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“The optimist sees the donut, the pessimist sees the hole.” -Oscar Wilde
So very true. I always felt as though I was an optimist and if nothing else the last 13 years have taught me that feeling is 100% true. I am immeasurably grateful for the perspective that Alex has given me. It is truly a gift to see the donut & not care at all about the hole.
30 Days of Gratitude Day 30: Today I am grateful for the perspective in my life. Perfection is not preferred or required here & that is very freeing.
Our 18th wedding anniversary is on December 4. 18 years... that seems like such a long time. Lately though there has been a lot of talk between us about how truly happy we are together. We are getting to that age where we see our peers starting to divorce, that is scary. I hate to think that anything could shake our foundation. We try very hard to be respectful of one another & to communicate first before making assumptions. We both have been shaken in the last 18 years, our world now looks nothing like either of us thought when those church doors opened on our wedding day. In reality we have so much more than we had ever dreamed. We know that we can count on each other, we know that we sit together firmly in our boat & we paddle together, there is no I in team... right? This year I feel like we have really settled in & with acceptance has come a great amount of peace for both of us. I know that in 18 more years he's still going to be the one I have at my side.
30 Days of Gratitude Day 29: Today I a grateful for Geoff & our marriage. We are so lucky to still be so in love & so dedicated to each other.
I love Christmas light and of course Alex does too. Geoff... not so much. He sees the downside. the clean up, storm damage, etc. A few years ago my mom's husband John was nice enough to hang them for me but since then we've been the Grinch house around here. But this year, I decided the lights were making a come back.
The original plan was that John was going to put them up for me again because they are coming here to visit for 2 weeks. But after having the lights for a week and Mom & John's schedule getting changed, yesterday I decided to take the bull by the horns & do it myself. Geoff was convinced that I would be in the house 5 minutes later defeated & force him to do it. Clearly after all of these years he has not learned his less:
Do not underestimate me when it comes to getting what I want.
Are they perfect? No! I wish I had a ladder to go up on the roof to put some up on the higher roof line but I didn't so I'm letting that go. Geoff was pretty impressed with my progress & even agreed to go with me early this morning to get another bunch of lights for the fence (I only had a few of the star lights, I love those!).
While at the store though we found the monster from Rudolph, who looks a lot like Harold (the Matterhorn Monster that Alex loves). Harold was in our cart & pretty much the rest of the day was spent making out Matterhorn out of Christmas lights for the yard. Alex thinks it's super cool & is overjoyed at the decorations. Griswold Palooza 2011 is complete!
30 Days of Gratitude Day 27: Today I am grateful that I am not a whiny girl & that I can handle things myself.
People often say that they do not know "how I do it" in reference to Alex. While I understand their sentiment it is really kind of an offensive thing to say. I try not to think of it that way though, instead I try to answer their question with "quiet time". Every night Alex has to be in bed by the latest of 9:00. He is allowed to take his iPad in there for awhile in case he is not yet tired but by 9:00 Mama needs to be off duty. This has become a "non-negotiable" in my world. I enjoy the time to watch TV, catch up on work or waste time on the internet. I think that now my boy enjoys this as well because he is good about cooperating at least most of the time.
30 Days of Gratitude Day 26: Today I am grateful for my quiet time in the evening when I am off duty & can relax.
Alex is really getting to the age where you can clearly see traits that come for both Geoff and I. We laugh a lot around here that Alex is Geoff without a filter, those 2 are so much alike. But there is a lot of me in that boy particularly his love of the retail therapy & his sense of adventure. I am always up to go [almost] anywhere and so is Alex. Of course Alex most prefers destinations that include retail therapy we are working really hard to add in the love of nature as well.
Today instead of the Black Friday shopping (there is NOTHING I need that bad to fight those crazy crowds) we, for the second year in a row opted to get out & about to walk off some of that Thanksgiving food. Last year we went to Big Basin so this year we decided to go north & check out Muir Woods. It was crazy crowded though so we only did one trail before retreating to ReeRee's car & searching for lunch. After lunch we took a last minute detour right before the Golden Gate bridge & found ourselves on a windy rode following signs to a light house. It was such a great surprise & like always my boy was happy to follow the road unknown as long as we were there together.
30 Days of Gratitude Day 25: Today I am grateful for my boy's willingness & delight in trying new things as long as we are together.
I think that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday now. Thanksgiving is awesome because it's all about being together but doesn't have all the decorating, gift giving or other social pressures. Lisa is always our Thanksgiving host & to put it plainly... she rocks it. The food is always super fab & the company even better. This year we had 29 people from every branch of the family tree, Geoff & Lisa's, Matt's, mine... it was great. I tried to get a group picture during the prayer but not every one is visible, you get the gist though. Holding hands we all were thankful to be there with eachother.
30 Days of Gratitude Day 24: Today I am grateful for Thanksgiving at Lisa's. As a side note I am also super thankful for all of the help Geoff gave me today, it's always great to have someone chip in to get the jobs done.
My schedule today was packed. I had several work things to take care plus hit the Honey Baked Ham store, the bank, etc. I wanted though to go step on the scale at Weight Watchers for my normal Wednesday morning meeting. Normally I stay for the meeting but today I had decided to do the step & go because school was getting out at 1:00 so I needed to hustle. But as I walked through the door she was there. This is Teresa, she's my regular leader & I adore her. She has been gone lately as she is going through a really tough time with one of her kids. So as soon as I seen her I knew that the schedule could be revised as I really needed to sit there for those 30 minutes to not only get renewed for the hard week of food ahead but also to say thanks for coming in when her life is so upside down. So glad that it worked out like that this morning.
30 Days of Gratitude Day 23: Today I am grateful for the great Weight Watchers meeting that I have found & the leader who really cares about all of us sitting in those seats every week.
I was raised with dogs so it's not like I never had one before but when Geoff & I first moved in together I proclaimed that we were going to be a dog free house. Dogs seemed like a lot of work & I enjoyed my quiet little cat who kept to herself most of the time. Then we had Alex who showed us both the real definition of "a lot of work" and that sealed the deal... dogs were out of the question. Sadly our kitty got ran over when Alex was 4 so we were a pet free household after that.
Then it happened I became a dog mom. Seriously I could not love her more if I birthed her myself. Fiona is our other child, really she is. She sleeps in our bed, eats from our plates, takes up a whole couch & makes a huge dent in the checkbook when she's sick. She is rarely left at home, we often make sure she has a play date with Tanner or Pearl rather than stay home by herself if we cannot take her. If Geoff is not fishing she is constantly with him & she is happiest in a duck blind. I could not live without her. I really cannot believe the depth of my love for her, if you suggest she is just a dog I might just kick you in the shins.
30 Days of Gratitude Day 22: Today I am grateful for this girl & the opportunity to be her mom.
School. Honestly nothing I can write will ever truly express how grateful I am for this place. The place where Alex has learned so many good things & where he is not only safe but truly loved. I am in constant awe of this place, the staff who gives so much everyday and yet is always willing to babysit on the weekends as well. The place that sees through the difficult behaviors & right into Alex's true self, they see what he is capable of and do not let him off the hook. School has saved all of us.
I have never done this before but here goes: please click this link and click the DONATE button on the top left. Any amount is awesome! This school is heaven on earth for my boy. Thanks
30 Days of Gratitude Day 21: Today I am grateful for Alex's school & the amazing difference they have made in our lives.
