Still...continued...

Still....

trying to be more Thankful...
41. making it 2 1/2 miles on my run today.
42. Lights and fans in my new house.
43. Carter winning the Pinewood Derby! Makes him feel good, makes me feel good!
44. My new Table clock made by the priest that has baptized me, confirmed me, married me and inspired me.
45. Fun times in amongst the work this weekend.
46. Little wieners wrapped in bacon with brown sugar sprinkled on top cooked to crispy yumminess!
47. Trees in my new yard.
48. Dressed up and feeling good.
49. Homemade scalloped potatoes and ham.
50. Reading Jane Eyre with my friends.
51. Ice cold coca cola.
52. The snow didn't last.
53. Actual work and product coming in UNDER bid.
54. Good blood pressure.
55. A good moring with my children.
56. My co-worker coming to help me pack.
57. Excellent carpenters.
58. Helpful people at the post office in dealing with missing packages.
59. Friends who keep encouraging me.
60. My mom who lets me vent and relates with me.
61. Lovely women in my church who call me Esmerelda and get on the floor with my daughter to teach her how to weave palm branches. And the other lovely woman who had the patience to teach me a different weave.
62. Finding the earrings Al gave me for my birthday the year we got engaged at the bottom of the mountain of laundry instead of losing them in the washing machine.
63. Carter enjoying dressing up. He is such a handsome boy.
64.Flowers blooming.
65. A beautiful green tourmaline ring with cool etching that my mom gave me when my cheap ring broke and all the compliments I receive every time I wear it.
66. Pleasing Al by making one of his favorite dishes, Jambalaya, and fixing in right!
67. Winning a Bath and Body Works basket at silent auction at church. My new favorite scent: Sweet Pea.
68. My daughter and being able to stay true to herself when her "friends" do things she doesn't think are right. Being this age is hard and she is doing a wonderful job.
69.My littlest boy, his silliness makes me smile.
70. Harry Potter, and sharing it with my family.

Still...

Still snowing...

Still painting...

Still staining...

Still racing and Still winning!!...

(Carter won best of the bunch at the Pinewood Derby Sunday!! He won every race!! Who knew penguins went so fast??!)

A Bit of a Break

 Last weekend my friend and coworker, Sue offered to come and help me pack. I warned her that it would be scary and that she shouldn't tell anyone at work how bad it really was, but I jumped at the chance to have her help me. Once we realized that we were actually building a house and that we weren't going to be living in this one any longer, we kinda let it go....I mean really.

And I tend to keep lots of things. I noticed that every time Sue would ask me if I wanted to keep something, I'd say yeah, and she'd roll her eyes. So I walked away. In the time she was here, we through away 4 big garbage bags and packed and moved several boxes out to the garage. Hooray!!!! It does feel good, but there is so much more to do. We haven't moved in 12 years and I am kind of out of the habit. When we were first married, we moved several times in that first 2 years and it wasn't so bad. Well, 3 kids and a lot of stuff later and we're moving again.Wow! I will say that I was trying to get ahead and pack some things early. Al also spent a day out in the garage packing. I bet we've opened every box to get something already!!!!

After we'd spent 4 hours or so packing, we ordered out supper and went 4-wheelin' at the farm! Casey was attached to Sue at the hip! What a fun packing and playing day! I really needed the help, but I probably needed the break more! Thanks Sue!

Our first tree...

Yes that picture was a digger and a mover. We moved our first tree to our new house. A lovely hard maple moved from the middle of one of Lucille's flower gardens. It's right out a big dining room window so it'll be pretty in the fall to look at. FUN! We moved more last night. I'll have to get a pic of my new yard up soon!!

And look!! I have red walls and kitchen cupboards!!!

Any Guesses??

Carter

A funny story about Carter...

He sprained his ankle the other night tripping in a hole we have left in our yard from where the swing set was. He wrapped it up and put ice on it before bed. In the morning, he was certain he should stay home from school, maybe even go to the doctor. I told him he had to go and it wasn't that bad. Still, he felt he needed to stay home. We were all in the van and I had dropped Emily off at her door, headed for Carter's door. I said, "Hey Carter! I could help you walk up to your line (I am still in my pjs) and then give you a big smooch Bye!!) He said, "No way Mom! Make sure you have the music turned off when I get out and don't you dare get out too! Bye!"

