30 Thankful Days - Day 13

This month I'm joining my friend Dawn for 30 Thankful Days.  Many I know have taken the challenge to be intentional about being thankful for 30 days, be it via a blog or via Facebook, and each time I read their posts or statuses, I am reminded of all for which there is to be thankful. 

It's interesting, though.  Right now I'm in my comfy's on the couch, doing some online work.  Husband and I stayed home today.  We did laundry and actually put it away, we cleaned a little, I got some grading done, he cleaned the horse pen out at my parents.  We relaxed, I actually cooked a meal.  I read a book, he played video games.  He's gone to youth group now, and I'll finish up with my online work.  And I thought, well, I didn't blog yesterday about my thankful thing, so I have two to do to catch up.

And suddenly I felt pressure.  Pressure to come up with something great to write about, worried that my post won't be as good as they could be, because I don't have any fun pictures to include or any inspiration at the moment.

And then I'm reminded.  That's not the point, now, is it?   What I am thankful for today doesn't have to be deep and meaningful, or funny and light-hearted, or accompanied by pictures. 

The point is to be intentional about choosing thankfulness, every day.  And not just for these 30 days, but every day, for always.

So here are my honest, normal, nothing-amazing-but-wonderful-to-me thankful things.

Thankful Thing #12:
Leggings.

And of course, that's clip art.  My belly looks nothing like that, clearly.

I now own three pairs of Danskin leggings, and I wear them all the time when I'm at home.  They are the most comfortable things on the planet, I think.  I never thought of myself as a legging person, but a few months ago I bought a pair and now I own three.  I don't suspect I'll be one of those pregnant women who wears leggings as pants in public, but I'm quite content to wear them as my comfy pants at home.  Like right now.  :)

Thankful Thing #13:
DVR.

Last year, Husband came home and announced he'd signed us up for Direct TV, which was funny/annoying, because we'd been talking about canceling our cable... not signing us up for something with a contract.  But what was done was done, and so, while it wasn't quite what I'd expected, I went with it.

And now, I'm so thankful.  Because Direct TV comes automatically with DVR, which we'd never had before, and I can record everything I want to and watch it on my own time, when I am free, when I need to be brainless, when I need background noise for grading.  It's lovely.  Particularly as the holiday season approaches, because I love love love watching silly holiday movies all about Christmas miracles and magic and love (which, by the way, drive Husband crazy).  DVR is my favorite.


So, as promised, nothing ground-breaking, exciting, or even all that interesting.

But as I'm currently wearing my Danskin leggings and watching a show I DVR-ed as I work, I'd say I'm pretty happy.

And thankful.

30 Thankful Days - Day 11

Linking up with my friend Dawn and others at Dawn's Good Life to celebrate the things we are thankful for this month.  Head on over there to read and to share your own thoughts, too.

Wednesday and Thursday were both pretty fast-moving days with little to no time to blog, so today I'm going to be thankful for three things.

Thankful Thing #9:
Fridays.

I am particularly thankful that today is Friday.  This, for some reason, felt like a long and full week, even though it by far was not one of the busiest weeks I've had recently.  Granted, we are in the middle of our major food drive, and this year's StuCo is being AMAZING and working so hard to get things done, and we did have a massive dodgeball tournament last night, and today we have our Veteran's Day assembly.... but it really hasn't been that busy.  Still, I woke up very tired this morning, starting to feel a little like I'm getting a cold, and with a large pile of papers to grade that I neglected during the course of the week.  I'm so thankful for Friday, and so thankful that tonight I have some freedom in what I choose to do (stay home, go to the football game, whatever!) and that this weekend, minus a breakfast date tomorrow morning and something in the evening, the majority of the weekend is mine to rest, read, and get all those papers graded.  I'm not saying I had a bad or even a hugely busy week, but I'm tired. 

So thank the good Lord for Fridays.

Thankful Thing #10:
Where I live.

I just love living here.  It's beautiful and makes me happy.  This morning these were the views I was blessed to see on my drive to work- forgive the not great quality of the pictures - for some, I was pulled over in the parking lot at Starbucks (getting my Friday Gingerbread Latte!!!!!) and for some, I stopped in a turn lane while no one was behind me. 

