blew it....

I didn't make it on NaPoBloMo.... I blew it! With only two days to go!! I'm ok with it. I'm sure no-one was keeping track but me :D So much going on this time of year!! Happy December!

Day 27 - humor is a must.

This made me giggle ALL day. A friend sent me this and I had to share it...

I was so thankful for laughter and good humor today!!

Day 26... I am thankful...

I AM THANKFUL THAT...

Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings, I am thankful that I can hear.
There are many who are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes closed against the morning light as long as possible,I am thankful that I can see.
Many are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off rising,I am thankful that I have the strength to rise.
There are many who are bedridden.

Even though I grumble at the clothes I wear,I am thankful for the collection of clothes I have.
There are many who don't have an assortment to wear.

Even though some hours of my day is hectic, when socks are lost,toast is burned, tempers are short, my children are so loud,I am thankful for my family.
There are many who are lonely.

Even though my face doesn't look so good like the pictures in the Fashion Magazine,I am thankful that I have all my features in my face complete.
There are many who cannot see, hear and talk.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like the pictures in magazines and the menu is at times unbalanced, I am thankful for the food we have.
There are many who are hungry.

Even though the routine of my job is often monotonous,I am thankful for the opportunity to work.
There are many who have no job.

Even though at times, I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day and sometimes wish my circumstances were not so modest,
I am thankful for life.

~~ Author Unknown ~~

Wordless Wednesday - Sunrise

Day 25

Taken w/ a Nikon D40 with a 55-200mm zoom, straight out of the camera - added a frame.

RTT - NaBloPoMo edition - Day 24

So - I didn't do Random Tuesday Thoughts early this morning, and in fact, I normally post it over at my other blog, which has suffered long bouts of postlessness since random life chaos has been all in my world, and I'm really late posting this one but here I go.... Oh - and to read more randomness go over to The UnMom right quick...

• Today my 3yo told me that he wanted to build a Lego® girl WITH boobies of course....


• I took too much of my medication this morning, on an empty stomach and have paid for it ALL day with dizzy and light headedness. It sucked. And because of that, I'm really tired now.


• It's supposed to snow at my mom's house on Thursday, and I'm going there for Thanksgiving of course, so we may get to see the snow fall!!


• I'm watching "so you think you can dance" and can't believe it was 2 hours long tonight!


• Why is it now that I've been in a wreck and hit by a Lexus SUV, that seems to be the ONLY vehicle I see all day long? Today, another white one almost hit me, it would have been a side impact - she ran the stoplight.


• My family rocks.


• My friends rock..... just sayin.


• I'm loving Digsby for all my social networking needs (no they didnt pay me to do that) I use it to combine aol, yahoo, twitter, facebook, myspace and gmail. I'm a social networking junkie I suppose. But then, you probably are too since you're reading my blog. bahahahaha.


• I can't wait to see The Blind Side, and plan to go by myself Friday Saturday. Exciting. Only those who know me know why that's so exciting. I'm pretty much a "wait until it's on DVD" chick.


• I do NOT plan to be anywhere NEAR the mall on Friday, which is why you see my scratch thru on the previous post...This mama's almost done with her shopping, and did most ALL of it online with Etsy.com and a few other fav sites. Scored free shipping on most everything too!!

who you gonna call?

When I went out to my mailbox I was surprised with TONS of advertisements for Chiropractors, Massage Therapists, Lawyers, auto body repair people. Over 20 envelopes addressed to both little J and I. Several free massage coupons, thanks to my accident. Evidently we're up for bids between all of these people....

I'm pretty thankful that I can walk to the mailbox, because I know of people who have been in car accidents that were less then 40mph impacts who have loss of use of their legs, or major back injuries. S for THAT yes, I'm THANKFUL.

Day 22

Today - I'm going to be short and sweet...

