The things I am thankful for

I have been waiting to write this particular blog for a few weeks, letting it get just a bit closer to Thanksgiving, however, the time has come that I must share as my heart is full.

The biggest thing I am most thankful for is my family:
My loving husband who loves me despite myself, who puts up with my moods and my idiosyncrasies, who always lets me pick the movie for date night (even if he truly does not want to watch it), and who usually lets me win (whether it be a game or an argument). I have loved him for 21 years and am amazed as to how much this grows daily.

My wonderful children. This year has been a really rough one concerning my kids. We, being the strong family we are, have worked through all of this and have found new faith and have actually built a stronger family unit. I would not be half the woman I am without my children. They are me as I am them. I would give my life for them. I would protect them to the end. I will not, under any circumstances, let people speak untruths about them or hurt them unjustly in any way. I will forever forgive them for anything they do. I will never not speak to them or push them out of my life. Garrick, my son, my first born, I love you. Natalie, my daughter, my sweet baby girl, I love you.

The rest of the family! This year has been a pretty good year as far as the rest of the family is concerned. I have reconnected with family who I love, who I lost years and years ago. Cousins who I thought wanted nothing or little to do with me or my family. My heart rejoices with thoughts of my extended family. I have smiled and cried all in the same setting. I have thought back to my youth and have felt young again. I have discovered that 20+ years lost can be made up in a heartbeat with memories that can last for a lifetime. My parents and brother and his family are truly people that I know I cannot live without in my life. Though there may not always be agreement among us, there is always an underlying love. Coming from a smaller family, I am so very thankful for my husband's larger one! I have brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews who I have truly come to love as my family. I am just but a small branch on the tree of family.

My dear friends. This year has been rather hard and I have, for the first time ever, grown to rely on friends. I have put trust in people which has not been easy for me. I have laughed with them, cried with them, been their strength when they needed me, and I have let them carry me when I needed them. Abraham Lincoln once said, "The better part of one's life consists of his friendships." If my friends are any indication of wealth, I am indeed rich beyond compare.

The list could go on and on and on. I have a roof over my head and food on my table. I have the knowledge of life hereafter and faith. My husband has the means to support his family. I have the ability to see my children grow and love. I live in a country that is free. I sleep in a warm bed at night. There are certainly more gifts in my life than I even knew possible. Some might say that the grass is always greener...but, those are the people who don't take the time to look around and love and appreciate those things and those people who are within reach. I am truly blessed.

Changes

Fall is here in California! The leaves are finally starting to turn, the air is starting to cool, and, of course, football is on my television! The difference between Fall here and other places, is that this will only last a few weeks and then Winter will settle in. In about March or April, Spring will pop in to say hello, but, again, only for a few weeks, and then here comes Summer. So, in California, there are really only two seasons with just a few weeks in between of my favorite seasons.

When we moved to California in 2001, I remember this time of year and wondering when winter was going to come. I remember my family just laughing and laughing at the Californians who had the big, heavy winter coats on, scarfs, gloves, big ol' boots!! We has just moved from New Mexico where, yes my friends, it snows and it gets very, very cold. We laughed because we would walk outdoors with merely a sweatshirt on and were actually just fine. Winter here was like Fall in NM. So...the next year rolls around -- We have now been in California for a year. We still refuse to have the big, winter coats, but it does appear a bit colder than it was the year before. So, lets jump ahead to last year...I was FREEZING!! It was only November and I could not remember ever being as cold as I was then! Trent bought me...I can barely bring myself to say it...a big, ol', heavy winter coat!!! I really have not had the opportunity to use it yet this year (its faux fur and I love, love, love it!!) but is it ready for use. I also have the new scarf and am looking for the perfect gloves. The boots...well, duh, of course I will get new boots (November shoes!!) but they will be fashion forward and probably not too comfortable!

I am welcoming Fall with open arms. I love the different colors of leaves on the trees and when the wind blows, I quite enjoy seeing the leaves fly around! My oranges (I still cannot believe that I have oranges and no lemons...makes my heart really hurt! I am definitely going to try lemons again!)are green and starting to make the turn to orange. I love getting the winter clothes out from last year and putting on a bulky sweater for the first time. I love climbing into my bed which the electric blanket has been turned on for a few minutes and the sheets are just hot enough to warm my legs as I settle in for the night. I love Christmas shopping for my family and friends and am thrilled beyond belief when I come across that perfect gift. I love Thanksgiving dinner - I just wish my mom was here, or I was there, for her to cook it! I love to see the trees lose their leaves and the grass to lose its life if only to be reborn again in the Spring.