Oh, lovely place I live.

Thankful Thing #11:
BGD Day.

Wednesday, you may have read, was BGD Day, or as I was calling it, Boy, Girl, or Dead Day.  Husband and I headed over to the doctor's office for the first appointment of the day and met with the ultrasound tech to have our "Fetal Anatomay Survey."   I was pretty nervous, because I am crazy, but Husband was calm and happy and just a faithful stable presence.

You may have guessed it, but Baby C was not dead.  Right away the tech showed me the heartbeat to allay my fears.  My sense of relief was intense, although almost immediately followed by "so what is wrong with him/her?"  We had a laugh about that, because the tech (who was so nice and friendly) was telling us just moments before that many women (including herself, when she was pregnant) go through those same emotions.  It was ironic how quickly I switched gears, but this fear was much less great than the previous. 

Baby C was facing my back most of the time, so we never got a great shot of the profile, but she was able to clearly tell two things from the very-detailed and thorough ultrasound:

Thing 1: Baby C, so far, looks wonderful, is growing in all the right ways in all the right places, and appears to be very healthy.  Yeay!  When the doctor looked at all the data afterword, she was very encouraging also. 


Thing 2:

Husband is very excited. I found this picture of him (it's actually when he climbed his 1st 14-er this summer) and thought it was just perfect. 

I'm excited, too.  I had decided on Tuesday that he was probably a boy, so I wasn't too surprised.  I have always sort of imagined me as having girls, since I just have one sister and my two closest cousins are also girls, but I think I'll figure the boy thing out.  Eventually.

I'm really thankful that my son (oh my goodness) is healthy, alive, and growing.  I'm thankful for a doctor who told me I can come in any time I want to listen to the heartbeat.  I'm thankful for a husband who supports me through all my crazy and loves me and our son (still weird!) more than most anything.

Oh, thankfulness abounds.

30 Thankful Days - Day 8

Head on over to Dawn's Good Life to read about what others are thankful for today, and to share your thoughts as well. It's pretty encouraging to read what people are choosing to be thankful for - a good reminder of the choice we actually have!

Thankful Thing #8:

Tomorrow.

That's right.  Today, I'm thankful for tomorrow.

I could go into the deeper meaning of that statement, if I wanted, and talk about how wonderful it is that there's always tomorrow, a new day, a fresh start, a chance to do things the way you wanted to do them today.  And I am sincerely thankful for that kind of tomorrow.... I've journaled many times about how amazing new mornings are, how refreshing for the soul.

But today, I'm literally thankful for tomorrow, November 9th.

Because I have a doctor's appointment, and I've been dying to go for the last two weeks. 

And this isn't just a regular doctor's appointment.  This is a check-to-make-sure-baby-is-doing-okay-and-is-healthy appointment and a find-out-if-Baby C-is-a-girl-or-a-boy appointment. 

A.MA.ZING.

Last night the doctor's office called to say that my doctor had something come up for our scheduled time tomorrow afternoon and that they had rescheduled me for an 8:30 am appointment.  Well, as a teacher, that doesn't really work for me.  It's not exactly a job where you can say, "I have an appointment - I'll work an extra hour later today to make up for it."  So when I called back, the receptionist told me that the next available appointment wasn't until late next week.

"I'll be there at 8:30," I said.  I may be much more calm now and less convinced that something is definitely wrong, but I'm not about to wait another week to hear that little baby's heartbeat.  I need to know everything is okay, and I need to know soon.  Call me crazy, I don't care.  So I've found someone to cover my class at that time, and off to the doctor I'll go tomorrow morning at 8:30.

I wrote in my journal this thought this morning: 

"I've been joking that tomorrow is 'BGD Day' - Boy, Girl, or Dead Day.  I realize that's awful, but it's like if, in my head, I think that by acknowledging it, if it were to be true, it would hurt less.  Which I know is false.  But still, it's easier to say that.  I know I'm not always gracious when people talk to me about baby-things - partly because I don't like being the center of attention in that way, and partly because I feel worried that things won't work out, and I don't want to be too involved or have others too involved.  I know I need to work on that, because the last thing I want people to think is that I'm not excited, because I am.  I'm just also a bit of a not job.  I need to not allow my fear and worry to steal my joy."

