No, this is not the countdown to the 25 days 'til Christmas (although, that is right around the corner). And yes, you have seen everyone's list of things they are thankful for (family, friends, etc.). So, I was trying to be a little creative (while being serious and funny all in the same list) and come up with a list of basic things that I am thankful for that I don't typically think of every day. (Don't get me wrong - I am very thankful for my family, friends, roof over my head, food on my table. I just wanted to try something a little different this year).
1. My Honda Civic - we have been together for 11 years and approximately 117,000 miles, and she still gets me to work and doesn't typically bankrupt me at the gas pump.
2. The gym at work - you have helped this very busy mom find time to work out and improve my self esteem.
3. The balloon guy and face painting lady at the craft fair - you always make my children feel very special with your creations.
4. The athletes at the Special Olympics games - you truly understand the meaning of "trying your best" and enthusiasm.
5. Hershey bars - because B can pretty much be bribed by you!
6. The dollar aisle at Target - because I can "let" A & B get a prize without going overboard.
7. The smell of pine trees - ahh - memories from Dairymen's.
8. A perfume counter - Grandma Zarn, I miss you so much!!
9. My microwave - because it actually makes me a "cook!"
10. The Altoona Campus basketball refs - for giving every little kid playing basketball a chance to make a basket and make each kid feel like a star.
11. Victoria's Secret -while we do have some issues, thank you for making this mom feel pretty.
12. The portable DVD players - without you, traveling would be horrendous.
13. The Ramada in the QC - for giving us a great place to stay and catch up with friends and family!
14. Merle Norman concealer - thanks for covering up these zits and wrinkles.
15. Raygun - for making hilarious t-shirts.
16. Having the ability to see many musicals when I was young - Les Miz, Phantom, Joseph - I still love this music.
17. Diet Moutain Dew - because I finally realized how long a treadmill it takes to burn off the calories from a regular Pepsi. And, hello, caffeine.
18. My best friend's paparrazzi skills - sometimes, I only have pictures of A & B because of you :)
19. Pie at Village Inn - because you can't balance a budget on an empty stomach.
20. Rest areas on the interstate - because I have a small bladder (and you don't realize you need one until you are on I-88 from Dixon to Rockford!)
21. No tolls in Iowa!!
22. Highlighters - because without you my notes are so confusing!
23. My watch - even if I am always late, you always seem to give me a few more minutes.
24. My DVR - so the shows I watch don't all have to be cartoons or the Disney Channel.
25. Shoes - I just love shoes.
I hope this Thanksgiving brings you many things to be thankful for!
Jean Anne
Showing posts with label things I am thankful for. Show all posts
Showing posts with label things I am thankful for. Show all posts
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Turkey To Go
We're having Thanksgiving at my in-laws this year. It has become sort of a tradition for us, but mostly because I refuse to have Christmas anywhere other than my own house. I firmly believe that children should have memories of waking up in their own beds, running down the stairs and finding the presents Santa has left for them under their own tree. I want my kids to be able to stay in their jammies and play with their new toys as long as they would like. I want them to be comfortable, and at home, on Christmas. But my idea of Christmas breaks tradition with my husband's family's idea of Christmas, so I've had to do some negotiating. The compromise that we've reached results in my getting Christmas at home (with an invite to the inlaws to stay with us), but Thanksgiving with them.
As I've said many times, I like my inlaws, so spending Thanksgiving with them isn't any big deal. Plus, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law are amazing cooks. I do miss my family's Thanksgiving traditions, but marriage is all about compromise. And to be truthful, when I was little, my family spent every Thanksgiving at my dad's parent's house, so going to my husband's family's for Thanksgiving feels kind of right.
Going to my inlaws for Thanksgiving, however, has presented some interesting challenges in recent years. As my mother-in-law has gotten older, she is less physically able to handle making such a big dinner for so many people (but of course insists on hosting anyway). My sister-in-law and I would therefore help out, each bringing or making several dishes to ease the burden on my mother-in-law. And I think all three of us would say in years past, it worked out nicely.
