We aren’t doing much today. We’ll be heading to Earl’s Grandmother’s house in a few hours, and probably stop by his mother’s house, but other than that I think we’re going to try to take these next few days and just chill and work through the last of the stuff that needs to get sorted in the apartment.
But, because today’s thanksgiving, I thought I’d tell you some of the things I’m thankful for this year:
My family – The vast majority of my family lives rather far away – my stepbrother and his family are the only ones who don’t live two states away – and sometimes that makes life hectic. A lot of that is my fault. I forget to call when I mean to, and let’s face it. Getting up to see them for any substantial length of time is difficult to schedule with work and is seemingly more costly every month. And while parts of my family don’t necessarily always agree with certain life choices (read: Tattoos, living with Earl), they love me enough to look past that. I love them all dearly and am so thankful they’re in my life.
My friends – I’ll be honest. I’m not a big people person. I have a few really close friends (who I at least talk to on an extremely regular basis) and a lot of friends I see once in a blue moon, and that’s okay. I’m thankful for them all. I’m thankful for the ones who get me through rough work days on g-chat, the ones who come over almost weekly for game nights, the one that I rarely get the chance to talk to, but when I do, it feels like there’s been no break at all between “now” and the time we last spoke. I’m thankful for the ones we drive 40 minutes– and then are jumped on by boxers – to see, and the ones who had a four hour layover when they came to visit. I’m thankful for the ones who make us scrumptious food and have found me wines I love, and for the ones that join me for tea. I’m thankful for every person who’s touched our lives and whom we can call friends.
Moving – This might sound strange, but as much as I hate moving, I’m thankful that we were able to move as quickly and as easily as we did. I’m thankful for those who helped us move and for the apartment office for being utterly fantastic about getting us out of one place and into the other. I’m thankful to Mr. Clean and Kaboom – because I’m not sure we would have gotten our full deposit back, were it not for them. I’m thankful that we work in a place that has carts we were able to borrow – or else I never would have been able to move half of the stuff I did on Friday, with or without Earl’s mom helping!
Health – With the exception of this year’s bought of eczema a small case of laryngitis, and the occasional sniffles. I’ve had a pretty good year, health wise. I do have to find a new doctor, but those things happen. I’m thankful for the marginal amount of weight I’ve been able to loose and I’m thankful for all of the health resources I’ve found online and through friends. I can only hope that 2012 will be an even better, even healthier year than this one!
The Cutest Dog in the World – While her perpetual “paw you to wake up if you’re not up by 7am” can be a little irritating, Lucy’s cuteness knocks the pants off any complaints I could ever truly have about her and sends them running into the bathroom red-faced with embarrassment. My little ball of gray fluff provides so many smiles and laughs I can’t help but be thankful for her. She is the best.
Budgeting – I know I have the DTAMP and frankly, I’ve come very close to breaking that, because in August we finally had a “come to Jesus” moment with our finances and I will forever be grateful for that day – though I was not pleased about it when I was living it. That fateful day got us on a path with a budget that has been more helpful than I could ever express. Budgeting is why we could move into a new (Bigger and better) apartment and buy a sectional in the same month. We’ve never been reliant on credit cards, but we’ve also never really worried about savings accounts. And now, we are doing the latter and it is an incredible feeling – when you’re on the low end of the middle class – to be able to look at your accounts and realize that you’re no longer living paycheck to paycheck, and yes, that second account is real. Couponing fits into this bullet point. Couponing allows us to save about $440 a month that we were spending before. When you’re in that lower middle class bracket… that’s a life saver.
And, last but certainly not Least, Earl – But you’ll have to come back tomorrow for the dish on that ;)
This was a great Thanksgiving post. And hey, that's why you were asking about our layover! :)
ReplyDeleteMy list consisted of (what I can remember) Jesse, my friends and family, my job, Christmas, Legally Blonde, and that I'm not in prison.