So, today, while I'm a little nervous for tomorrow, I'm also very, very thankful that it's here (nearly) and that we'll get to see the little peanut again, and hear his/her heartbeat, and know who he/she is.

Now I just need to remember to live today fully, too, instead of just waiting on tomorrow.

30 Thankful Days - Day 7

Perhaps you've been thinking about how Thanksgiving is right around the corner and begun to plan your menu (I know my mom and I have started!) - but let's take a minute to think about what we're giving thanks for first!  Join me at my friend Dawn's blog to share the things for which we're thankful.

Thankful Thing #7:

Laughter.

I just had a former student come into my room for a few minutes to chat.  Within moments we were laughing hysterically and, perhaps, so loudly that the class next door could hear us.  It reminded me that laughter is indeed something to be thankful for.

Did you know that your body can't tell the difference between real laughter and fake laughter?  So if you're ever in need of a little mood-boost, start laughing.  Your body will get the endorphins either way.  Plus, I've found that usually, you start laughing for real, anyway.

I love it when you start laughing at something, then laugh because of your laugh, then laugh because you're laughing about your laugh.  And when you're laughing so hard your face starts to hurt.  And the tears start coming out your eyes.  It's just good for the soul. 

My sister and my husband are usually the two people who can get me going the most....  and really, no one holds a candle to my sister.  She and I can laugh for hours.  More than once (and even recently) we've heard our mom holler up the stairs (or over the phone) "what's so funny???"  because we are just laughing, laughing, laughing.  We laugh at everything together.  And husband, well, he's pretty darn funny... so I can't help but laugh with him, either.

My sister told me a story the other day where she and her first grade class laughed for a good 15 minutes.  Why?  They had no idea.  Some kid started giggling, and then couldn't explain why, and the whole class, including my sister, joined in, and they just laughed.  They'd start to get under control, and then someone would laugh again and the whole class would be off and running.  Instructional value?  None.  But important for the class to do together?  Absolutely.  Laughter brings people together.

The last time I laughed that hard was a few weeks ago at the State Student Council conference, where we heard this speaker.  This video does not even begin to show you how funny this guy is in person, and how much we were all laughing.  I was literally crying, especially when he did the sections on notes parents send to school to excuse their children.  Unlike in this video, it was one after the other, and man, we were all just roaring! 



And, of course, we've all seen this type of video, but who can resist a laughing baby?



Laughter is, plain and simple, a gift to be enjoyed whenever and as often as possible.  I hope you find something to laugh about today, to truly laugh, a deep, belly-shaking, tear-producing, cheek-hurting laugh, and may it be with someone you are glad to spending time with.

30 Thankful Days - Day 6

My friend Dawn is hosting a monthly link party for everyone and anyone to share their thankful things each day (or some days, as the case may be).  Head on over and join in!

Honestly, I'm pretty impressed with myself for how frequently I've blogged in the last few weeks, so I'm not letting myself feel too guilty for not posting on Friday or Saturday.  Friday I was at school until nearly midnight because we hosted our annual Night of Neon mostly-techno, yes to glowsticks, all for the food drive dance, and yesterday I read a book, went to a football game, and prepared a children's church lesson, none of which involved the computer.  Of course, I was thankful on Friday AND on Saturday, and I'm thankful today, too.

Thankful Thing #4:

Sleeping In. And sleeping in general.

It seems that as I've gotten older and had more "important" things to do in my life, I cherish my sleep more.  I've always been the person who, once I'm up, I'm up and I'm cheery about it, but I'm finding that I like to sleep more and more.  That initial get out of bed phase takes a bit longer.  So the chance to sleep well, and deeply, is a blessing.  I woke up on Friday morning thinking how much I like to sleep, and our bed (while not perfectly made), is SO comfy.  Behind all those other pillows is large body pillow towards the back - it's my new best sleeping friend.    And on Saturday, as I was able to sleep until 8:30, I was reminded how thankful I am for mornings where I have no actual agenda and can sleep in for a while.  Sleep is a wonderful invention, God.