This year presents a new challenge. My mother-in-law is still hosting Thanksgiving this year, but she's physically unable to cook. She had foot surgery a few weeks ago, and as someone who had foot surgery a few days before Christmas one year, I know she is in no position to be standing around cooking all day. Plus, my sister-in-law is no longer technically my sister-in-law, so she understandably won't be spending the holidays with her ex's family. Which leaves me to cook the entire dinner for my husband's side of the family.
Oy vey. I'm pretty comfortable in the kitchen and would have no problem making Thanksgiving dinner for everyone at my own house. But my inlaws can't travel (see foot surgery, above), so I'm going to have to make dinner at their house, in their kitchen. And I'm going to have to do it on the fly. Both Husband and I work the day before Thanksgiving, so we won't even be leaving to travel to their house - 4 hours away - until Thanksgiving morning. That doesn't give me a lot of wiggle room.
I won't lie and say that I'm not sweating the details a little bit. But, in some strange way I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to being able to give my mother-in-law a break for a holiday. I'm looking forward to the kids, playing at grandma's house. I'm even looking forward to the challenge of putting together a Thanksgiving dinner with only what I remember to bring and what happens to be at my inlaw's house. Because being together, warm, fed and crazed really sums up so much of what we have to be thankful for: Thankful for our jobs, even if that means we have to get up at 4 am on the day of Thanksgiving. Thankful to have food, even if all the ingredients the recipe calls for aren't there. Thankful for a place to go, even if we are a little squished in that small house. Thankful to be together, even as we miss those loved ones who couldn't be with us this year.
Wishing you and your family a happy Thanksgiving.
Karen
As I've said many times, I like my inlaws, so spending Thanksgiving with them isn't any big deal. Plus, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law are amazing cooks. I do miss my family's Thanksgiving traditions, but marriage is all about compromise. And to be truthful, when I was little, my family spent every Thanksgiving at my dad's parent's house, so going to my husband's family's for Thanksgiving feels kind of right.
Going to my inlaws for Thanksgiving, however, has presented some interesting challenges in recent years. As my mother-in-law has gotten older, she is less physically able to handle making such a big dinner for so many people (but of course insists on hosting anyway). My sister-in-law and I would therefore help out, each bringing or making several dishes to ease the burden on my mother-in-law. And I think all three of us would say in years past, it worked out nicely.
This year presents a new challenge. My mother-in-law is still hosting Thanksgiving this year, but she's physically unable to cook. She had foot surgery a few weeks ago, and as someone who had foot surgery a few days before Christmas one year, I know she is in no position to be standing around cooking all day. Plus, my sister-in-law is no longer technically my sister-in-law, so she understandably won't be spending the holidays with her ex's family. Which leaves me to cook the entire dinner for my husband's side of the family.
Oy vey. I'm pretty comfortable in the kitchen and would have no problem making Thanksgiving dinner for everyone at my own house. But my inlaws can't travel (see foot surgery, above), so I'm going to have to make dinner at their house, in their kitchen. And I'm going to have to do it on the fly. Both Husband and I work the day before Thanksgiving, so we won't even be leaving to travel to their house - 4 hours away - until Thanksgiving morning. That doesn't give me a lot of wiggle room.
I won't lie and say that I'm not sweating the details a little bit. But, in some strange way I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to being able to give my mother-in-law a break for a holiday. I'm looking forward to the kids, playing at grandma's house. I'm even looking forward to the challenge of putting together a Thanksgiving dinner with only what I remember to bring and what happens to be at my inlaw's house. Because being together, warm, fed and crazed really sums up so much of what we have to be thankful for: Thankful for our jobs, even if that means we have to get up at 4 am on the day of Thanksgiving. Thankful to have food, even if all the ingredients the recipe calls for aren't there. Thankful for a place to go, even if we are a little squished in that small house. Thankful to be together, even as we miss those loved ones who couldn't be with us this year.
Wishing you and your family a happy Thanksgiving.
Karen
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thankful
It’s that time of year…Thanksgiving has once again snuck up on us. I, thanks to my fabulous sister in law, do not have to worry a thing about Thanksgiving, as she hosts each year. So this time of year I can sit back, relax, and reflect on the blessings in my life.