Yes, yes indeed, Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I shall enjoy it while it lasts.

Random Thoughts

Stupid things I have been thinking about:

* The alarm clock. My alarm clock is set for 5:00am. During the week, it goes off and I roll over and hit the snooze, get up out of bed to wake up Natalie, climb back into bed, and pull the covers up and go back to sleep. Approximately 10 minutes later, the alarm goes off again. Again, I get out of bed, this time to make sure Natalie is up, and then get back into bed, pull the covers up, and go back to sleep. I hit snooze one more time (sometimes two more times, but I hate myself on days like this)then I am up, exercising, in the shower, and starting my day. On Saturday, I do not have to get up at 5... in fact, I do not have to get up at all! But every once in a while, I will forget to turn the alarm off and it will go off at it's regular time. I will roll over and shut it off. I can never go back to sleep. Why is that?

* Football. I am a football fan...not a crazy fan, but a fan. I enjoy watching it and if my team is playing, I may give a hoot and a holler when a good play has been made. When a commercial is on or when a timeout has been called, I will switch the television to another station. Why is it that I never get back in time and miss a great play?

* Grocery bags. Why is it that I will carry 150 pounds of groceries into the house all at once so I do not have to make more than one trip to the car?

* Laundry. I live in a two story house. The bedrooms are all upstairs. Two bathrooms are upstairs. All of our closets are upstairs. All of our drawers are upstairs. Why in the washing machine and dryer downstairs?

* Turn signals. There is this great invention now in most vehicles...a turn signal. You can use this when you are changing lanes or when you are turning a corner. They make a cute little noise to let you know that it has been activated. Why do some people drive in a straight line with no intention if turning right with their right turn signal on?

* Yellow lights. Speed up or slow down? I think the answer to that question says a lot about a person.

* Speed limits. Above, below, or right at? Again, I think this says a lot about a person.

* Grocery stores. Why is it that you always, always, always forget something and you remember it as soon as you walk in the front door of your house?

* Books. You can always tell when you have just read a great book because you turn that last blank page just to see if anything else was written.

* Finding something. Isn't it great to find something that you did not even know was lost? Isn't it even better to find someone (or have them find you) that you knew was lost?

* Laundry (I know, different random thought). I wonder if they will ever come up with the invention of a washer and dryer in the same machine? Is it too much for ask for one that maybe folds too? I wont even dare ask for one that puts it all away too!

* Deal making. Have you ever made a deal with someone and they accepted the offer right away and you thought that maybe you offered too much?

Just a few things going through my head. Busy brain! Or actually just a lazy person not wanting to work! It is fun every once in a while to just let the brain wander...it's funner, however, to see where it ends up.

Legal age to buy alcohol - 21, cigarettes - 18, Nyquil -50?

So, the other day Trent and I went to Target to get me some Nyquil. I had the start of a cold (terrible neck pain for over a week, sore throat, headache, etc.) so I had decided to nip it with sleep! While Natalie was at mutual, we went into Target (of course, going to Target with Trent is no trip to the candy store! I wanted to look at the new scarfs (keep in mind, this was the night of the big storm), maybe look at umbrellas because I am sure I need a new one...oh, and the gloves were out too -- Trent was not in a looky-loo mood) and straight to the medications. I decided that I would spend the extra money on the name brand Nyquil because I really needed this medication to work! Carrying only our Nyquil to the check out (I know, what a waste of checking out standing in line time!) we waited in line. It was finally our turn and the checker said that she would need to see some ID. Okay, this is kinda funny because I am 41 and Trent is 47, I am pretty sure that we are both old enough to buy Nyquil. Trent pipes off with some wisecrack remark about having to be 50 to buy drugs. The checker lady (girl actually) was not impressed with Trent, AT ALL! I said that it probably had to do with being able to make crack or something. Trent, egging on the poor checkout girl, said that he was a chemist, he could certainly make crack out of Nyquil if there were a way. Again, the girl just looked at Trent and then told him that he needed to take his license out of the wallet because she had to scan it. This started a whole new conversation about tracking and what if the whole family needed to use the Nyquil for a few days and we ran out, if he were to buy some more later in the week would he be on some list?!?! The "Nyquil Abuser List?" Again, the girl just looked at Trent, with a disgusted look on her face, scanned the license, and quickly gave it back to him. He then preceded on to hand her cash for the purchase, in which he nicely asked if she needed ID for the use of cash.