I'm thankful for my awesome friends and my awesome family.

a well planned surprise....Day 21

Day 21

Around 1pm today I was sitting at my coffee table clipping coupons and getting ready to make a grocery list and my phone rang, it was my friend Susan from CA. She and I have been friends for some time, she lived here and we met though a mommy/playdate type forum and our friendship grew from there. She and her husband moved to CA not long ago with a job change, and I've missed her SO much!! We rely on each other by phone, by email and by IM pretty much daily. We're seriously like bosom buddies, we may have been sisters in a former life... I can absolutely trust her with my feelings, opinion, and thoughts and I know that she's ALWAYS honest with me with her friendship. Those kinds of friends in life are keepers, and our living thousands of miles apart does not change our ability to be "there" for each other in almost every way.

She's in from CA to Virginia to visit her own family for the holidays, she along with her 3yo daughter Katie. I had sent her a email last week asking her what her plans were for this weekend because I really wanted to go try to visit her in VA and she told me that she was visiting a friend up in northern VA and wouldn't be able to meet with me this time.... I was selfishly disappointed.

However... I didn't know that she and my husband were planning a little sneak-a-visit of their own for ME!! When my phone rang, and I was clipping coupons, I saw that it was her and I answered, and I said "hello" and she asked how I was feeling and I told her like CRAP, and she said "wait, do you hear an echo??" I couldn't really make out what she said, and I said "what???" and then around the corner of my kitchen she walked. Honestly, if crying didn't hurt I'd have probably sat there and bawled my eyes out. And for a moment or two during her visit - I did. After my really CRAP week, it was the absolute BEST evening I could ask for. Dinner, drinks, laughter, and friends - that's what I'm talkin about people.

Our kids had so much fun hanging out too ;-)

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. ~Elisabeth Foley

a shout out

Day 20

I'm usually not the medication type. I prefer to TRY to heal w/o modern meds, but there IS a time and place for them (you know this if you've read about my gall bladder fiasco)... so, to the makers of Vicodin®, Skelaxin®, and 800 mg Ibuprophin - I'd like to kiss your faces and say thanks for helping reduce some of the pain my body feels. I'm not going to pretend I'm superwoman, I hurt like CRAZY and it really isn't what I expected. But the docs are saying that 40mph impact when I was completely stopped is fairly significant...

Long story short - whiplash SUCKS.

Either way, if I didn't have the medication it'd be pretty hard to function with the neck and back pain. So I'm grateful for modern meds!

day 19 - very grateful

The price of a 2007 Camry...... appx $19,000.00....

like the one pictured below BEFORE it was crashed into... (that I was driving today)

The cost of the car seat our child was buckled in.... appx $279.99

The time it took for everything to change.... a split second.

What it felt like to turn around and see our child perfectly safe..... PRICELESS.

... and for that I'm THANKFUL.

We were driving a loaner car today, because my car was in the shop for some repairs. We were headed to pick up big E on our regular route and had stopped for a car in front of us when a SUV came plowing into the rear of this Camry at 40mph. This picture may not look like it, but the front AND rear of this vehicle got smashed and the damage is around 7000.00. The entire rear end will have to be rebuilt. This would have nearly totaled my 2004 Honda Element. What matters most is that little J is FINE. He has some very minor bruises, a cut lip from biting it as we were hit, and never even cried for a second. In fact, he instantly said "wow mommy that was really loud, I think your engine is broken!! Will you hold my hand, it is scary!" We were the middle car, the car in front of us got smacked by our front end pretty good, but the drivers of both the car that hit us AND the car that we in turn hit - are FINE. I'm going to be ok, I'm very sore, my face hit the steering wheel before the seatbelt yanked me with hulk like force back into the seat, so I have some back and neck problems - but it could have been ALOT WORSE.

lazy moments

Day 18

I'm thankful for having a little time to myself right now. I needed a few minutes of 'lazy'. I put away my work (which I have ALOT of) and decided to read my favorite blogs, and goof off for 30 minutes. Got some Christmas shopping done online, and relaxed.... now - back to reality.

day 17 NaBloPoMo

Day 17

Last night little J fell into the coffee table nose first. I'm so thankful that he didn't get hurt worse. He was doing a Lego Indiana Jones stunt move... sortof a duck, tuck and roll move and lost his footing and slipped into the corner of our wooden table and cracked the bridge of his nose pretty good. It could have been much much worse.

