Thanksgiving has passed but I am still thankful!

I am thankful for...

1. My salvation. While I'm not great about attending church, I am grateful for my Lord and Savior.

2. My husband and best friend. I am deeply, passionately and thoroughly in love with my husband. All throughout my teenage years, I prayed for "a date that would make a good mate" and boy did God deliver on that one. I am so incredibly lucky.

3. Ma'am. Not only did Ma'am fix my broken heart years ago when she was born, she completed me. She is one of the most empathetic and caring people I have ever known. She has an amazing ability to clue in on how people are feeling and then feels what they're feeling. She is a special gift.

4. Sir. Looking at him playing last night, I remarked, "He is the best surprise ever." You see, after years of infertility and treatments, Sir was a... how shall we say it? a surprise?! When I look at him I see pure sunshine. This magical miraculous boy has stolen my heart. He is love, hope and happiness all rolled into one sticky mess. Joy, pure joy.

5. My job. I have been with my firm for 10 years and they have afforded me the opportunity to grow as an individual and a professional in ways that many are never fortunate to experience. As the President of my firm is known to say, "We live the dream that other's dream." Yes its a job and yes there are pitfalls but overall it has given me a world that I never thought possible for myself.

6. My friends. I've never been one to have a lot of friends but those I do have I am so very thankful for. They have lifted me up through some pretty tough times and have helped me celebrate the great times.

7. My in-laws. Yes, you heard me right, my in-laws. From the day I met my mother and father in-law, I have felt welcomed, accepted and loved. I only knew my husband for 3 weeks when he took me with him to his family reunion as a surprise. He was going to surprise his family with me and his mom was going to surprise him by bringing his then girlfriend of several years. Good thing his mom had second thoughts before bringing her! They were obviously shocked to learn about me but upon meeting me, his dad gave me a big hug and whispered in my ear "I already like you better than the other one."

8. My life experiences. While I haven't learned all of the lessons hidden in the crappy events of life, I've learned enough to know that I need to keep an open mind and heart and the lesson will come. And I will be a better person for it.

9. My home. It's not always clean (except for Thursdays - Thank you Daisy!) and its not magazine ready decorated but its cozy. And love lives here.

10. The ability to give back. I've always been much better at writing a check than giving of my time. This year I made a commitment to give more of myself and I am so thankful that I did. It has really given me a sense of community that I have never felt before.

With all of that said, here are a few pics from our Thanksgiving Eve!

Ma'am and I at the beginning of the baking

Ma'am tasting the chocolate cake batter

2 pumpkin, 1 pecan and 1 key lime (hey, we live in FL!)

Bedtime stories with Daddy

The best note of gratitude ever!

We held our annual Thanksgiving potluck at my office today. Part of the tradition is to hang envelopes up around the room for each person that you can write them a note of gratitude. It's a great opportunity to really tell people how much you appreciate them and its really nice to hear how others are thankful for you. One of my notes was a show stopper. Hands down the most sincere exhibition of gratitude. And I quote...

"Dear Jen,
You are my boss. Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving."

Touching. Really touching. Brought a tear to my eye.

Last trip to Disney

We are fortunate enough to live an hour from Disney World and have annual passes. And they do not go unused! The problem is that when we go, we do the SAME THING EVERY TIME! Two weeks ago, we had a plan to do those things that the kids have never done. Ma'am was amazed at the Swiss Family Robinson's tree house! "I didn't know Mickey had this!". And then when the line for Aladdin was only 5 minutes long opposed to the 40 minutes at Dumbo, she says "I didn't know Mickey had this!". Of course we had to do the Pirates ride but that's more for mommy. (Johnny Depp even in claymation form is HOT!). And the kids had to spend time in their favorite part of the park... Winnie the Pooh's playground! Its a regular old playground but they love it! Why I spend their college tuition to take them to play there rather than the park down the street from the house, I'll never know. I had to bribe Sir with candy to get him to go see Mickey and Minnie. Where he promptly marched up to Minnie and counted to 8 for her. I think I saw a glimmer of jealousy in Mickey's eye. Lil bit.

Mid-day...

I found myself trying. Fastforward a couple of hours, lots of tears and raised voices and I have resolution. Despite the dull headache and shadowed eyes, I am better. Thankfully. That... was a close one.

Have you ever been hurt...

...so badly that in an instant... the very moment that the careless words are said... your whole foundation is crumbled? The words are said in haste and the Sayer has no thought to the depth of the words. A watchful night is spent, for once I am not trying, I am watching. Not trying to understand, rebuild, get past the hurt, plan my re-introduction. Watching. Watching my spirit encompass the words and what they mean to me. The Sayer does not understand and I do not have the words to explain. I'm on day two since the words and there is no improvement. I am whole but detached. Detachment is new to me. And it scares me how readily my heart accepts it.

It's official...

I love this dress. And I'm pretty sure I'd be cute in it. ;-)

Hallelujah! And the angels sang!

