So Thankful - November 29

Today I'm thankful for MOMS Club!  I just got home from a MOMS Club Board Meeting so this group of ladies is on  my mind right now.  When Chris and I made the decision that I would "stay home" with the girls, I was terrified.  I was worried about myself - getting bored and lost and stagnant.  I was even more worried about B and how she would grow socially being stuck home with just ME to interact with.  I started taking her as a baby to ecfe classes and to the public library's baby storyhour (I STILL love baby storyhour...Miss Julie at our library is the BEST!).  It was at storyhour that I overheard my now good friend Claudette conversing with another Mom.  I stuck my nose in and said, "wait a minute...what are you talking about?" Claudette was a fantastic ambassador for the Brooklyn Park MOMS Club.  She told me all about it and I was hooked before I was even a member.  Because of this group of 30-35 stay-at-home or semi-stay-at-home MOMS, I can honestly say that my children are being raised by a village (well - because of them AND my amazing family...but I think I've already been down THAT particular road on this blog).  We've been a part of playgroups, we've had dozens and dozens of park playdates, we've done community service projects together (as seen in the above photo taken at "Feed My Starving Children" - who DOESN'T look great in a hairnet?), we've celebrated and we've supported each other both in happy times and challenging times.  Some of my best friends have come out of this group.  It is a great group of women and I am so thankful for them.

So Thankful - November 27

Today - is Tuesday.  On Tuesday mornings, I take Emily to speech.  Her speech starts at 9:15 am and the "free" preschool and the ECSE class start at 9:30.  This means that every Tuesday morning, I sit in the waiting area at this wonderful facility and watch parents who absolutely cannot afford to enroll their children in preschool drop off their kids.  And then I watch amazing teachers and paras meet busses to roll, carry, or lead special needs children to their classroom.  Every Tuesday I watch MY child grab her speech teacher's hand with a giant smile and literally skip her way down the hallway.  Happy, healthy, secure - - the biggest problem in her little world is an inability to articulate a hard "K" sound.  I am so very lucky.

And then I go "home" to Alexandria to see my family and I watch in awe as my incredible, 7 year old  nephew throws a perfect spiral or a tough slapshot.  And I realize how quickly things can change both for the better AND for the worse.  If we were living solely by statistics, he would NOT have outlived the cancer that invaded his body when he was 4 years old.  But he did.  And he is amazing.  IT is amazing.

Today I am thankful for the good health of my family!

So Thankful - November 25

It turned cold here in Minnesota.  So cold.  So fast.  Thanksgiving morning, I went out to my van in my pajamas, barefoot...by noon, the snow was flying and it was 25 degrees.  Luckily, Chris and Britta put up the Christmas lights BEFORE it turned so brutally cold though we neglected to turn them ON until after Thanksgiving (anything else is a bit obnoxious, right?).  Anyway - THIS is a photo of my warm, cozy little house tonight.  I definitely did not see us still living in this little townhome with two kids, a cat and a couple of turtles.  We were SUPPOSED to be in a 4 bedroom with a big backyard by now.  But - we've definitely made the best of our situation and are living quite happily in our cozy little house. We have good neighbors sharing our driveway, a beautiful 3 year old remodel job on the interior ... it is warm and safe and ours.

Tonight - I am thankful for the comfortable, safe, WARM roof over our heads!

So Thankful - November 24

This is Maynerd.  We brought him home from an adoption day...in a cardboard box...when he was a kitten.  He is the most awesome cat I've ever met.  He is gregarious and playful, patient and gentle.  He was our very first "child" and yet adapted to the addition of our human kids as if he knew all along that his place in the hierarchy would someday be usurped.  When the girls were tiny, they would quite literally haul him around the house by his neck, an ear or a back leg and he never once scratched or bit and rarely even let out a yelp - instead, just looked at us with his gentle eyes as if to say, "do you see?  do you SEE the humiliation I put up with to be a member of this family?"  the girls have grown up a bit and now he curls up, purring in Britta's lap when she's watching cartoons and sneaks into Emily's bed when you're reading her a story.  He does tricks and manages to win over many self proclaimed "cat haters" who visit.  I am thankful that we have such an awesome, awesome pet as part of our family.

