2013-11-09

TToT: Movember and More

I am thankful to be part of the Ten Things of Thankful party for TWO weeks in a row, woo hoo! There are many things to be thankful for, and so many things that I am really trying to focus on the positives about. Sometimes you have to dig pretty friggin' deep for the thankful part.


2.My husband turned 40 this week! Even though 40 seems to be the birthday that decorations go from shiny, happy, sparkly to BLACK with tombstones and "RIP" we feel the same, (so far) upon turning 40. We are thankful to be happy and healthy, and it seems the older we get, the better life gets. We require less physical things to be happy, and we are content to be home with our little family.

3.  I’m thankful for the children I watch in my home. Even when they get dropped off at 4a.m. Their parents bring them here, my children & I get to play with them, and the money their parents provide covers some cost of our meals. Some days are tough, but it’s the most rewarding job I have ever had.

  4.Thankful for my husband’s job which is far, and takes him away from us for so many hours every day. It is the reason we live in a house, which I am thankful for, even if I have to clean it! 

 5. Thankful for our backyard, yardwork and all! We have tons of leaves, had a fun time jumping and playing with them, until my neighbor pulled out his loud leaf blower and we had to go inside. We needed a break anyway.

6.  Thankful his job allows us to both have a vehicle, even if one of the places I go is taking my son to his job. This takes us about an hour every day (M-F) just to drop him off. An hour on a good day, if we don't have to turn around, drive back the 20-30 minutes to pick him right back up. My girls do NOT like being strapped into their car seats for that long. I try to bring books/toys/snacks to keep them occupied. 
    If we didn't have a vehicle to drive him there, and he had to rely on public transportation, this job would not be possible. It would take him almost an hour and a half ONE WAY to get to this place by public busses.

7.   Jobs are not something to be taken for granted at this time where we live, so we are thankful that he has this job. Even if they sent him home early THREE days out of 5 this week.

 8. If he can stay there long enough, this job will reimburse him for school. Phenomenally thankful if we can make that happen! My son is a teenager, I really try to be thankful for anything right now at this stage of life. Some days are a real struggle, but he is healthy, and hopefully one day he will be happy again, and resemble my funny, creative son again. We will be so very thankful whenever that happens!

9.  I’m very thankful for audiobooks, which make these trips everyday so much more enjoyable! Listening to book 5 of Game of Thrones, my favorite thing of anything ever. I listen when I push my girls in their stroller, and at night when the sounds of husband snoring, and the kids sleep-fussing fill the air.

 10. I am one of the few people thankful for Daylight Savings Time, where we turn back the clocks an hour in the fall and then ahead in the spring. EVERYONE with children complains about the adjustment, but if you have children waiting for a bus in the morning, this allows them to wait in LIGHT instead of in the cold, damp dark. 
from 4molnars.blogspot.com
    Before we did this last week, driving home the sun would be DIRECTLY in front of us, without chance of a workable sunscreen, for 20-30 minutes. The baby cried and wailed, she won’t keep sunglasses on. I would try to block it with my hand, but I did need to watch the road and the traffic. Now it gets dark at 4:00, but no more sun in our eyeballs.


28 comments:

  1. They get dropped off at FOUR AM! Holy crap on a cracker that's early! Wow!

    You have so much going on, and I love that you've found a HUGE amount to be thankful for.

    Reading between the lines, though, it sounds as though your son's job is taking its toll on him, and I hope that things improve soon. The entire effort to get him there and back to a job which is so unreliable must take a HUGE amount of work to stick with, regardless of how scarce jobs are or how important it is that he keeps this one.

    That they'll pay for his schooling is really good though - I hope they stick to that.

    And YAY! I know I have no leg to stand on (given I'm not in the 'Mommy Club') but I'm so pleased to find someone else who LOVES getting that extra hour back :)

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    1. "crap on a cracker" hahaha Yes, usually that girl comes twice a week at 5a.m., and this week 4! Long day :) I'm thankful she plays well with my daughter. Focus on the positives right?
      My son's job, UGH, quite the time suck driving that far, they keep saying the "busy season" is coming, with the holidays I tend to believe it, but these days are long.
      I don't really mind so much that it gets dark at 4:00, everyone goes in their house and you seem to have the WORLD to yourself! I walk my daughters in their stroller in the dark, I just give them glow bracelets, flashlights, etc., and we're on our way. Plus, when you're driving now, since it gets dark so early, you can pick your nose and no one sees it! :D

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    2. Yah to the OWZER that's early! But yes - positives, and plenty of them.

      They sound like long days. I hope that the busy season picks up for him.

      I don't like the dark being early, but then I don't really like the dark being at all. I miss the days when it was light and airy and full of sunshine until 10pm. I want Summer back.

      That said, I was kind of thankful for the dark the other day when I went for a little run - my nose ran too, and because I was running, I had NOTHING. So I...uh...wiped on my hand and my hand on my jogging bottoms and hoped no-one saw...

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    3. I'm sure no one saw, and I have heard many much WORSE running stories!