It's a sad day

The brother of one of my friends was assaulted last night and passed away this morning. It was a random and senseless act of violence. Although I only met him once, I know he was a good and kind man. And he will be missed greatly by his friends and family. My thoughts and prayers go out to them. I've learned through my own horrible loss of my newborn twin sons that asking why is never gives us the answers we crave. But the lesson learned is to hold tight to those that you do have. Hold them, love them, pray for them and be grateful for them. This horrific event keeps me mindful of that.

Tell the people that you love them. And that you are grateful for them. And pray for those who are in pain tonight.

Rest in peace Jeff. You are with the angels now. Hug my boys and tell them that momma will be there before they know it. Our lives are but a blink of the eye.

Yes, I'm a Grown Woman...

and yes, I love Twilight! I have read 3 of the 4 books and will go see the movie when it comes out. Who cares that the books are about teenagers? And vampires? And werewolves? They are excellently written and damn it, they're hot. Not hot as in a steamy "oh my word!" hot but hot like deep passionate love hot. "Ride or die" love hot. And if you know me at all, you know know I don't joke when I say "ride or die". If you haven't read the books, try the first one out. I think you will be surprised at how quickly you read such a thick book.

Now, I've seen many comments about which team you are on; Team Edward or Team Jacob. And while I'm not ashamed to say I LOVE THESE BOOKS, I am embarrassed to say that I have given this question some serious thought. I've debated the qualities of both and I think it comes down to my need for warmth. So because I'd rather be hot than cold any day, I'm Team Jacob. Well, that and I do like my men big and brawny.

"And so the Lion fell in love with the Lamb..."

Virus's suck. Not feeling so well.

I've been hit with my first official virus courtesy of Facebook! And boy do I feel sick! It completely crashed my system. And when I say system, I mean my work laptop. Yeah... that was fun explaining to our tech team that my Facebook addiction caused them extra work bright and early on a Monday morning. However, they graciously told me that my laptop was fried and they were giving me a new one. Which I received in record time, unfortunately, I lost all of my settings and ALL of my data. And all of my favorites! That one really hurts! That list was 7 years in the making! So my evening will be spent trying to reset all of my settings. I don't like this new world that I am living in.

A word from the wise? Don't click on any odd email links from FB. Fluids and plenty of rest are no cure for what ails me.

Finally! A deep breath

I have been such a lunatic for the last couple of weeks! Between the hysteria of the elections, work (had to give a presentation to our executive committee regarding our 2009 plan-no pressure, just grow 23.9% and then a 3 day long management meeting), Junior League (had to work my volunteer shifts for the Holiday Gift Market and then of course shop at said Gift Market) and the family; I am ready for a break! Here's to a nice two week slow down until Thanksgiving hits. And then Christmas. And New Years... Gasparilla... Ma'ams 5th birthday...Superbowl...my birthday/valentines day... Yes, I'm very excited for the next two weeks cuz the next 3 months... I'm back to lunatic status!

Not a good equation...

PMS + Presidential Election + Exhaustion = A very weepy, on edge me. Calgon take me away.

Ma'am for President!

7:15 am Halloween morning, Ma'am asks me, "Mommy, who are we going trick or treating with? Meagan? Ethan and Lexi? Who?" She didn't seem too excited when I told her that it would just be her and Sir. But she accepted it. Fast forward to 7:00pm. Ma'am (aka Ariel) and Sir (aka Sir wearing glow in the dark skeleton pj's) are walking out the door ready to commence with the night's festivities. And who do we find standing in our driveway? Two of her very best friends from Pre-K. Totally unexpected. I didn't even know they lived in the neighborhood (despite being on the board for the HOA, I am a horrible neighbor! I speak to no one! Unless of course if I am spoken to first. I have a weird social anxiety and don't like to be too nice to people b/c they might like me and want to me by friend. And then I have to pretend like I care. And then if I don't care, they live right next to me! There is no escaping! But I digress...). Before I can introduce myself to the parents, Ma'am is off on a tear with her two very best friends. Mister and I oddly join the roving band of trick or treaters uninvited. Then the small talk begins. One of the mothers starts telling me about how her daughter takes everything my daughter says as gospel. And that her daughter cries that she needs more dresses because Ma'am wears dresses every day (she hates pants, unless they are rhinestoned in some fashion). And on and on and on. And then she looks at me with a nice (but tight.... ok, that could be me making a very lovely woman into a snarky mom) smile and says, "Ma'am is very popular you know".


I had always thought Ma'am had something special in her. That she glows an ethereal light. That she can turn a frown upside down. That her giggle makes an entire room smile. And now, this mother that I have never met (and may never see again although we live 2 blocks from each other and our children attend the same Pre-K. Scroll up to re-read the bit about my social anxiety. I know, I know. Freak!) had confirmed it. So take a minute, look at all of the pics that I haven't but should have been posting over the last couple of weeks and think (seriously think) about Ma'am for President. Yeah, she doesn't meet the age criteria and doesn't always wipe till its white (eww) but dog gone it... people like her! Which is more than can be said for most candidates these days!

Sir

Ma'am modeling at the nursery

Ma'am and her two very best friends

Carving pumpkins

Sir in the flower cart at the nursery

So when you go to the polls on Tuesday, go ahead and pencil her in. Ma'am will ROCK the Whitehouse!