So Thankful - November 23

THIS is my messy, messy but very full cupboard!  I feel very blessed to live in a country where clean water and good food is plentiful, available and relatively inexpensive.  I feel blessed that while we have definitely experienced periods of "want" in our family, we have never experienced an empty cupboard.  In fact - when January rolls around, the shows have been less plentiful and the checking account is getting a little skinny...THAT is usually when we eat the best!  'cause THAT is when I dig into the depths of the cupboard and start getting creative instead of just making "the usual".
I'm thankful for good food.  I'm thankful that both Chris and I are good cooks.  And since I like to eat?  I'm thankful for food in general!

So Thankful - November 22

Today - I am thankful for naps!  Yup!  It's true!  Maybe a little bit of a strange thing to be thankful for, but there you have it!

I took this photo a couple of days ago when Em randomly fell asleep in the rocking chair all on her own.  She had apparently been helping Daddy & B put up the Christmas lights outside...she disappeared for a while and this is how we found her.  Good for her!  :)  Both my girls gave up their naps REALLY early.  We haven't had a 'nap time' at our house in at least 18 months.  Which is a very sad thing.  But every now and again --- the little one still falls asleep for a snooze.  She is always in a better mood come bedtime if she's had a solid rest in the afternoon.

One of the greatest blessings of the Thanksgiving celebration is always the annual naptime.  Everyone crashes - the whole house is basically a big crash-zone.  This year, I wanted my little one to take a real nap (which she doesn't normally do anymore) so I took her upstairs and laid down with her and we had the NICEST snuggle and nap.  There is nothing quite like falling asleep with a little person breathing on your cheek.  I started feeling guilty about missing out on kitchen clean-up or whatever so I went downstairs to find out that everyone was crashed in varying states of playing quietly, watching football...so I lay down on the floor by my Dad and we were both snoring in no time.  It was blissful!

So Thankful - November 21

And *THIS* is my "big girl".  The beauty that started it all and changed our lives.  Do I look tired in this photo?  'cause I WAS!  I was also exhilarated and absolutely in love!  This is my Britta Christine...our "B"...our "Beaner" or "Beans".  It's a little bit of a strange feeling to watch someone else, the way that they approach things, the way that they think, the way that they move, their inherent abilities and "dis"-abilities and absolutely, positively see yourself every day.  B is my "mini Me".  She is friendly, passionate, creative.  She loves fiercely.  She follows the rules...almost every single time.  And THIS is Britta today, of course.

She's all hair!  She captures attention everywhere and anywhere that we go with her enormous, uncontrollable, "golden" curls.  She KEEPS that attention with her charm...and her sneaky intelligence.  The things that come out of this girl's brain...

I cannot WAIT to see what she comes up with next!  And I am so very thankful for her!

So Thankful - November 20

*THIS* is my baby!  My Monkey-doodle!  My peanut!  My Em!  And *THIS* is my favorite baby picture of her.  She was a few short hours old when this photo was taken but it displays the personality that we would grow to know and love.  Yes, children are definitely a product of their environment, their nurture...but a lot of Emily's personality is absolutely nature!  She came out, picked up her head like she'd been holding it up for years, looked around the room and then looked back at me as if to say, "huh - so this is 'it', huh Mom?  Well...let's DO this thing then!"  She is independent and strong, funny and clever.  She is sweet and caring.  She has never met a stranger - only new friends (yup - sometimes this makes me a little nervous).  She, of course, worships her big sister even as she scraps with her.  She loves her Grandparents and her cousin Brady.  She completes our family...like a big exclamation mark at the end of the sentence.  I am ridiculously thankful for her every single day!  

So Thankful - November 19

Today - I am thankful for *this* guy.  I met this guy 15 years ago - in the summer of 1997.  I married him 13 years ago in June of 1999. I am thankful for him because of what you see in these pictures.  He's goofy and playful. He makes me laugh.  Over the years we've spent a lot of time playing together - he's taught me to play paintball and shoot a handgun.  I've sucked him into the wonders of SCUBA diving and inspired him to start running again.    