hanging on

Day 16

This is the last leaf that was on our tree... it's officially naked as of today. When I took this picture the sun was blaring down on this tiny little leaf just hanging on for dear life after the aftermath of hurricane/tropical storm/tropical depression Ida ripped through here dumping 6-8 inches of rain in 4 days and lots of gusty winds. It was almost like the little leaf just needed to be noticed! Our tree wasn't bare until that storm hit. It funny to look up and see this one lonely leaf hanging tight after that storm. Such is the irony of life, and the storms we weather - sometimes we CAN just "hang on" - can't we ;-).

I'm thankful for most of the storms in my life, even though at the time I'm not very thankful. The aftermath of each circumstance and situation seems to build me. It's defiantly a crossroads with every storm, to decide which road to take. How to hang on, and survive without being beat down by the storms... that has become more important then stepping into the storms path. My emotional survival depends 100% on my attitude, my strength, and my will to see a positive outcome. This is a lesson that is REALLY hard to learn. Much much easier said then done, but I'm learning day by day ;-).

leftovers

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~Melody Beattie

Day 15

lots of leftover mashed potatoes and devilled eggs...

leftover candid sweet potatoes....
leftover turkey, dressing, corn, green beans, gravy, potato salad, and even dessert....

I'm thankful for the leftover food (yummy!!)...

I'm also thankful for the leftovers of life. Sometimes life throws us alot all at once, and we handle what we can right then. What's "leftover" is usually bits and pieces to sort out, and I'm thankful for the many moments in my life over the past year where I've felt like my plate was too full and then found out that the leftovers were just bitter sweet in the end... Some days, I forget how precious life really is. Thanksgiving should really be EVERY day. (not so much the food - I'd be super huge and unhealthy...) Maybe that makes sense, but probably not. ;-)

giving thanks, early

Day 14

We have big J's brother in from Texas visiting, so we're having Thanksgiving early with him. Today will be full of yummy smells in the house, like candid yams, turkey baking, cinnamon boiling in water to smell up the house for the season. We're also making mashed potatoes, devilled eggs, cranberry sauce, oreo pie, and banana pudding. My mother in law is making her absolutely yummy dressing, and they're bringing over green beans, corn, and gravy.

It's destined to be a yummy day!!! I'm so thankful today to have our family to celebrate with.

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.

~Edward Sandford Martin

sunset

Day 13

Tonight while I was driving to pick up big E from his school club meeting, I was so thankful to see the gorgeous sunset. I pulled over to take photos. I took several, but I think this may be the better of them. I'm so thankful for such a beautiful ending to several days of rain!

The sky looked like beautiful lava pouring in all around me...

this photo is un-edited (minus the frame)

.

colors

Day 12

I'm grateful for being able to SEE! I love looking at the vibrant colors of fall. This photo is straight out of the camera and I added a frame.

This tree REALLY is THIS red!! I drive past it daily.

wow the rain...

Day 11

It's been raining ALL day, and heavy at times. I'm just thankful to have a home, to have heat, to have a cozy couch and bed. All too often I forget how fortunate we are....

I'm also thankful for all of those who serve and have served our country on this Veterans day...

quackers...

Day 10

It's supposed to rain today. Alot. However, over the weekend we had AMAZING weather. We went to one of our favorite parks with a couple of packs of crackers and fed the ducks. The scenery is always so peaceful and calming. We went around 430pm and the sun was beginning to set as we were leaving.

We finally found the ducks, and we fed them "quackers"... HA.

Again, not one of my most focused photos... I'm working on that.

Stellan is SVT free

Day 9

Tonight I'm thankful to read that Stellan is SVT free. If you've never read his story, go HERE to read all about it... it's been a long scary journey for Stellan and his family. The ride isn't over yet, there's still recovery ahead, but they were able to get his procedure done today and he's officially SVT FREE!

Absolutely. Undeniably. Amazing.