I have so many things to be thankful for, not the least of which are my three beautiful, healthy, happy children. But this year, I am especially thankful for the man that gave me those three children, my husband Todd.
Todd is the one person in my life that I probably take the most for granted (not intentionally of course). Todd is such a constant rock in my life that I often forget to give him a well deserved shout out every now and then. I liken Todd to the foundation of a house…everyone may compliment the siding, décor, or yard of the home but no one ever comments on the foundation, even though that alone is what is keeping everything together. Todd is the foundation of my life.
So this means that most people see me as a Mom first and foremost and forget many times that I am also one half of a wonderful love story. My office is filled of dozens of pictures of my children, but just one of Todd and I, my facebook postings are almost entirely about the kids. And if they are about Todd, its most often me doing the typical wife complaining about a honey-do list long forgotten!
I always find it fascinating that the ones we love the most, we sometimes notice the least. Seems backwards, but completely true.
But I'm not blind to the fact that if it wasn’t for the love Todd and I share, none of this would be here. I wouldn't have been so happy to hear the words "It's a Girl!", I wouldn't get morning hugs from my 18 month old, I wouldn’t be a member of a working Mom blog, I wouldn’t be woken up by the sound of my son saying “Mom, it’s wake up time!”...I probably even wouldn’t have had the courage to leave my former job where I was miserable and start my career in my wonderful firm.
And although I am grateful for Todd himself, this year I am mostly grateful for the fact that after 8 years together, 6 years of marriage, 3 children, and 2 crazy jobs, our love remains solid. In fact I love him miles more every year. I am a child of divorce, every magazine and newspaper talks about divorce, from Kim K’s 72 day marriage to advice on sharing your children in a divorce. So, yes like most people I have a somewhat cynical view of marriage. I think every married couple would agree that in this day in age, society stacks the odds against you when you say “I do”. A marriage then becomes simply beating those odds everyday.
I am so grateful to have man in my life that helps me beat those odds everyday.
Now, you know me, I call it like it is…so I’m not going to sit here and tell you that beating the odds is always easy. My husband, like all husbands is well...a man! So there are always going to be the Mars v. Venus complaints. I still have yet to figure out how he can walk past Capri Sun wrappers dropped on the carpet all day and yet appear shocked when I get a soggy sock from stepping on them when I get home. I still pull out empty boxes of cereal or snacks from the pantry that he neglected to throw away. I still wonder how his socks end up by the side of the bed even though there is a laundry basket several inches away.
So I guess what I am thankful for is that even though Todd is a victim to the typical Husband actions and stereotypes, I can love him through all of that.
I think the thing I am most grateful for with Todd is that he is one of the few people that sees me as “just Mandi”. After three kids, mountains of responsibility, few hours, and sleepless nights we can still look at each other as “Todd and Mandi”. We still laugh till we cry, we still hold hands, we still try to sneak a kiss in the kitchen before we are busted by “EEWWWs” from our peanut gallery. We somehow can find the way to keep our love sheltered from the stresses of parenthood.
And that my friends, is something to be grateful for.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Mandi
I have so many things to be thankful for, not the least of which are my three beautiful, healthy, happy children. But this year, I am especially thankful for the man that gave me those three children, my husband Todd.
Todd is the one person in my life that I probably take the most for granted (not intentionally of course). Todd is such a constant rock in my life that I often forget to give him a well deserved shout out every now and then. I liken Todd to the foundation of a house…everyone may compliment the siding, décor, or yard of the home but no one ever comments on the foundation, even though that alone is what is keeping everything together. Todd is the foundation of my life.
So this means that most people see me as a Mom first and foremost and forget many times that I am also one half of a wonderful love story. My office is filled of dozens of pictures of my children, but just one of Todd and I, my facebook postings are almost entirely about the kids. And if they are about Todd, its most often me doing the typical wife complaining about a honey-do list long forgotten!
I always find it fascinating that the ones we love the most, we sometimes notice the least. Seems backwards, but completely true.
