day 9

I am thankful for my friends.  ALL of my friends;  my bestie {hi bestie!}, my work friends, my school friends {the parents of my kids' friends, no I haven't gone back to school}, my blog buddies.  Who else can lift your spirits better than your friends?  I'll answer that...nobody!  It is refreshing to have a group of people who understand, sympathize, and care about the "goings on" in my life.  It is rare that I don't have a conversation with one of my friends where I don't walk away feeling, "I am not alone!"  They inspire me, support me, school me, call me out and, every now and again, actually come to me for advise and support.  It's a good feeling.  I thank God that I'm blessed with a lot of really great friends.

day 8

Today I'm thankful for our beautiful weather.  And, also thankful that we're not having to deal with the devastating effects of the weather our friends in the Northeast have had to endure!

day 7

Well, I've been pouting for the better half of the day today.  But, you didn't come here to read my political rants, did you?  I think we can all agree that we're sick to death of politics right now.

So, here's what I'm thankful for today.

I'm thankful that when I opened my mailbox today I wasn't bombarded with political junk mail.  I'm thankful that my phone hasn't been ringing off the hook tonight.  I'm thankful for the glass of wine I'm drinking, as I type.  I'm thankful for my crock pot.

But, most of all I'm thankful for my faith.  I can let this all go with the hope of a better tomorrow knowing that God knows His plans for us.  Perhaps it will make my family stronger.  Perhaps it will make Chris and me fight for our kids that much harder.  Perhaps this will, in the end, be what's best for the country.  Only He knows.  And, I have faith.

day 6

I'm thankful for the right to vote.

How lucky are we, as a country, to have the opportunity to choose who runs our country?  We get to decide, each of us,  for ourselves, who to vote for.  It is a privilege that I am truly grateful to have.

I hope you all exercised your right to vote!

{and I hope tomorrow that I can be thankful that the candidate I voted for is the victor!  fingers are crossed!!}

day 5

I'm thankful for my job and my boss.

I wish I could be a stay at home Mom.  I really do.  There are a lot of people out there who think that if you sacrifice enough then it's possible for anyone.  Sorry, not true.  We do a lot of scrimping around here, but it's not enough...I have to work.

That's why I'm so thankful for my job.  A lot of people are in our same boat, but have lost their jobs and they're really struggling.  I am so thankful to be employed, but especially thankful to work where I do.  I'm lucky enough to be employed by someone who understands and appreciates how hard the job "Mom" is.  I'm lucky enough to work part time and to be home 2 days a week.  I'm lucky enough to be able to pick up my kids from school every day, but one.  I'm lucky enough to be able to stay home with sick kids, if needed, or get off early for a Dr.'s appointment.  Not only that, but I'm appreciated and valued and trusted.

I am truly blessed!

day 4

I'm thankful for my siblings {originals Karen and Diane and "acquired later" Michael, Cory, Alison  Andy and Jim}.

I just spent the better part of 10 minutes looking for a quote about siblings.  You didn't even miss me, did you?  It was all for nothing...I couldn't find it.  But here's what I kind of remember about it...your siblings "get" you the best.  They really, really know you.  They've loved you, and hated you, and then loved you again.  Nobody understands you more...not even your spouse.  They know where you came from, how you were raised, things that hurt you, things that make you happy...they understand and witnessed you becoming you.  They are your history...the good, the bad, and the ugly!

Now, the "acquired later" variety...they're good for a whole other reason!  These are people who are forced into your life, whether you like it or not!  Some you have an instant connection with,  some the connection takes time.  Your common love for somebody else is what ultimately brings you together and, in my case, is what makes me truly view them as my sibling too.  Plus, they're good to have around when you want to pick on an "original"!   ;)

I'm grateful for them all, the "originals" and the "acquired laters"!

day 3

I am thankful for my parents.

When I was little, even during those moments I felt sure that I was adopted, even when I really, really messed up, I never once questioned if my Mom and Dad loved me.  They have always shown me unconditional love.  They have always been there when I needed them.  They have put up with me at my worst.  They are my "go to" people when parenting feels overwhelming, when I feel like I'm failing {which is a lot, by the way}.  I'm blessed to have them in my life, and my children are blessed to have them in their lives.

30 days of Thanksgiving { days 1 & 2 }

Happy November people!  I've seen some people doing this on Facebook and I thought it's a nice idea...why not do it on my blog!  So, here I is :)  {I totally know that isn't the correct way to say that, Mom}.

