My Mom

My mom came to visit this last week. It was perfect timing since Stew was out of town for two weeks. Always nice to have someone else here so the kids aren't left alone in the evenings so much. Of course I could drag all 3 of them to different activities but nobody wants to hang out at the gym for an hour and a half, or at the church, or the bowling alley.

We had a great time shopping and eating out. Yesterday Stew came home and today my mom went home. Tag team help - sounds good to me. I guess in all the excitement I forgot to be thankful for something yesterday but hey, who really thought I would do it anyways?

So, I am thankful for my mom. Thankful that she loves my kids and that she likes to come and hang out with us. I love that she cooks and cleans. I love that she sits on the couch and does crossword puzzles and soduko with the kids. Those soduko puzzles have numbers in them..NUMBERS!!! My kids like numbers, I don't, so that is good.

Where Is My Computer Repairman?

My computer is actually working just fine but we have the entire system hooked up to a battery backup. The battery is no longer able to support the four devices hooked up to it and it has been beeping. Beeping the same way a smoke detector does when it needs a new battery. Beeping, beeping, beeping. I can't turn it off because my internet router is one of those devices hooked up to the back up. It wasn't a constant beeping so it was easy to ignore at times but today it decided to give up the ghost. The beeping has turned in to an alarm sequence of beeping. I finally had to steal a surge protector that I plug my laptop into and transfer everything to it to stop the beeping.

So, you may wonder, did I forget I was supposed to be thankful for something? What does all this beeping have to do with being thankful? Well, my computer repairman will be here tomorrow. He's been gone for almost two weeks and we pick him up at the airport at lunchtime. I'm not ready to do an "I'm thankful for my husband" post so for now I will just say that I am thankful my computer repairman is coming home. And I'm thankful the beeping has stopped.

Today I am Thankful For...

My son's boyscout leaders. After taking a carload of boys to home depot and then standing in the store while they all picked out lumber for a project I can positively say that I am thankful for their leaders. I am also thankful that I am NOT their leader.

I did have an older woman stop and chat with me. She commented that she thought they were well behaved and that they all looked like they were great friends. I am not sure about the first but I really think the second part is true. They are a GREAT group of boys and it is nice to see them working together.

Bowling

Monday night is MY night. On my one night that is all about me - I bowl. I have had people ask me how long I've been bowling and sometimes I will reply "in utero" since my mom bowled in a Sunday night league when she was pregnant with me and I was born on a Monday morning. The truth is I have only bowled for about 20 years. My mom has bowled off an on my entire life and it was also something my brother did. For some reason I never picked it up - probably because it was Larry's thing. We kept our activities pretty separate when we were kids.

When I went to Rick's for college I was picking classes and needed one more credit. Hmmm what to do what to do? I picked beginning bowling. It was a fun class, I learned how to bowl, I learned how to keep score, there were boys. As the next semester was coming up it was time to plan my schedule again. Did you know they offered Advanced Bowling? Oh yes, that was me. Not really but I had the pre-requisite of beginning bowling so why not?? This is where I met my husband. Truth is that I thought he was a bit of a geek. We were friends though, we bowled together. The rest is history.

We went years where neither of us bowled. It was an expense that we couldn't afford. It was also time that we didn't have. When we moved to England we both joined leagues. It was a great way for me to get out and meet people. The Tuesday Morning Women's League was the place to be. Stew bowled on Thursday nights and for a while I bowled with him. Now that we're back in the states it is back to him being too busy to bowl but I still do. The kids are old enough I am able to take time out for myself. A night where I just hang out with the ladies I bowl with. Some days I bowl horribly, some days I do pretty well. Tonight? A 201!!! I'm thankful for the 201- we won the game. I'm thankful for "advanced bowling". I'm thankful for ME time!

Cookies & Neighbors

I am not going to turn this in to a "thankful for food" month but for the second day in a row I AM thankful for food.

Today I am thankful for chocolate chip cookies. I loaned a book out to our neighbor, she is 11. Today there was a knock on the door and two girls standing with a container of chocolate chip cookies. I told them to thank their mom, actually saying how incredible she is. Triathlete, cookie baker, what else can she do? The younger sister turned and said "my mom didn't make them - Mandy did." Even better! And let me tell you they were GOOD. I am going to have to ask the secret but they were just the right amount of soft and crisp and the chocolate chips were still gooey!

I love having neighbors close to borrow eggs and cups of milk and to loan out books. Too bad they are not likely to get delicious cookies in return - but with a cookie maker like Mandy they don't need mine.

That Was Close!

I almost failed on my challenge. It didn't help that I counted my midnight challenge as 5 posts and ended up with a whole day of no posting because of it.

So - what am I thankful for today? When I tell you just remember that I didn't promise that they would be total heartfelt earth shaking things to be thankful for. We all know we should remember to be thankful for the small things too, right? So, today I am thankful for

Yes, chips and salsa from Chili's. We went to Chili's for lunch today. My mom, Jordan and I with our good friends. It is always nice to be out with friends visiting over chips and salsa. It doesn't hurt that I think their salsa is extra yummy.

It also reminded me about when we lived in England. No, they don't have a Chili's where we lived but they do have one in Chicago O'hare Airport. I remember ending almost every visit home with a layover in Chicago. I would go to the Chili's and order a side salad with ranch dressing and chips & salsa. Two things that I knew reminded me of home just to prepare me for the long months I would then be away. It may seem completely silly. And yes, it probably also means that I turn to food for comfort but you know what - there could be worse things.

A Challenge...

I have another friend who has taken up the challenge to blog every day in November. Since it has been two weeks since my last post (I didn't get the job and never got a call or letter but the new teacher started on Tuesday) I wonder can I actually take up that challenge. I mean it is the 4th of November, actually in 2 minutes it will be the 5th. So, it is too late right? Oh, who cares about the rules and let's just get started. I think I'll even have a theme. Being November I'll go with Thanksgiving. Not only will I find things I'm thankful for but I'll actually have to come up with something interesting to say about it. This could get interesting, or extremely boring - stay tuned.

Since today is the 5th, yes I've been typing for two minutes, I think a list of 5 things is due. Since I didn't blog about our trip to Vegas I'll work that in too, I'm sneaky like that.

#1 The ability to turn 38 years of not being a family into working on being one.


#2 Crazy family members who are willing to be shot up in the air at the top of the stratosphere. Especially for that little girl of mine who is just incredible. She chickened out for a bit but got back in her seat and did it! Jordan ROCKS!


#3 I am thankful for this old man. He's been my dad for as long as I can remember. He is a fantastic dad and a great grandpa. He even watched all the kids while we went and saw Cher and the guys were out at a casino.


#4 I am thankful for M&M's. No wait that isn't right. Well, I do like chocolate but that's not the point. At the M&M factory the kids were racing up the escalator and Grace tripped. It was NOT a pretty sight. A nice employee helped us out and got bandaids and all of that stuff to clean up her shin.


#5 Hoover Dam. Can I be thankful for the Hoover Dam? I think so because it gives me all of these opportunities to post dam pictures. It's become a hobby and it makes me happy. Dam happy.