-law.
2. My sweet furry kitties who always know when mama needs some snuggle time.
3. A house we can call our own - although a lower mortgage would be nice. :) At least we have a home, and have been lucky enough to keep it during the hard times.
4. My job - although I sometimes complain (okay a lot complain) about my work, I actually do enjoy my co-workers, and I like what I do. And, again, during this economic downturn I am thankful that I have a job to go to.
5. My car - although it may be old, and it grumbles at me on cold mornings, it gets me where I need to go, and has never let me down. (Although I would rather have my hubby's mustang...it's perty). ;)
6. My church - although we don't go as often as we should, I love to go to church. I always feel refreshed and better after attending. Why don't I go more often? I'm lazy and like to sleep in on Sunday's...that's the honest truth. But I do like that connection to God whenever I do go.
7. Food - I love food...any type of food. And I am blessed to have an abundance in our pantry at any given time.
8. My health - I just had all my biometrics done recently and on a scale of 1-100 (with 100 being excellent health) I got a 91. Not too shabby...I could lose a few pounds, but overall I can't complain.
9. My friends - whether far away, or near and dear I am blessed to have many friends. Many I get to see often. Many I haven't seen in years, but I know I could count on them in a pinch if I called. And I hope they think the same way about me!
10. The gift of reading! I LOVE to read a good book - and there are so many good ones out there I have yet to read. I love that I have that passion for reading. My husband can't stand to read, and that is a foreign concept to me - I find it sad. Thank goodness my children are starting to pick up on my love of books. It's encouraging!

Okay - I'll stop at 10 for now...I know there are so many other things to be thankful for, but I won't bore you anymore. I just hope that everyone has a safe, and very Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble!

Blue October...isn't that a band? Or just my mood...

I am soooo over October. First, this begins the crazy season at work - benefit enrollment begins...in other words lots of unhappy employees coming to me to ask questions, ask more questions and blow off steam about how unhappy they are. Trust me, I don't like the changes either, so don't yell at me!! I just work here. Second, this is the time of year that school pictures are taken (meaning buy a package, or two), school fundraisers are in abundance (meaning spend more money on stuff you don't need) and school activities are overflowing (meaning I will somehow fit this into my schedule if it kills me). Add to that I have to find two Halloween costumes in the next week - they are SOOOO expensive, and I have tried to think of things to make at home, and we just don't have the stuff to do it! Ugh! I just went to 3 Dr. appts. in the past month, had two teacher conferences, and now hubby has a hurt shoulder and an MRI scheduled tomorrow. So...I am really, really ready for October to be done! But then comes the stress of car taxes due next month, Thanksgiving, daughter's birthday, and party in early December, followed by my birthday and then Christmas. So...I guess I'm already in panic mode. No money, no time, and no patience. Plus I found out I may be flying out of state for work soon...like early November soon. Yikes! It's still up in the air, but I need to know SOON if I'm going or not. Man...I guess I need to come on here and vent more often. I bottle it up for a month or two, then come on and vent. The funny thing is noone I know reads this - there may be someone out there who checks it out, but this is just my place to vent about everyday life, crazy events and work!
Anywho - that's really all I have to say. Oh...and I really do love the band Blue October! :) A thank you to them for giving me a label for my blog today.