And I'm thankful for *this* guy - THIS is the guy who works hard to build an amazing business that he is proud of - that I am proud of.  Someday his daughters will be so very amazed by the hardworking entrepreneur that is their Daddy.  And they will learn hard work and professionalism from watching him work.  All they know right now is that he has a really fun warehouse!  :)  This particular photo was taken on a rare project that we were blessed to work TOGETHER at U2 in 2011.  We work amazingly well together.  

And - I'm thankful for *this* guy - who I know loves me.  Very much.  Who desperately wants to spend time with me, who loves to travel with me, who loves to play with me, who loves to sit and watch TV with me.  

And I'm probably MOST thankful for *this* guy - this is the guy who is helping me every day to raise the two most amazing little girls!  He was a diaper changing master, supported me through the trials and tribulations of nursing, helps me to be a working, stay-at-home Mom.  This is the guy who dreams up science experiments to do with his daughters, who wrestles with them in the living room after work and sends postcards from his travel.  This is the guy who gets up in the middle of the night or early in the morning with a little girl who thinks sleep is "boring" so that I don't have to.  This is the guy whose love for me is surpassed only by his love for his daughters.  

So Thankful - November 18

It.  Is.  Beautiful outside!  And it's nearing the end of November already!  Living in Minnesota, one of the wonderful (and awful) things about our weather is that it can be very unpredictable.  Today - I'm thankful for this surprisingly sunshiney, warm, beautiful day.  And I'm thankful that these random days occur now and again...the surprise 80 degree day in the midst of weeks of 100 degree weather.  The 35 degree day that pops up in January and the 55 degree day that appears in the middle of November.  Instead of being a day spent indoors, cleaning house or trying to keep the kids from killing each other...we did THIS:

And this:

Days like these are hard to take for granted!  They are a blessing!  And for that, I am thankful!

So Thankful - November 17

I made a half-hearted attempt at getting a candid-ish photo of my family tonight...we were short two integral pieces AND instagram cut off 3 more (plus me, I guess) so this is a fraction of the group.
Today - I am thankful for my extended family...we are a crazy group.  I don't know many families like ours who get together for a big family dinner at least once a month...who play together and work together as easily and often as we do.  Some of them make me a little bit crazy on a fairly regular basis but I can't imagine my life without them.  And I post this today because even though it is the Saturday before Thanksgiving, there was a large effort made for us all to be together for my Mom's Birthday celebration.  My sister abandoned her husband and drove two hours, my girls and I drove two hours up and back for the day.  and this is perfectly normal.
My daughters are growing up knowing that their Auntie Kristen can fix their ouchies (she IS a doctor after all) and knowing that their crazy Uncle Jon is going to tease them mercilessly.  Knowing that their Auntie Carly will whip out a spontaneous craft (she's awfully crafty for someone who claims to not be crafty...) when everyone starts getting squirrely before dinner.  I think they are still figuring out what to make of their Uncle Andy - the newest member of the group, but they get awfully excited when he's around.
And I already gushed about the amazingness of my Mom...and Dad is just as amazing.
We love each other - we support each other - we are crazy close and I couldn't be more thankful for my amazing, crazy, frustrating, annoying, supportive, hard-working, fantastic family!

So Thankful - November 16

Today is another easy and obvious answer as to what I'm thankful for!  My Mom!  I have so very many reasons to be thankful for her today --- first and foremost, it is her 60th birthday today!  Happy Birthday Mom!

Second - while I was in Iowa for the last 3 days, she left behind her work and her husband and her life and moved into my house to parent my children for Chris and I.  This is a fairly regular occurrence and she should possibly be nominated for sainthood for her patience with our crazy schedule.

The ode to my Mom is long and complicated and ridiculously gushy.  I'll try to boil my verbosity down to a few main points...
She has always loved and supported her children in every ridiculous thing that we've undertaken.  She's been there to talk us off cliffs, to encourage us, to challenge us.  She is the kind of mother that every mother should aspire to be.  She taught us to care for each other, to put family first, to care for friends and strangers, to work hard - to work long and to play with eagerness.
She is the best Grandma that I can possibly imagine for my children and my niece & nephews.  Her grandchildren can do no wrong, she spoils them thoroughly and she is brave enough to take them all!  And often!