A side note.  I am not excited about people telling me, "enjoy sleep now while you can."  Yes, people, I get that when the peanut comes, I can kiss sleeping goodbye.  But you sort of ruin my delicious sleeping now by warning of my future. :)

Thankful Thing #4:

My little immediate family. 

This was our Saturday morning (after I finally got up and Husband had gone to the gym).

The dog entertained us for about 15 minutes with antics like these.  First she was sitting on the bed looking out, watching the neighbor come in.  You could see her confusion as the neighbor disappeared into the house on the left - she looked towards where he should be, but of course, that is inside our house.  Then she jumped down and climbed on the window, as you see her here, and stood that way for several minutes, observing.  She's so funny.

Yesterday was the Air Force/Army game and the Nebraska/Northwestern game.  I grew up watching Air Force and Husband, being from Lincoln, is of course a die-hard Huskers fan.  (We've both adopted the other team, also, although I think I am more of a Huskers fan now than he is a Falcon fan.)  Anyway, I was heading to the AFA/Army game with my dad and sister, and Husband was heading to his dad's to watch the Nebraska game.  We just thought we were both so cute in our little jerseys. 

It's the little things, like my dog being super curious, or my husband and I being silly, that make me happy.  I'm sure I'll do a post on Husband himself sometime during these 30 days. 

And... Thankful Thing #6:

Time Spent with my Sister Being Silly.

At the beginning of the game, while we were still warm-ish.



So... Cuba Gooding Jr. was there, but my camera was buried in my pocket, and then it has this weird delay, so..... I tried a bunch to get a picture of him, but I mostly failed.  There's a lady who got a picture of him, though.

See him there?  He's holding his coat over his arms?  Yeah, that's him.

That's him with his back to us as he made his way around again.  He did totally look at us, but I couldn't get the picture fast enough.  Becca and I were just dying.

And he walked up the aisle to our left to get to the press boxes, I assume.... but all I have here are pictures of people taking picutres of Cuba.  :)

Becca, as we waited for pretzels and hot chocolate.



Both of us in line.  Do you like my sunglasses on top of my ear-warmer thing?  I think I'm pretty stylish.

Just a bit cold... and something not happy had happened in the game.

Reversal!  Something exciting!

My turn to be cold.  And yes, that is a Husker's blanket.  It's cozy.

At the end of the game.  Not quite as cute and warm as when we started.

Hanging out with my sister almost ALWAYS brings me joy and usually, side-splitting laughter.  It's pretty fun having a best friend who's always gonna be around.  She's the best, and the best days are when we're just silly, like we were most of the game yesterday.

30 Thankful Days - Day 3

Day 3 of 30 Thankful Days!  If you have a post to share, link up over at Dawn's Good Life.  It's pretty fun  and good for the heart to read about what others are thankful for.

Since I missed Day 1, I decided I'm going to post about TWO things today, both of which bring me great joy and happiness.  Ready?

Thankful "Thing" #1:

Ginny, the best puppy-friend ever.  Yesterday she was pretty excited to stay home with me all day.  She spent most of the day sleeping curled up on the couch or asking me to play, but was completely enthralled when the men from the HOA came to shovel our walkways.

She's VERY curious.  And very active, very involved, and very, very sweet.  She's the best cuddle puppy ever. We pretty much can't imagine what life would be like without her.  She waits patiently for an invitation onto the couch with you (although, if you take too long, she might grunt a little, kind of like the Angry Birds pigs do).  She love love loves it if you invite her onto the bed, because that's a rare treat.  She wants to play with you whenever you're willing, and she loves it when you put your tennis shoes on, because she thinks it might be time to go for a walk.  She loves to run around with the "big dogs" at Mom and Dad's (two Siberian huskies) and play until they are all exhausted.  She loves to lay in the sunshine, but is getting more interested in the snow (although she won't ever like it as much as the big dogs do).  And she loves to be with us, wherever we are.

Someone asked us if we were going to get rid of her when the peanut comes.  Are you kidding?  That would be like losing a family member.  We're convinced she's going to be a GREAT big sister.  She makes us happy.