Goodbye Summer, Hello School

Well, it is that time of the year again where parents breath a big sigh of relief, and kids just plain sigh. School time is just around the corner for many - for us it starts on Monday, August 15th. It seems to be earlier and earlier every year. Anywho - I honestly can't say I'm not ready for school to start - our summer has been a bit unusual...not bad, but not good by any stretch of the imagination. From my last post I mentioned my Father-in-law was in bad health. After over 40 days in the hospital fighting pancreatitis, his body finally shut down and he passed away on June 3rd. My husband was already up giving his mom moral support, and my parents had my kids at their house. I had to tell them over the phone that their Paw Paw didn't make it. Not the best conversation to have with a 7 1/2 and 6 year old. It was HARD. Then while my parents had the children at their home I drove up for the funeral. It was a nice service, and it was good to see everyone. Afterward I stayed a few days to help my Mother-In-Law with household chores and yard work. Then it was off to get the kiddos. In July we all went to the beach house again this year at Edisto - it was nice, but with my FIL's recent passing there was a bit of a damper on the beach mood. We had a good time, but I could tell my husband was edgier, the kids more restless, and my MIL kept to herself a lot....understandable, but still not the ideal vacation. We still had a nice time and tried to make the best of it. The kids and hubby went to visit his mom mid-summer, and I had the house to myself. That was a nice week for everyone. The kids, hubby and MIL stayed busy and did lots of fun activities, and I...oh, I got to enjoy a week to myself...well, mostly. My mom came down for a couple days and painted my sons room, and we got to go shopping and hang out...which was great. But those days to myself...oh they were heavenly! I got to watch what I wanted to on the tv, I got to eat what and when I wanted, sleep without the tv on!!! My hubby has to have the tv, and I like a dark room...it was great! Although, I was very happy when they returned home. All in all, the summer hasn't been great for the kids - they were home with daddy most of the time, and most of their friends were either out of town or at camp. We did go to the pool a few times on the weekends, but most of the time was just spent at home. I am taking off Friday so that we can do something fun as a family before they have to go back to school on Monday. I feel it's only fair to do something, considering the summer they have had. So...I feel a visit to the water park in order. Woohoo! Nothing better to beat the dog days of summer. And then ice cream...

Spring Time Blues

I thought the blues were supposed to hit in the fall and winter...I seem to have a case of the spring time blues. I think I know the root cause - 1. It's beautiful outside, and I'm stuck at work indoors all day long. 2. My house has not had a bout of spring cleaning since last spring - it's beyond awful and I don't know where to start. To make it worse, my husband (a realtor) has taken a sabatical due to the economy and is playing Mr. Mom...well, housekeeper he is not! I soooooo badly want him to go back to work...yes, we are broke, but I don't care about that. We've been broke since the economy fell in 2008 and we've held up fine. My house on the other hand is falling apart with him home, and it's driving me up a wall. I seriously can't wait to get MY schedule back in place. Ack! 3. Summertime is almost here, and we are broke...that makes it hard to keep the kids entertained. We had promised them come summer they could go to their old summer camp, but it just ain't gonna happen...and I'm sad for them. :(
On a happy note, we get a beach house for free for the week of July 4th...we got to go last year, and it's a beautiful 4 bedroom house 1 block off the beach, and I'm soooooooo totally thankful for hubby's sweet friend who is letting us have it again this year. My folks will be going with us too - unfortunately in-laws won't make it due to my FIL having health problems. :( But I'm just glad we do have something to look forward to.
Anywho...life is still crazy. Kids last day is next Friday. They will be attending a new school next year - we haven't moved, but a new school has popped up closer to us, and we are in the new attendance area. Not sure if I'm happy or not - a lot of their friends will be staying behind...but they will still know several kids moving as well. They're young - they'll be fine. Kids adjust well!
I don't know exactly why I'm so bluesy all of a sudden. It could be 1. 2. 3. listed above, along with the fact that I read a blog earlier that got me weepy...it talked about when you need a good down and dirty cry, things that will always work...just reading the list made me want to crawl under my desk in the fetal position and let loose! I don't know that my co-workers would appreciate it, though. They may be on the phone with the EAP and setting me up for the next available counseling session. Ha!
Well, I always have so many random thoughts to type about, but I always have a brain freeze as soon as my fingers start typing. Why is that? I guess it's a good thing I'm not a writer - it doesn't come naturally to me. I just like to type - even senseless words and typing allow me to vent. In college my roommates used to get me to type their papers for them...not write them, just do the typing part. In a weird way it was therapeutic. I didn't have to think too hard - just tap away with my fingers and away goes the stress...I know, I'm weird...what can I say?! :)