I am so so so thankful for my absolutely amazing Mom!

So Thankful - November 15

It's November 15.  I'm halfway through this month of thankfulness and I have to say that the experiment of coming up with something concrete to appreciate each and every day is a fantastic one!  It has me noticing everything and everyone around me more than I usually do.

Today - I sat down at my desk, closed my office door and booted up Pandora.  I was feeling a confusing mix of emotional exhaustion and incredible upbeat pep.  And Pandora fed me PERFECT music for at least an hour.  Each and every song was one that spoke to me directly, was something I wanted to sing along to and seemed to be handpicked for what was going on in my strange brain.

My life has always had a soundtrack.  I've always found beauty and meaning in lyrics - definitely always preferring songs that tell a story or convey a message to one that just provides a hearty beat.  If only I were a poet... but I most definitely am not.  And frankly, I don't usually enjoy straight poetry - but set that poetry to music and I am in!

Music was an enormous part of my younger life.  I played piano, flute, oboe...I sang ALL the time.  And while I gave up all of those pursuits mysteriously in college...I have maintained my love and appreciation for music well-done and I have very varied tastes - Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Jason Mraz, Big & Rich, Ani Difranco, Adele, Pink, Kid Rock...there are actually few that I don't have an appreciation for I think.

And I've been lucky enough  - SO lucky enough - to have found a career firmly entrenched in the music business.  So I am thankful for music!  Of all kinds...anything that speaks to the soul.  And today - I'm thankful for the Pandora-gods who are sending me the perfect soundtrack for my day!

So Thankful - November 14

Today I am thankful for this sunrise...specifically for this sunrise behind this casino sign.  I can't quite articulate precisely why this specific sight brought me so much pleasure this morning, but it did.  I'm pleased that the current me loves herself enough to get out of bed an hour early and seek out a run.  Pleased that I'm strong enough to find a random route that will let me get my miles in even though that less than idyllic route was basically a weaving through and around hotels and restaurants through parking lots.  And the smile wrapped up in this casino sign might be the 20 minutes that my friend Matty and I spent in this casino last night discussing the merits of a gamble as he plunked some cash down on the roulette wheel.  I think it's that combined with the beautiful sunrise here in middle America on a beautiful morning.

 I'm thankful for this specific sunrise!  

So Thankful - November 13

I'm pretty grumpy right now that I didn't think to take a picture to go along with this post.  I am in Council Bluffs, IA right now for work (right next door to Omaha, NE).  The amazing part about being sent to this corner of the world is that I occasionally get to see my good friend Matty.  Matt and I had dinner last night - - at Hooter's.  I'd never been to a Hooter's before and I was one of two women in the joint who weren't wearing bright orange shorts.  If ONLY I had thought to pick up my ever-present cell phone and snap an arms-length photo of Matty and I.  I have half a mind to call him up and have him come back to remedy that!  (Or - just hook up with him at home at the holidays.)  

The point is - Matt and I caught up - and reminisced - and tried desperately to remember little bits and pieces that we couldn't QUITE bring up in memory.  And this made me thankful for Matty, yes.  But really - for memories and the past - those bits and pieces both small and large that formed me into the person that I am today.  Specifically - I am very thankful for my high school career.  Matty and I agreed that we were remarkably "good" kids.  That we didn't push the envelope.  We didn't drink or do drugs.  We were home by curfew.  But - we drove too fast, packed too many kids into a giant yellow pick-up truck, drank too much Mountain Dew and ate a lot of sunflower seeds.  We had an idyllic high school career.  We had an amazing little group of friends, we played hard but behaved ourselves.  My little group included half boys and half girls...some dated, some didn't but it didn't seem to matter.  Yes, my boyfriend was part of that group or I never would have been accepted "in".  And that boyfriend and Matty were ushers in my wedding and I'm still in touch with them on a relatively regular basis.  I look back on that time with nostalgia, and a clean, simple, giant smile on my face.  If I could rewrite my high school days I absolutely, positively would NOT change a thing.