But I'm not blind to the fact that if it wasn’t for the love Todd and I share, none of this would be here. I wouldn't have been so happy to hear the words "It's a Girl!", I wouldn't get morning hugs from my 18 month old, I wouldn’t be a member of a working Mom blog, I wouldn’t be woken up by the sound of my son saying “Mom, it’s wake up time!”...I probably even wouldn’t have had the courage to leave my former job where I was miserable and start my career in my wonderful firm.
And although I am grateful for Todd himself, this year I am mostly grateful for the fact that after 8 years together, 6 years of marriage, 3 children, and 2 crazy jobs, our love remains solid. In fact I love him miles more every year. I am a child of divorce, every magazine and newspaper talks about divorce, from Kim K’s 72 day marriage to advice on sharing your children in a divorce. So, yes like most people I have a somewhat cynical view of marriage. I think every married couple would agree that in this day in age, society stacks the odds against you when you say “I do”. A marriage then becomes simply beating those odds everyday.
I am so grateful to have man in my life that helps me beat those odds everyday.
Now, you know me, I call it like it is…so I’m not going to sit here and tell you that beating the odds is always easy. My husband, like all husbands is well...a man! So there are always going to be the Mars v. Venus complaints. I still have yet to figure out how he can walk past Capri Sun wrappers dropped on the carpet all day and yet appear shocked when I get a soggy sock from stepping on them when I get home. I still pull out empty boxes of cereal or snacks from the pantry that he neglected to throw away. I still wonder how his socks end up by the side of the bed even though there is a laundry basket several inches away.
So I guess what I am thankful for is that even though Todd is a victim to the typical Husband actions and stereotypes, I can love him through all of that.
I think the thing I am most grateful for with Todd is that he is one of the few people that sees me as “just Mandi”. After three kids, mountains of responsibility, few hours, and sleepless nights we can still look at each other as “Todd and Mandi”. We still laugh till we cry, we still hold hands, we still try to sneak a kiss in the kitchen before we are busted by “EEWWWs” from our peanut gallery. We somehow can find the way to keep our love sheltered from the stresses of parenthood.
And that my friends, is something to be grateful for.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Mandi
Friday, November 11, 2011
111111
Happy 11-11-11, November 11, 2011! Can you believe how fast November is speeding through already? It will be time for Christmas before we know it!!
But, alas that topic is for another day. Today, I really don't have many interesting thoughts and of course as my luck would have it, it's my turn for a Friday slot of JD Moms. So I sat down at my computer trying to think of something to share with my fellow Mommies out there. Yeah, I got nothing.
So, since today is a special number day and because it is November, I thought I’d give you 11 things that I am thankful for this 11 -11-11th.
But, alas that topic is for another day. Today, I really don't have many interesting thoughts and of course as my luck would have it, it's my turn for a Friday slot of JD Moms. So I sat down at my computer trying to think of something to share with my fellow Mommies out there. Yeah, I got nothing.
So, since today is a special number day and because it is November, I thought I’d give you 11 things that I am thankful for this 11 -11-11th.
Today I am thankful for…
1. The crayon scribble drawing from L texted to me this morning.
2. The fact Diet Pepsi has 0 calories…since I drink enough to drown a village.
3. FaceTime on my iPad so that at 10:02 a.m. I can check in with my kids while they watch Caillou.
4. Printing companies that can do rush jobs so I can get the brief I forgot had to go on Monday out the door.
5. The fact that instead of a business lunch today, I munched on Chicken Nugget happy meals with my husband and kids.
6. I wore my dark blue jeans today so the chocolate milk spray from L (See 5 above) is nearly invisible.
7. The nude lip makeup trend, so that I can look trendy even though I simply did not have time to put lipstick on this morning!
8. Female partners, so I have someone who understands my pain when I realize I have sat all day with a Transformer sticker on my pants.
9. Pastel color post it notes. I still have no idea why they invented the dark purple and blue ones anyway. I mean come on...no one can read them no matter how dark of pen you use!
10. Voicemail – so I can get through a mail pile without being interrupted 1000 times by calls
11. Fridays…because….well, it’s Friday!
Yes, I know this post is nothing thought-provoking or interesting, but just some random fun thoughts to get you through your Friday afternoon! Have a great 11-11-11 everyone! Mandi
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