I included the picture because I find it ironic that he doesn't care if, first of all he has cowboy boots on with sweat pants and second, if said sweatpants are stuck in one boot and not the other. But, he careif his mom has pjs on and gives him a smooch in front of friends...I guess he's getting big. I still get hugs and kisses other places, just not so much school.

Oh Carter! I love ya!

On Being Thankful...

Being Catholic, for Lent, I choose to do something every year. A lot of Catholics give something up, like Al is giving up pop and ice cream this year. I used to think that this was the easy way out until I tried to give up Coke the year I was pregnant with Carter...Needless to say, I don't give things up very easily. Instead, having talked with Father Brunkan a lot when I became Catholic, I choose to do something to hopefully make me a better person. Last year, I completed the Couch to 5K running program and ran a 4 mile race. Other years, I have exercised for a certain number of days a week.

This year, I decided that I was too much of a "glass is half empty kind of a gal" and that I needed to be more thankful. So, I am listing things I am thankful for each week. In retrospect, I should have made the goal more concrete, telling myself exactly when I would list these things and how many I should do each week, to make it easier to stick to. But it is what it is. I started listing 10 things each week, but I used my work blog and an article I wrote for the local paper. Now, I'd like to put them all here and add some more today. I thought maybe I'd make Thursdays my Thankful Day or I might piggyback onto a fellow bloggers' Multitudes of Much on Mondays. We'll see. For now, I'll add some today since I woke up not feeling very thankful. Much of the time, taking time to think about what I'm thankful for helps me to be more thankful. And in the end, that's the goal.

After I decided to be more thankful in my life, a book came across my desk at work that dealt with writing thank yous to achieve this same end, so I checked it out. I recently finished reading 365 Thank Yous: How Simple Acts of Daily Gratitude Changed a Life, by John Kralik, and it has inspired me to keep going with my thankfulness each week and perhaps a few actual handwritten thank yous are in my future, too. So, in keeping up with my goal of being more thankful, here's my list for this week.

1. Words with Friends app on my itouch. It’s addicting!

2. My youngest son overcoming his desire to stay home and going to school with a smile.

3. My cousin’s blog; she inspires me.

4. New walls, new texture, and new paint.

5. Sales that allow you to afford what you really wanted in the first place and save money doing it!

6. User friendly computer programs that make life easy.

7. Warmer weather.

8. Crème de Menthe cake.

9. Supper waiting at my mom in laws when I pick the kids up after work.

10. Purple.

11.Running 3 miles today!! I made it !! Hooray! That feels sooo good!

12. Coca-cola!!! So much better than Dr. Pepper and so glad I didn't give it up for Lent.

13. So thankful for all my new paint going on my walls tomorrow. The colors are bold and beautiful and I can't wait to see the rooms shaping up!

14. Stolen moments in day.

15. My daughter, who is so good at standing up for what she believes.

16. My son saying he was most thankful for Mom laying down next to him at night.

17. Supper in the crock pot waiting to be served.

18. Tickets to a comedian. Laughter really is the best medicine.

19. Helping people find books they love. So much satisfaction in this simple act.

20. Making deadlines.

21.Always, good books to read and enjoy. Cheesy, but true.

22. Great help in the huge amount of work I have to do with no strings attached.

23. Sunshine and rain boots, so you can walk outside in it instead of looking at all of the mud out there and staying inside yet again.

24. Coca-cola and the fact that I didn't choose to give it up for Lent this year.

25. My husband and the fact that he can always make me laugh no matter how bad of a day I think I am having.

26. My supportive co-workers and the way they inspire me daily.

27. My oil slick shoes.

28. The fact that I can run, even if some days I don't want to...

29. Sample of a power bar so I had breakfast today.

30. Being on time today.

31. Painting is pretty much done!! One more thing off the list!

32. My 5 year old making me a bookmark at school. So sweet! Even at so young an age, he knows what I love.

33. Eating my favorite Chinese dish: Princess Chicken for lunch.

34. Sharing a recipe that is loved. so someone else can love it.

35. Enjoying my job. It's a perfect fit for me.

36. Remembering and sharing old 80s movies. What a hoot.

37. The colors in my house. They make me happy.

38. Laughing at hokey April Fool's Jokes my kids tell.

39. The camraderie that comes with brothers and sisters. (Fighting not so much, but the friendship is fun to watch and be a part of)

40. My marriage in the midst of stress.


What are you thankful for??