Smile - Sob

My 7 year old daughter did the sweetest thing last night, out of the blue. She was busy working at the kitchen table, over what I though was drawings or such. She was there for a very long time, and when I walked into the kitchen, was told by my husband I was not allowed over there. Turns out that she was writing me a letter - the sweetest, dearest thing I've ever seen - I need to post it verbatum later, but in a nutshell she went on to tell me what a wonderful mother I was, and how much she loved me! It was a whole piece of paper full of her 7 year old thoughts...if you think I didn't get teary eyed over that...wow! Then the poor darling wanted to decorate it to make it pretty - she colored on the back with a marker, and the page tore! You would have thought her little world ended - it was heartbreaking because she had worked so hard. :( I don't care if is torn or not...it's a keeper in my book! Sooooooo sweet!

Life continues to be crazy. I have been fighting this upper respiratory crud for almost a month now - I finally caved and went to the Dr. last friday - yep upper respiratory infection and sinusitis. I am taking antibiotics (that sulfur junk) and some codeine based cough syrup...it's getting better, but everyone at work was ready to take me out to the field and shoot me earlier - i still have these horrific coughing fits! Sooooo ready for it to be gone! Yuck!

Did anyone out there know that today is Dr. Seuss's b-day? I was told by my kids - they are celebrating his bday at school today! LOL! Just a tidbit of trivia for you! :)

Gotta run

Happy Day!

I don't know why I'm happy today - I just am. Maybe it's because tomorrow is friday, and I am taking half the day off. Maybe it's because the weather is absolutely beautiful - warm and sunny, and gorgeous! :) I'm so tired of the cold...and we didn't even get any of the crazy snow this year. It's just been kind of blah, and now spring is not so far away. I love spring! :) Or maybe I'm happy because I found out my dear, dear friend of many, many years is moving back to state. I'm thrilled because she was too far away before, and now she will only be a couple hours away!

My life is still crazy...don't get me wrong - it doesn't ever seem to slow down much! My boss is still out on leave, but luckily there haven't been too many crazy events. It's been manageable! I do miss her, though, and am ready for her to return. My kids are still funny, sassy, sweet and irritating all at the same time. I think they are starting to feel early spring fever as well. It's been so long since they've been able to play outside, and they are definitely feeling pent up. Hoping tomorrow to get out with them and do something fun in the sun!

No plans for the weekend - but hubby is looking forward to the Daytona 500. Any other racing fans out there? I'm not particularly, but he enjoys it...I tolerate it! Hoping to have some company over to make it more endurable.

Anyway -I'm outta here for now. Hoping everyone a wonderful, sunny day too! :)

Rainy days and Tuesdays...

Wow - what a day. It has not been a good one! Found out that my FIL, who has had ongoing heart problems, was told today that a procedure they were hoping would help him could not be done - the Dr. won't touch it - said it's too risky due to his medical history and current condition. So...he has a leaking valve, and nothing can be done. Not good! :( So that has put a bit of a damper on an already bad day.

My daughter is home sick today. She has had a sore throat and a nasty cough since the weekend, so I thought it would best to keep her home. My hubby is home with her, but now he's feeling bad. Did I mention it's rainy and cold here today too?

My work - wow...that's all I'm going to say! My boss is going out on medical leave starting Thurs. for about 6-8 weeks. I will be the only person in HR for that time, and boy do we have some ongoing issues! So...I'm a bit nervous to be here by myself for that long. I do have some support, but for the most part it will be me. Ugh! I don't see any vacation days in my near future! LOL! Today just wore me out - and it's not even 4:00 p.m. I was on the phone for 45 minutes with a worried employee, I received information on some leave information I'm still trying to figure out how to handle, and I still have SOOO much to do before 5:00. I'm sooooo ready to go! And did I also mention, we are not allowed to listen to radios at work - makes for a VERY long day! Ack!