I wouldn't change my relationship with that first boyfriend.
I wouldn't change the countless hours spent "cruising Broadway" in the "Canary" - my boyfriend's GIANT, yellow, pick-up.
I wouldn't change the random trip to St Cloud in my tank of a car with Jen & Matty
I wouldn't change the equally (if not more so) random trip skiing with Matty and another from our group
I wouldn't change the storm chasing that I did with a friend who was deathly afraid of thunderstorms
I wouldn't change the hours spent hanging out in A&W while my friends slung burgers & fries

I'm certain that my memory has glossed over unpleasant memories as it is so apt to do.  For that, I guess I am also thankful.

Today, I am thankful for my friend Matt who met me for dinner tonight to reminisce and whose friendship seems to just get absolutely better with age.
And - I am thankful for my high school memories - they continue to shape me to this day.

So Thankful - November 12

Today - I'm thankful for what I'm going to call 'everyday friends'.  You know the ones, right?  Those friends that are just a neat and tidy part of your everyday.  Maybe you've known them forever, maybe they slipped into your life like a comfortable sweater recently and you can't quite remember life before them.  The ones that see you with your hair in a ponytail, no makeup, wearing your sweats and don't even notice that your t-shirt is on inside out.  The ones that pick up your kid from school because she's "in the area anyway".  The friends who praise and discipline your children as comfortably and fluently as they do their own.  They are comfortable in your kitchen and you don't blush over the dirty dishes in the sink.  They can give you grief over your tendency to be late and scatterbrained and all you feel is love in the commentary.  You wouldn't dream of making a clothing or shoe purchase without their approval - and if you do, you always, inevitably wind up returning it for one reason or another.  Some of mine live a million miles away and some live just up the street.  Some I see every day and some slip in and out of my life so easily that I barely notice the absence.  Sometimes I take them for granted and sometimes that is the very beauty of the relationship.  Today - Today I am very, very thankful for them!

So Thankful - November 11

"Tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree..."

Yup!  It's a bit of an obvious one considering the holiday, but today I'm thankful for the veterans...all of 'em, of course...but particularly those that I am close to.  Leaving alone (no disrespect intended) the countless uncles, grandparents, extended relatives - not to mention my Dad, of course - who have stepped up to protect this country when called upon...I am grateful for those that are currently or have recently done their part so that I don't have to.  I am thankful for the Brad S's of the world, the Mattys, the Franks, the Steves...all those whose might and bravery keep the badness at bay and keep my family safe.  I'll confess that most years this is one of those holidays that comes and goes with hardly a backward glance from me.  This year - it lands 2 days before I'm going to have a rare opportunity to catch up with my Matty who is stationed in Omaha...and a few short weeks after one of my very best friends' husbands shipped off to Afghanistan.  (The ribbon photo was taken in their front yard tonight.)  For that matter, I'm thankful for all those who stay behind and keep soldiers' lives ticking along without them while they are off doing what they need to do.  I'm thankful for the Lisa's of the world who do their very best to keep the home fires burning.  

So Thankful - November 10

So here's a little funny something...I was all set to post a picture of my cell phone and claim that today I was thankful for my dueling smartphones...because I am currently using both of them (yes - I carry two - and yes - that's weird) to keep myself entertained while I hawk my children from the hallway.  They are mid-sleepover and I am determined that they will all go to sleep soon so I am being THAT mother.  Anyway...as I took the picture, it occurred to me that my phone said that it was nearly 9 pm...on November 10...and it is 62 degrees outside.  And - there was some very loud, very unexpected, very beautiful thunder while we were sitting down to dinner tonight.  So - I am thankful for Minnesota weather.  I may not feel the same way come February 25 but right now...I am thankful that we get 4 distinct seasons.  I am thankful that our world is made up of such varying colors dependent on those 4 distinct seasons.  Thankful that we have completely different wardrobes to accommodate them.  Thankful that they are predictable in their unpredictability.  Thankful that we left the house this morning in winter coats and returned coatless, hatless, short-sleeved to open all of the windows in the house and bask in the mid-November warmth. Thankful specifically for this particular GORGEOUS day!  Thankful for Minnesota weather in general!