Thankful Thing #2:

Okay, if you know me at all, or have been reading my blog for a while, you should be able to guess what thing that only comes around this time of year makes me extremely, ridiculously, excitedly, joyously, just plain happy....

The Gingerbread Latte.  In a Christmas cup, no less.

Here's my actual first one this morning:

I loved the cups last year with the little carolers and people, but this cup sums up the truth quite well.  Any day with a GBL is a snow day.  A little bit of heaven.  As I explain to my students or other people who think I'm nuts, it's really truly like God's little personal gift to me, Beth.  Happiness overtakes me with every sip, every whiff of it's delicious aroma.

Mmm.  Deliciousness.  Happiness. 

I know it might be silly to be thankful for a cup of coffee, but that's me.  I really feel like it's a little gift for me each time I drink one.  No matter the mood, a Gingerbread Latte lifts my spirits, reminds me of what's good, that it's all in His hands, and that He cares about me.

And yes, I might be obsessed.  (You can read about my love for GBLs here and here if you really want to grasp the depth of how I feel.  I can measure how long I've been a blogger in how many years I've posted on GBLs, lol.

A quick story, before I go to class.  (We have a 7 period chaotic day today, insted of our normal 4 period block, due to yesterday's snow day.)  It was years ago that my BFF Caroline, my cousin, introduced me to the Gingbread Latte.  Caroline is exactly five months older than I am, to the day, and we grew up seeing each other at least once a year, but usually more often, as our families are close friends (our moms are sisters).  It was like having a built in best friend my entire life, and it hasn't changed a bit.  We're now both 29, and when we get to see each other, we laugh, we cry, we have fun.  Caroline is expecting her first baby in just over a month, and when she called to tell me she was pregnant, she told me I had five months to join her to keep the tradition going.   Mission accomplished.  Within 3 - 4 months of her baby boy joining the family, I'll bring the peanut home, too. 

Wait, this wasn't the point of the story.

Yesterday she texted to me that she'd just ordered her first GBL of the season (we had a laugh, as the barista called her "mamacita.")  This morning I texted her to tell her that I was drinking my first - and immediately had a response saying she was drinking one too.... so we enjoyed a moment of "having GBLs together," despite the many, many states and time zones between us. 

GBL Love.  You just can't contain it.

30 Thankful Days, Day 2 (But 1 for me)

One of my favorite friends, in real life and blog life, Dawn, is sharing something she's thakful for every day this month, and has invited me and you and anyone else to link up with her and share what we're thankful for, too.   Now, if you know me at all, you know I'm not the most faithful daily blogger, but I'm going to do my best.   Joining in on choosing thankfullness sounds like a good idea to me!

Today, I'm thankful for unexpected snow days.

Last week everyone expected us to have a snow day on Wednesday - it was going to be a big, big storm.  But it wasn't.  And we didn't even get a two-hour delay.  Oh, the disappointment abounded.  I had already gone through my normal mental preparation for the probablility that we wouldn't get a day off, so I wasn't as upset.  But my students?  Oh, so sad.

So yesterday, with another storm forecast for today, students hoped again.  This time, though, the storm wasn't predicted to be nearly as bad, so I didn't even entertain the idea of getting a day off.  I was confident we wouldn't, so instead of waking up every few hours wondering if I'd get a call, I slept, like any other normal night.

And at 4:30, the phone rang.  And not with news of a delay, but of a complete and total cancellation.  What surprising joy! 

I slept until 7 (when I would normally be at school), got up, made some coffee, read.  After I blog, I'll spend some time doing some much needed catch-up work, but at a pace I set, with my PJs and comfy-s on, and the dog curled up on the couch beside me.

Oh, unexpected snow day.  I love you.

It's a day to do things I need to do without feeling guilty about doing them, where no one else has any expectations of me, where I am allowed to be as productive or as lazy as I choose to be. 

It's a chance to sleep-in, to breathe, to rest, in the midst of a busy week, a busy life.  A chance to do so without the standard pressures that a normal day requires.  A chance to be.  To be however I want to be.

What I am thankful for today?   The gift of a snow day.

The gift of a day off.