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    4. ok… where is that damn Twitter account when I need it… lets see &# nose? or is that #nose…what nose lol

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    5. Ha Clark is trying to get your nose tending, or should I say running? Nyuk nyuk. Okay I'll show myself out.

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  2. I did home day care for awhile & I remember those very early mornings and 12 hour days.

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    1. With no lunch break, often no bathroom break alone :) I've had a LOT of horrible jobs, and now I know why they were necessary, to make me so much more thankful for THIS difficult, yet rewarding, job!

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  3. I agree with you; life just seems to get better and better! I've survived 4 teens, and it won't be long that my youngest will enter young-adulthood. Don't worry, the happy son you miss will return before you know it!

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    1. Thank you, I am SO glad to hear that!
      WOW, 4 teens. You can literally do anything. And you're still a happy, wonderful person!

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  4. Awesome list! Wow. 4AM. I bow down to you. I seriously couldn't do that. I'm just going to sleep at that hour sometimes. Not really, but I am a night owl. I too enjoy daylight savings. It's easier to get the kids inside, fed, and to bed when it gets dark by 5:30. And you're so right...jobs are something to be thankful for right now - whew!

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    1. I used to be a night owl, too, before kids! Last night when I put my girls to bed around 8:30, my husband had to come in to the room after I sang to them, because I was starting to fall asleep in there! At 8:30!! I'm still not recovered :)
      but again, thankful for the few dollars it brings into the house, and that my daughter can play with her.

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  5. Holy moly 4:00 am! I can't even imagine. I am forever impressed with people who can do homecare. I loved staying home with mine for a bit, but know I couldn't do it as a job. Then you tacked that little gem on and - ooof! I bow down.

    Agreed on daylight savings. Don't like it being dark so early - but you can't have everything!

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    1. I think the biggest reason I can do it is because my office jobs were so horrible! At least at home when people are disrespectful to me it's because they are CHILDREN and they literally don't know any better!

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    1. Thank you! He is right now celebrating by playing video games at an arcade that has 80s-style games, like the original Pac-Man. So hopefully neither of us will actually "grow up."

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  7. Glad to see you back this week!
    I shall make it unanimous and say 4am!?!?!? Please tell me that little girl goes back to sleep when she gets to your house? Or takes a really long nap?
    I hear you with the driving. My kids aren't old enough to get a job, but their school is 20 minutes away (and now the high schooler is in a different school 35 minutes from home.) The two little boys have spent way too much time in the van, but there isn't anything we can do about it.
    I want to go back to the old days when Indiana didn't change clocks at all.

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    1. hahaha she's 4 so, no nap, but sometimes she falls back asleep. I do offer cartoons at that hour! My daughter is not awake yet, so she watches cartoons, sometimes falls asleep, and I read blogs until breakfast. Not a horrible thing!

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  8. My hub is his age! Yes, life gets better as we age. Thanks for linking up!

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    1. It definitely gets more COMFY, and I'm all about that.

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  9. thats because you guys had sundials, right? or was that the morning rooster-wake-up call? lol
    I'm in New England where nothing is too far away, but my wife has a 90 minute commute to her work. I am fortunate in that I work in the immediate area so that, while I drive a lot, there is no minimum mileage to get to the workplace for me.

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    1. hahahaha sundials! I'm "Used to have a PLUG-IN alarm clock" years old!

      A LOT of people have a 60-90 minute work commute around here! The traffic is horrible and the jobs are scarce. When it's snowing, it can take my husband OVER 2 hours to get home. Last winter, in Chicago, we had a sudden major snowstorm and a friend of mine got stuck on a bus for HOURS! The smart ones got off the bus and started walking right away, but once the snow got thick on Lake Shore Drive (right by Lake Michigan) they were afraid to let people off the bus, so they made them wait. UGH!

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  10. Another good list to be thankful for. Especially the jobs and health. Turning 40 is no biggie. Better than the alternative!

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    1. Well, that's for sure. I have older sisters, so I already know about some impending challenges around age 50, but 40 is no big whoop. Slower metabolism, some gray hair, laugh lines, that doesn't worry me at all. Plus, my sisters are in their early 50's and they are beautiful and look very young. Not worried at all. Well, I should probably drop some weight, or I will have health problems, but I feel like I have plenty of time. (Heart attack victims probably say that all the time!)

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  11. I'm with you - I love daylight savings time in the spring, giving us daylight well into the evening. And I love the time change in the fall, because then it's light-ish in the morning when I get up and dark early in the evening, making the house cozy-feeling. Great list!

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    1. Thank you! We do have to walk the little ones in the stroller in the DARK, but I stocked up on glow bracelets from the Dollar Store, so they're fine with it! It's like we have the WHOLE WORLD to ourselves, no one is outside but us and all the skunks!

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    2. Well, skunks add a whole new level to everything.

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    3. Yes, yes they do! There seem to be so many more this year than the last few years. Good for them, not so good for dogs who get sprayed.

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