In Gratitude

It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a list of things to be thankful for. Our family has been very blessed, and we have much to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my family. I'm thankful for a loving husband who works hard to support our family. He sets a good example to our children of hard work and dedication. And, he puts up with me and still loves me at the end of the day.

I am thankful for three beautiful, healthy, extremely intelligent children. I love them each for their individual qualities and personalities. It is such a privilege to be able to be with them every day and to help guide them and show them how to become loving productive people. Some days they are a challenge, but so am I, so I figure we're even.

I am thankful for my health. I know I have a reputation for hypochondria, and I do like to complain when I'm feeling off, but I am thankful for my health. I rarely get sick and when I do it usually passes quickly. I do attribute this to my careful choices of what does and does not go into my body. I believe strongly that if I did not take this seriously, I would definitely have more problems than I do. I'm grateful that I have never had the desire for alcohol, drugs or tobacco, which I strongly feel would interrupt my good health record.

I am grateful to live in a place where I can garden and grow fabulous vegetables. I am grateful for plants and trees and flowers, which make the earth a beautiful and wonderful place to live. I'm grateful that even though we are in a drought, we still have enough water to live on and to grow things.

I am grateful for my home and the great yard we have. It's not very big according to east coast standards, but around here, it's huge. My children have room to run around and play. I'm grateful to live in a cul-de-sac so they can ride bikes in the street safely. On a minor note, I'm really grateful for double sinks in the bathrooms. It really makes such a difference!

I'm grateful that my husband has a good job that supports our family so I can stay home with the kids. I'm especially grateful for that right now, as there are many who are losing their jobs.

I'm grateful that we have two cars that run pretty well. I'm grateful that we paid them off, so if anything happens and we lose the house, we can live in the car!

I'm grateful for my extended family. My parents and grandparents, who are all still alive. And of course, my six siblings. I love each of them for distinctly different reasons. I'm glad that we are friends, and even when we're not happy with each other, we still love each other and keep trying. Sometimes it's hard, but it is so totally worth it. I'm grateful to have a good in-law family. We always have a great time when we get together, and I do miss living near them.

And last, but not least, I am grateful for the gospel and the values given to me by my parents. I know that most of the wonderful things in my life would not have happened if I had not stayed true to those values and teachings. Sometimes I fought them and ignored them, but today I see the impact they had on my life and that I am where I am today because of those values and teachings. And I pretty much like who I am.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner today. We had our friends over for dinner and we had a great time. The turkey came out looking fabulous, it was done on time and tasted wonderful. The gravy was tasty, with no lumps! The potatoes, on the other hand, were lumpy, but we liked them that way. All the food was delicious and we had a fun time chatting and being together.

After dinner we played Rock Band, which I am really bad at. I never was able to get through any of the songs. In fact, we did Enter Sandman by Metallica about four times and never made it past the introduction! I just need practice. I'm better on the guitar than I am on the drums. I did the best on the drums when Ruby was playing one of the colors.

Anyway, it was a good day.

Facebook Friends

So, I like Facebook. I've found a number of people I would never have found or even looked for if I hadn't signed up. It's so much fun to catch up and see where everyone is in their lives lo these 17+ years hence. Elementary school friends, Jr. High friends, High school friends, College friends, all together in one happy place.

Today my high school friend Jimmy found me. I had looked for him before because he was in the Marines and I worried that he might have been hurt in some of the various military things we've been involved with since we were in high school. After a while I just sort of gave up. He has a pretty common last name and there were a lot of people with his name. Hard to tell which one might be the right one. Anyway, he's alive, and it just really made my day. I was having a pretty decent day anyway, but that just boosted it up.

I only have people in my Facebook friends that I actually know and spent some amount of time with in the past. People that I have a history with, people I can reminisce with. Or family. If you're related and I hardly know you, you're in anyway. I'm a sucker for family in that way. Some of my cousins fit in there, because they're so much younger than I am and I hardly know them. I have one person in the friends request who I just can't remember. I recognize his name but I really don't remember being friends with him. I haven't responded to his friends request, so he just sits there. I'm not too worried about it, I checked his friends and he has plenty, so he probably didn't even notice that I didn't respond.

And that's my facebook friends report of the day.

Christmas, Christmas Time Is Here (almost)

I am really excited about Christmas. I'm trying very hard to have Thanksgiving first, but I've already seen houses decorated with lights (California style, which means as many lights and blow up yard decorations as possible). I can't wait to get the decorations out, I can't wait to get a tree, and I can't wait for Sam to get the fabulous present I won for him in a raffle that we could never afford ourselves. I can't wait for Christmas caroling, Christmas treats, Christmas programs, Christmas plays, and having Schnuters home for a whole week at a time.

My whole family will be together in Mass. this Christmas without us, again. As much as I like to be there, I just can't take the holiday travel anymore. I love being home with my children and husband on Christmas. Last year was our first year to just stay home with no commitments. It was fabulous. This year the in-laws will be coming for Christmas, and we're happy to have them. My kids will get a chance to do some Christmas baking with Granny B.

I need to get started on Christmas shopping. We're going easy with the kids this year. They'll each get one "big" present, and we have a great family gift for everyone to share. After that, it will just be whatever they get from family gift exchanges and the random toiletries I use to fill up the stockings (everyone gets new socks and underwear! Woo-hoo!). They'll have their grandparents here, do they really need anything else? I think not.

I Hate Mean People

Our church was vandalized last night. They broke a window and spray painted inside the room. The room was locked, so I didn't see inside the room. I saw the broken window and the spray paint splatters on the sidewalk outside the window. Squigs told me something about damage to a door inside, but I can't remember what all she said.

I Hate Mean People.

Family Reunion Set

Well, Schnuters got the ball rolling and got his family to decide on a place for the family reunion next summer. Brian Head, Utah. We went on a ski vacation there in March of this year and we had a great time (after the altitude sickness wore off). After getting some information on summer activities, we thought it would be a great place for a family reunion.

Brian Head is located near Cedar City, and it's right in the middle of all of the National Parks down there. It has the highest base altitude of any ski resort in the U.S. It's at around 9000 feet. That's at the bottom of the ski hills. After you head up, it's much higher. There are so many things to do in the summer around there. I don't know how many of them we'll actually get to do, because when we were there, I could barely breathe, so I'm thinking there won't be much hiking or biking or whatever going on.

It should be a fun time. As long as no one gets sick.

Free Dr. P.!

Guns-N-Roses finally released their album Chinese Democracy. It's been a long time coming. Dr. Pepper had offered a free soda to everyone in the U.S. if it was released in 2008. On Sunday you can download a coupon for a free Dr. P., which will be good until sometime in February.

Here's an article in USAToday about it:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-11-20-dr-pepper-gunsroses_N.htm

As for my opinion of the album? Indifference. I don't really care about Guns-N-Roses anymore. I'll probably check it out streaming online somewhere, but I won't buy it.

Poor Pretty Princess

Poor Ruby. She waited and waited all morning for her friend to come and play princess dress-up with her. When the friend showed up, she panicked and ran back to her mom and decided not to stay (normally when she comes, her brother is here too, but this time he wasn't staying). Ruby was devastated. So, I had to fill in. None of the princess dress-ups fit me. So I had to wear a tie-on tutu, which made me look like a maid.

I guess I didn't do a very good job because Ruby decided she'd rather listen to a book on CD and play trains.

She was invited to play with another friend this afternoon, which should go much better.

Hello, and Welcome!

So, I'm jumping on the blog bandwagon. I'm not sure that I'll actually write here often, and when I do it probably won't be very interesting. We'll see how it goes.