I feel like all I do is complain the few times I get on here...I guess that's why I invented this little blog...to vent my frustrations. So...I'm going to continue! We are broke - so broke it's not even funny. My hubby can't find anythign since the real estate market crashed, so we pulled the kids out of the after school program so he could keep them to save some money. It's just not working! Soooooo tired of working and having NOTHING to show for it. Seriously, it's horrible! I grew up a little spoiled, so I have to admit, this is hard! I'm learning to appreciate how to save more, but the thing is there is nothing there to save! A happy meal is a treat for the kids now - that's pretty sad. :(

Anyway - enough whining! Things really are good in my life - I just vent the bad stuff. I am blessed to have my wonderful family, my sweet kitties, wonderful friends, a job I actually do like (even though it doesn't always sound like it) and I'm not really lacking for anything in my life. I WANT things, but don't really NEED anything I don't already have. So...thanks for letting me complain about my petty problems. :) Hope everyone else is having a wonderful Sunny Tuesday! Go away rain!

Is it time to go yet?

I have been soooooooooooo sleepy all day long. Don't know why. Got lots of sleep - even slept in today, due to the fact that the kids had a 3 hour delayed start for school for weather conditions. The funny thing is we never even got a drop of rain this morning - ugh! So, I was late to work, and have been fairly busy - but it's been extra super quiet in here. Makes it very boring, even with a busy workload. And the sky is gray...I didn't eat lunch because I got in late...we aren't allowed to listen to music (this one KILLS me). So...it's 4:38 and I am, literally, counting down the minutes until 5:00 p.m. I will run out the door the second the hour turns!

The weekend was rather quiet, but good. I took the kids to see the Yogi Bear movie in 3D. They enjoyed it - I can only say I was entertained watching their enjoyment! I've seen better movies - but I've also seen worse, so can't complain. We had a fun outing anyway. :) That was the kiddos first 3D movie - I think they were a bit overwhelmed. They definitely enjoyed the popcorn - in 37 years I have never finished a bucket of popcorn, regardless of the size...until this weekend. My kids wolfed down the bag! I'm beginning to wonder if they aren't part squirrel - they have to be hiding that food in there somewhere and storing it for another rainy day!

Anyway -just babbling - I now have 7 minutes to go and I seriously want to scream! How can a day (not even a full one at that) go by so slowly? I think the company is manipulating the clocks. Ugh, boredom sucks!

Yes - technically I could start on something else, but when you have 7 minutes, why bother? My mind is on home, working out, dinner, hubby and chaotic kids at the moment - not conducive for starting work projects. Seriously - it took me 4 minutes to write that line...my brain is frozen - a by product of the unusually freezing cold weather we have been having! Anyway - I'm down to 3 minutes now. I can officially begin locking up and starting the shutdown process...yay, yay, yay! For the 2 of you who may stumble upon my blog accidentally, I hope you have a wonderful evening! I plan to! :)

Wow!

I don't even remember the last time I posted on my blog...I check other blogs, I hang out on FB, I text...but my poor blog is so neglected. Life just won't slow down. My old cell phone died a few weeks before Christmas, so my hubby and I decided it was time to update. I used to get on my laptop, but I now have a Blackberry and internet, so my laptop doesn't get any use at all. I love my phone!!! Not that I had much time before - my kids seem to sense when I have any free time and they very quickly snuff it out. They can be in their rooms playing quietly, and the second I go to do something for myself, there they are! Haha! How do they know??? I'm sure you other moms out there know exactly what I'm talking about! :) Kids - gotta love em!

I hope everyone is having a good 2011! Mine has been okay, so far. The end of the year was bad for my poor hubby and son - they both had some stomach bug that kept them in the house for days. My daughter and I had a fun New Years hanging out with neighbors, though, so I can't complain. It's been hard to get back in to the swing of work...especially when I'm the up front and center person for HR complaints and payroll issues...what a week! Crazy, crazy, crazy - and it's only Wednesday! I'm already looking forward to the next holiday - it can't get here soon enough! Lets see...we get MLK Day, so that's 12 days away...I'm sad!

Anyway - nothing to chat about really - not that anyone stops by to read. I just have this on here to ramble. I'm good at that! Anyway - again, happy new year to all. I am making a vow to myself to come on here and ramble more often. Hopefully it will be a little more exciting than this entry. I'm just very out of practice. :)