So Thankful - November 9

THIS is a photograph of my great, big kindergartener at her very first "Monarch Fair".  Her amazing school is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) Magnet school.  This means that they teach all of the same basic things as the average public school but they do it with an extra focus on STEM.  So all the students studied Monarch butterflies extensively for the first month or so of the school year.  B learned all about what they ate, how they grew, their life cycles, how they spun a chrysalis, turned into a butterfly...and they had caterpillars in their classroom that they watched through the whole process.  Every grade does a different type of "final" project which is then displayed all around the school for the big, annual "Monarch Fair" (essentially an Open House for the school).  She was SO excited to find the butterfly that she had made hanging in the gym...and then she was thrilled to show off the caterpillar that she had drawn on the computer that was hanging outside of her classroom.

Today - I am thankful for education in general...the fact that education is important in this country - that education is free and available regardless of skin color, sex, economic status...AND unfortunately not all schools are created equal - - so I'm also thankful that we, in Minnesota, have the ability to CHOOSE the school that our children will attend.  THIS particular school was discovered after hours and hours and days and weeks of research into the options available to us in our area.  It is definitely a longer bus ride than I would "prefer" but so far the experience is absolutely worth it.  Our little scientist has definitely found a home!

So Thankful - November 8

I know - I know - this is a photograph of "wishes" and really...I'm talking about "Dreams" today - but she's so darn cute, I couldn't resist!  And really?  they're kinda the same thing all grown up, aren't they?

Today I'm going to get all philosophical for a moment and be thankful for Dreams!  If it weren't for dreams, what on earth would we have to get up for every day?  When we're kids, we wish for ponies and rainbows...then we grow up and we wish that "he" would CALL...then we wish we could be married...we wish we could have a great job...we wish we could have kids...we wish those kids would grow up strong, intelligent, compassionate, graceful...we start to wish those kids would leave home!  (I assume?)...we wish for retirement...right?  I think I got a little stuck earlier this year not sure what my dreams were.  I am still in a particular place that makes it hard to articulate them but I'm getting closer to defining what they are again.  And for that?  I'm thankful.  Without those dreams, I'm a rudderless ship trudging from one day to the next.  With dreams, I have goals and plans and feel like I'm moving in a DIRECTION!

Today - I'm thankful for dreams!

So Thankful - November 7

It is November 7 --- and following a long work weekend...I was dog tired.  Apparently more tired than I thought I was.  'Cause my empathetic husband snuck out of bed early this morning - woke me up just enough to let me know that he was "setting the girls up" and going to work.  Next thing I knew, it was after 9 am and I was waking up to find two little girls fed and ready for their day.  Today - I am thankful for my ridiculously comfortable bed, restful sleep in general and a husband who knew better than I did how much I needed some extra time in/of both!

So Thankful - November 6

It is November 6 and today's "what am I thankful for?" question is a simple one (except that I woke up with something ELSE that I was also very thankful for...but that will just make tomorrow's post easy to come up with!)  Chris and I have an elaborate plan put together today to ensure that A) we both get to vote and B) we begin to instill in our children the importance of voting and the blessing that we GET to vote.
I went alone while Chris dealt with breakfast in case the lines were obnoxious (they were not) and then he'll take the big girl with him so that she can see the process.  We (starting with Chris) insisted on the news for a bit this morning before the obligatory cartoons came out so that he could talk to them about the political ads and the news reports detailing long lines at polling places.
I used to think that if you didn't know who to vote for...you just shouldn't vote.  So - I'll confess that there have been elections where I didn't vote at all.  *gasp*  It's hard for me to admit that now.  Older and wiser, I now realize that if you don't know who to vote for...you should research, dummy!  As hard as it is to admit sometimes when we're in the midst of October in an election year with the endless, despicable advertisements, the lawn signs, the grandstanding....we are absolutely blessed in this country that we have the opportunity to choose our leaders.

