Tuesday, November 13, 2012

~* 30 Days of Thanks *~

I've noticed that a lot of people have been posting, on Facebook or blogs, one thing they are thankful for each day of November. I would rather just list 30 things I'm thankful for right here, right now, and get it out of the way

I am thankful for:

1) My given family. Dysfunctional as they may be, I wouldn't know respect without my father. I wouldn't know how to turn on the oven without my mother. I wouldn't know the unconditional love of children without my sister. I wouldn't know the depth of familial bonds without my brother.

2) My chosen family. My husband and my dog. When one pisses me off, the other one is there to make me smile.

3) Seriously, my husband. It has been a rough ride so far, but that man is just as stubborn as I am and he has stuck to me like glue through all the twists and turns.

4) My friends. I don't have a lot of them, but seeing them each settle into happiness has taught me what it is to truly be happy for another person.

5) My job. I am so thankful to be able to say that I have a job that I love. I truly enjoy going to work every day, and I am thankful that it is a job that I can take with me if need be. I am granted an opportunity to help people improve their lives in so many ways, and that improves my life.

6) The gym. If it weren't for the gym, well, I wouldn't have a job. But I also wouldn't have anywhere to go when I just need to get away and clear my head for a bit.

7) My health. I am a ridiculously healthy person. Sure, I get recurring shingles, and that sucks, but in the big scope of things...shingles isn't a big deal.

8) Chick flicks. "13 Going on 30",  "P.S. I Love You", and "Love, Actually" have gotten me thru some sad times.

9) My driver's license. After 18months without it, I will never take it for granted again.

10) My lack of a car payment. One less thing to worry about.

11) Veterans. 'Nuff said.

12) My Catholic school education. I may have hated every day of every year I spent in Catholic school, but I will admit that I got a better quality education than I would have otherwise.

13) Our home. I am thankful to have a roof over my head, with food in the fridge, and a place to lay my head at night.

14) My hubs again. The 14th is his birthday, and I am thankful to have a reason to have cake.

15) BankShots, my cousin's bar. Best therapist's office/family reunion venue ever.

16) The Army- they provide my mortgage payment, health insurance, and education.

17) The Ravens. Real men wear purple.

18) 5:30am. No matter how bad I slept, how bad the day before was or the day ahead is going to be, at 5:30am Monday-Friday, I get to plaster on a smile and face my first client of the day with the hopes that the day will run smoothly.

19) Edy's Creamy Coconut Bars. Yum.

20) My Keurig. One cup of coffee, hot chocolate, or tea coming right up.

21) Holidays with my family. They are becoming fewer and farther between, and I cherish every one I am blessed with.

22) The distance between my family and I. We are close enough to make the trip if desired or necessary, but not so close than anyone is just going to "drop by".

23) Books. A getaway lies just beyond the cover.

24) Hot guys with their shirts off. Thank you, Channing Tatum.

25) Good music and the ability to hear it.

26) Birth control pills. I'm not a mom for a lot of reasons.

27) Video games. They provide the necessary break for the hubs when he needs his down time.

28) Guitars. Man, I do love listening to him play.

29) Christmas and all things Christmas related. Movies, cookies, music, smells...all of it.

30) The beach. Every beach. Any beach.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

~* It's His Party...*~

Well, it was, anyway. Yesterday. We celebrated the hubs' 25th birthday. Man, I feel old.

The party was kind of a last-minute thing. We had originally planned to take a weekend and go to the beach. You can do that in November in North Carolina. But, I realized that was really something I wanted to do, and we have been running a little light in the bank accounts, so we decided to do something else. We were going to go to the outlets for a day since the hubs does love to shop, and then do dinner at TGIFridays, because that's where we had our first dinner out together. But then he decided he wanted to have "a few people over". Oh, man.

I am not a good hostess. I know this. I accept this. I am extremely comfortable with this. I have no desire to change this. However, I decided to attempt to compromise this time. It's his birthday, after all. The guy deserves a party. So, I agreed with a few stipulations:

1) NO KIDS
2) I wasn't going to clean up ahead of time, and I wasn't going to clean up afterward.
3) Start early, finish early.
4) Keep it outside. I panic about having that many people inside of the house. I don't know why.

Hmm, I think that sounds simple. But it never really is. There were about a dozen or so people. One guy brought his kid. The kid was quiet, but got into everything, and ended up having a free-standing shelving unit fall on his head. At least it was empty. (The shelving unit, not the kid's head). I didn't clean up ahead of time, but I did have to set up because the hubs is ALWAYS running late. I didn't clean up much afterward, but I did have to bring in some of the food that was left outside. We had people here for 7 freakin' hours. Too damn long. It got cold after it got dark, and rude as it may have been, I came inside and got cozy under a blanket for the last half hour. And, for the most part, people did stay outside, but there were a few times when every guy there was in the house- shots, I presume.

I tried. I really did. I just am not a partier. I don't drink much, and people who are drunk get on my nerves. But, I still think things went fairly well. Nobody puked, nobody got a DUI, nobody crashed on the couch, none of our belongings were destroyed or stolen, and the hubs got the party he wanted. Happy birthday babe ;)
" Don't place your better days in the future."