Some of you may, or may not, know that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I love that it's a time to come together with family and be thoughtful about all the things we have to be thankful for...no expectations.  No gifts, no Santa, no last minute wrapping looming over us, no pressure {except for the cooking part, but really we all just do that to ourselves, you know?}

So, for the next 30 days I should be posting every day.  Should be.  I'll try my best...let's leave it at that.

Day 1.  I'm Thankful for the life God has given to me.

Day 2.  I'm thankful for my little family, Chris, Colin, Ty, and Eden.  {And, CGF...you too... I remember you every day!}        


Now I'm off to do some Thanksgiving decorating!

That is all.

What has happened to Rebecca?

Well, let me just say that I've really been contemplating the future of my blog.

1. I cannot change my banner because Picasa is, for some reason, not working well.  I'm not sure what the issue is but it's not showing all my photos.  For instance, if I took 20 pictures at an event, it's only showing 5.  It's really frustrating me.  I've tried to un-install Picasa and then reinstall it, but it's not helping the situation at all.  So, that made me mad for a while, keeping me from blogging.

2.  Although I do like to think of this as a family diary of sorts, I'm questioning why I'm using a blog for that outlet.  I do like to share ideas that I have or things that I do because it's a fun way to connect with other moms.  Only, there isn't much connecting going on.  I feel like it's another outlet for voyeurism...much like facebook, only my blog is so much more personal.  I feel like I haven't seen or spoken to people in so long but they don't really need to see me or speak to me because they can just tune into my blog and catch up.  Only I don't get to catch up with them.   Half the fun of blogging is getting comments.  Thank you, Dad, for always leaving me one because you know how much I like to get them.

3.  Time.  I just don't have much time.  Three kids, two of whom are in sports, keep us quite busy.  Not to mention all their laundry :).  And, I work part-time.  I don't even really do fun projects anymore.  I love to create and the blog allows me to do that through writing, but I could just do that privately...then I could share more ;).

So, this is where I am right now.  Maybe it's just a phase.  Maybe it's the end of my blog.  Right now I'm not sure.

(I'd ask for a vote, but I'm guessing I'd get one, maybe two, comments. :) )

Well, here it is.  My newest post...since July 10th!!!!

Hee, hee, hee.  I've been taking it easy and enjoying a summer break.

Which is now over.


And just like that, they're back in school...

(Not all of them, of course).  Eden is attending "Gigi and Dad-dad School".  That's what we tell her because she so badly wants to go to school like her boys.  She even got a backpack.  It's pretty cool.


I was SO ready for school to start.  And also so not readyfor school to start...lunches, morning routines...you know, the usual suspects.

This was the boys bedroom the Sunday night before school at about 5pm.  Urg.

Great big back-to-school fail for this mom this year!  

But, the good news is that there is a reason for my unpreparedness.  (that is a word!  I checked...)  We, last week, had 2 people contact us about our house!  This is really something (I hope) because we do not have our house on the market.  Amazing, I know.

We live in a small town.  Word gets around in small towns.  I guess it's pretty well known that we hoped to sell pretty soon.  Then our neighbors moved (boo) and we got new neighbors.  With friends.  And some of those friends, it turns out, like our house. (yay!)

We aren't ready to move quite yet, (not at all actually) but we've agreed to show it and maybe get the ball rolling on an actual purchase.  So, needless to say, I've been a scrambling fool trying to make all closets seem huge and a basement de-cluttered.  That has been an eye opener!  I thought that we were pretty scaled down around here...we have A Lot of stuff!  And, it goes against every fiber of my being to "stuff".  On more than one occasion I've caught myself doing things like separating my straight pins from my safety pins, modge-podging cardboard boxes with pretty paper to use in my closets so I wouldn't have to buy baskets, pulling out baby keepsakes and reminiscing...sigh.  And then...

Hello, my name is Rebecca and I'm a hypocrite....

This is my wedding bouquet.  Yes it is.  It still looks so pretty, right?  I'm ashamed to admit that I may (I totally did) have encouraged a certain someone to throw hers away... haughtily, I might add.  

"Why?  Why do you need to keep that?  What purpose does it serve?  That's silly!"

So I've memorialized my (almost) thirteen- year- old, dried-out wedding bouquet in photographs, and soon it will be nothing but a memory. (gulp). Why is that so hard to type!?

           I must stay strong.  I must carry on.  I must not keep crusty bouquets.  I will triumph!

**sniff**

Until next time...