So Thankful - November 5

Today, I am so thankful that my girls have such fun relationships with their daddy.  Tonight, I felt like my heart was going to burst as I watched the way that they rough-housed and played.  Daddy was a tired, worn-out "horsey" after countless laps around the living room/dining area/kitchen loop.  And I really think that they both thought they were actually picking him up as he hoisted himself up in the air over the kitchen counter.  SO THANKFUL!

So Thankful - November 4

In my wacky professional world - I am blessed to work with some wacky, professional people!  We call them Runners!  And I have a great team of them!  This past weekend I spent 3 days in a row with them working an enormous concert with a lot of moving pieces.  They do a great job of locally supporting the touring crews by running errands, driving crew members back and forth from venue to hotel and back, dropping people at the airport, tracking down missing bits and pieces...they really are jacks-of-all-trades.  And my team, I affectionately consider "mine".  They take on all the odd jobs, they take care of me and they make me laugh!  This happens to be a great photo that they texted me around 2 am after I had sent them out to replace seats in our rental vans.  I love the three guys working hard as a team to replace the seat while one young lady "watches" with the camera and the other clearly supervises!  (which is pretty much exactly what I jokingly asked them to do.)  Today, I am thankful for my Runner Army!

So Thankful - November 3

So thankful for my awesome, awesome new obsession - hooray for kettlebells!  I feel strong and powerful...I can DEFINITELY tell a difference in the make-up of my body.  AND - they are mobile enough for me to bring my workout to work with me!  Yup - totally did a huge kettlebell workout in my office this morning before starting work for the day.

So Thankful - November 2

Today, I am thankful for *this* man.

It's hard for me to believe, but he's been my friend and mentor for 13 years already!  When I first met Chris I was a very young, very green, very naive box office manager.  He and I had an immediate connection and he has been my support, my home base, and my comfort zone for the entirety of my professional career.  I cannot imagine what my work life would look like without him in it somewhere.  For the last 5 years I have been truly blessed to call him my boss.

He has thrown me into the fire time and again but he has always supported me, always backed my play.  He is patient with me when he needs to be patient, and impatient with me when I need to be shook up a bit.

He always asks me how I am and he legitimately wants to know the answer.  He knows who I am and he cares about and supports my personal endeavors at least as much as he does my professional pursuits.  He gives a solid hug!

Among the important lessons he has taught me...learn everybody's name...greet everyone with the same enthusiasm from the person who picks up the trash to the GM of the building...be the first one there and the last one to leave...get paid! And he has taught me some lessons on what TO do by watching HIS mistakes - take care of yourself...get some sleep when you can...eat.

I haven't seen him for over a year and I'm blessed to be spending 3 whole days live and in his presence right now and I couldn't be happier about it.  Today, I am thankful for my wonderful boss!

So Thankful - November 1

November 1 - so begins an effort to document each day something that I'm particularly thankful for on that particular day.  I am purposely NOT starting with those things that SHOULD be the things that I am MOST thankful for (ie. my husband, my daughters, etc.)...instead, I'm attempting to sort of document my month with the things that are happening THAT day. So - don't be offended!  OBVIOUSLY, I'm more thankful for my family, my health, my home than my silly computer, but.......

Yes - you'll notice that I am a day late in posting this.  There's a reason for that...two reasons actually...first of all, I'm not as technologically savvy as I'd like to be - - I don't have the time nor the patience most of the time and I'm NEW to Instagram so it took me having someone younger and savvier looking over my shoulder to piece together the right way to do this (I was trying to make it WAY too difficult!) 

and second reason - well - I've been having some computer drama as of late.  AGAIN.  I am eyebrow deep in Madonna right now, and my company-owned computer is completely, 100%, unexpectedly DEAD!  So I am thankful, very thankful for the personal computer that I broke down and purchased this summer.  It is essentially keeping me afloat!  (But - the lack of computer has set me WAY behind and advancing Madonna yesterday had to take precedence over getting my "thankful" item posted!)