Oh, the story only gets better....we had friends of ours come up behind us ready to check out. She asked us if we had fared the storm without incident. We explained that a tree branch from next door was in our front yard but for the most part, our fence was still standing and our trees were still firmly implanted! She said that she wished a tree had fallen on her old van! Trent laughed and said she if she would have called, he would have been happy to push a tree on the van for her. She laughed and said that actually a branch had fallen on the van once and it broke the branch in two, leaving the van unscathed. I piped off something like well, it might not have with the aid of a sledgehammer! Our friend gasped and pretended to be shocked and then asked Trent how he fared in swinging a sledgehammer!! Trent flexed and told her he indeed could make it look like an accident! The poor check out girl...I think she was wishing she had photocopied Trent's license for his name and address!!!

If the Insurance Fraud Department people or the DEA come knocking on my door....well, lets just say my response will be, "Trent who?"

Judge much?

So, I had an interesting experience at the grocery store the other day. I really don't like going to the store and I try not to go on the weekend when I do go because it is always too busy and too crowded and too noisy and just...too everything I guess. Trent and I had stopped by a roadside produce stand on Saturday and bought some wonderful strawberries. Well, of course, strawberries are not any good without Cool Whip and little angel food cakes. So, we got home and Trent decided to mow the lawn while I quickly went to the store. Of course, the quickly part was all a pipe dream!

So, I get there, get the things a need and a few extras (sour gummy worms, yummmmmm)and then make my way to the express lane which has about 45 people in it. Okay, maybe not 45, but there was a lot of people. The other lanes, however, also had a lot of people in them with full carts, so I proceeded to the express lane. A few moments later, a women with a cart comes up behind me with her children. She had 3, maybe 4, children with her, one of whom was in the cart. After I quickly counted every ones items in front of me to make sure there were no rule breakers (oh c'mon now, you all do it too!!), I looked behind me to count hers. Just because, well frankly, there was little else to do. At this point (man, my little story is turning into a novel...I will hurry), she takes a big bottle of wine (maybe it was just regular size, I don't know, I don't buy wine, but the bottle looked rather big to me) and hands it to one of the older kids outside of the cart and says, "I don't need this sh*t, take it back." The child does as she is told. We advance one space up, then another, then another when I overhear the lady ask the child to please go back and get the wine, she has changed her mind. Finally, I get to the check out place where I can place my items from my arms onto the belt, I so very graciously, put up one of those separator bars after my stuff so the lady behind me can start putting her stuff on the belt. We advance forward and it is finally my turn (in my head I am doing a jig!), I pay for my stuff and move forward to bag the few items I got. In the meantime, the lady behind me has checked out all of her stuff and lo and behold, does not have enough cash, she forgot to grab the $20 on the table. So, she tells the checker to please take the 3-pack of Capri Suns off, her kids don't need those anyway, but keeps the wine.

This story is why I find it hard not to judge people. I am the first to admit that I am very judgmental. Lately, however, I have tried not to be as much and have tried to look at things at a different aspect. But, this lady had said once that she did not need the wine and then changed her mind (just aside note here, I think standing in long grocery lines have nearly brought me to the bottle as well!). When it comes down to it, she chooses her needs, wants, addictions, whatever, to her childrens needs. Okay, Capri Suns may not be a total need, it could have been a treat for her kids, but nonetheless, it is juice and it will probably count as one fruit serving! This reminded me of a story when I lived in New Mexico - bear with me, this one is short. I was behind a lady at a grocery store and she had a lot of groceries and was paying with food stamps. At the end, the checker tells her that the dog food she has purchased is not covered under the food stamp thing, so the lady says - and I quote - "Okay, put the dog food back and give me a family pack of hamburger instead." Now, whether or not the lady planned to feed the dog the hamburger or not, I don't know, I just found it a rather curious trade. As I found the juice/wine trade also curious.

"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye met, it shall be measured to you again." Okay, with that, I will try not to judge again. But sometimes people just make it too darn easy!