30 Days of Thanks

Day 1: I am thankful to be switching to 3rd shift (temporarily) at work. It's already been getting hard to get stuff done while we are open. Busy, busy time of year!

Day 2: I am thankful that Daylight Savings Time is ending, and not beginning. Having an extra hour to get stuff done at work is really going to come in handy tonight.

Day 3: I am thankful for my Richie D.! Today he is 8. He's growing up so fast! He's smart, silly, & cute! I'm so proud of him! He's my favorite person in the whole world, the most important person to me, & what I am definitely most thankful for.

 Day 4: I am thankful for naps. I know they are going to come in handy even more over the next couple months of working overnights!

Day 5: I am thankful for sunshine. There have been so many rainy/cloudy days, it's nice to see rays of sunlight shine through, even if just for a few minutes here & there.

Day 6: I am thankful for the Arby's employee who either messed up my order or misheard me many years ago & gave me a jamocha shake instead of vanilla.

Day 7: I am thankful for Richie's health. He had his 8 year check-up today & the doctor said he is very healthy! He has always been a pretty healthy kid, & I know what a blessing that is!

Day 8: I am thankful for pajama pants. They are so comfy!

Day 9: I am thankful for my parents. I'm lucky to have 2 parents who raised me, took care of me, & provided for me growing up.

Day 10: I am thankful for washers & dryers. It would take so long (& mucho energy) to wash all clothes by hand & then have to wait for them to dry.

Day 11: I am thankful for all of the men & women who have served in any branch of our military (past, present, & future), as well as all of those who support them. Happy Veterans Day!

Day 12: I am thankful for hoodies & sweaters. It's that time of year, for sure!

Day 13: I am thankful that the snow has pretty much all melted. I'm just not ready for it yet. Maybe in a month, like for Christmas & then it can be gone again. 

Day 14: I am thankful for scarves. I have more than enough & I love wearing them once it is cold/chilly. 

Day 15: I am thankful for contacts because I don't want to wear glasses (at least not all of the time). 

Day 16: I am thankful for lotion, especially when the cooler months make my dry skin drier. 

Day 17: I am thankful the weather has calmed down (at least somewhat). Driving to work in super high winds & rain is not my idea of a good time, lol.

Day 18: I am thankful for child logic. Today I asked Richie how he knew he was my kid. "Because your kid is awesome & I am awesome," he replied. Works for me! Guess there's no need for a DNA test.

Day 19: I am thankful that I have a motor vehicle. I can't imagine still commuting to work by bike like I used to (it's much, much, much farther).

Day 20: I am thankful for "Stairway to Heaven". It is, & always will be, one of my all-time favorites, but lately I just can't get enough, lol. I've been watching Youtube videos of Led Zeppelin & others perform it. And listening to it at home & in my car.

Day 21: I am thankful when things ship faster than they are supposed to.

Day 22: I am thankful for water. Access to fresh water to drink, the wonderful Great Lakes & their beaches, and water in general.

Day 23: I am thankful that people were driving decently when I made my way to work tonight.

Day 24: I am thankful for clear roads and visibility. 'Tis the season when that won't always be the case.

Day 25: I am thankful for grandparents. My paternal grandparents I was close to growing up, my maternal ones who helped me out when I lived in Florida, Richie's wonderful grandparents, & awesome grandparents out there in general.

Day 26: I am thankful for cell phones. Text messaging & Facebook make it a lot easier to keep in touch with friends/family across & out of the state. It allows constant access to a camera to take pics of CutieMan, & apps to help me remember stuff or cure boredom. And I hear you can make phone calls on them too.

Day 27: I am thankful for friends, those from my childhood up through college & beyond. Just wish everyone didn't live all over the place now-a-days.

Day 28: I am thankful for Thanksgiving & all of the "30 Days of Thanks" posts. While we are thankful for our blessings year-round, it's fun to read/share the things we are thankful for & have such a positive group of posts!

Day 29: I am thankful for music, in so many ways. Being in the background so it's not quiet, playing in the school band, memory association, & for just being music.

Day 30: I am thankful for Christmas time. It is one of my favorite times of year (despite it being winter), the whole caring, sharing, giving, spirit of it all. Plus the music, decorations,& all of the twinkling lights!

12 Years

Today marks the 12th anniversary since the terrorist attacks on 9/11 back in 2001.  In some ways it seems like it hasn't been all that long & in other ways, it seems like it's been much longer than that.

September 11th, 2001.  I was living in Florida at the time.  On that particular day, I had gotten up early to go shopping with two my aunts.  We had stopped by Walmart first, & then headed to the mall.  While at the mall, we heard that planes had hit the Twin Towers.  It seemed unreal.  When I got home, I watched the reports on tv.  It was all over every station and even on the radio.  It didn't seem real.  When they showed the planes hitting the towers & the towers collapsing, the clouds of smoke/debris that barreled down the streets... it seemed more like movie footage, from a disaster film.

In March of 2004, I spent my spring break in New York City.  On my last day there, I walked to the southern end of Manhattan to Battery Park.  It was a sunny but windy day.  The water was rather choppy.  I didn't have time to take the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty.  I did use the coin-operated binoculars to look across the water though.  On my way back to the hotel to pick up my bags before heading to the bus station, I came across this...

Curious, I walked closer & quickly realized where I was.  I had unintentionally come across the World Trade Center.  I walked around to the main entrance.

I spent quite a bit of time there, just looking around.  At the time, there wasn't a whole lot to see.  It had been 2.5 years since the towers were hit & subsequently fell.  All that was there were holes & construction.

Today I got to thinking about all that has changed, for me personally, in the past 12 years.

A month after 9/11, I finally bothered to get my driver's license.  The day after that, I boarded a bus to move back to Michigan (I already had plans to do so for a while, but nothing set in stone until about a week or so before I left).  I stayed at my grandma's before moving to Mt. Pleasant the following summer to live with friends from high school.

In the fall of 2003, I finally started college, after taking 3 years off after high school.

November 2005, Richie was born.  13.5 months later, I graduated (2006) with my Associate of Arts degree in psychology from MMCC.

We moved to the west side of the state at the end of the summer in 2007 & I transferred to GVSU.  2 years later, in the spring of 2009, I graduated from GVSU with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology.

And while those are only a few major events, there were plenty of other major & minor events mixed in there as well.  All of Richie's milestones... first tooth, first step, first word, starting various levels of school, etc.  Events with friends & family.  Meeting new people, having new experiences, learning new things.  Losing special people.  Life in general.

I'm very blessed that I have been able to experience all of these things.  Because of this day 12 years ago, a lot of people can't/won't.  I'm very blessed that I was able to go to college & move around.  I am so very blessed that I have a smart , beautiful & most importantly, healthy, son.  I have a wonderful family & awesome friends.  And I live in a great country (despite its flaws).

Drabby Weather

This week was Richie's spring break (from preschool), as it was for many other kids. The weather was very lacking this week, I thought. A lot of gray skies & wind & rain & even (gasp!) snow. And now that it is supposed to get sunny again & warm up a bit, it's about time for school to start again. It figures.

I didn't mind the thunderstorms. I like them, especially when they are at night. I don't mind rain at night for the most part too. But rainy days make me sleepy & feeling lazy. And it usually means being mainly stuck inside. If it were warmer, I wouldn't mind taking Richie out to play in the rain (as long as it wasn't storming or anything). I like walking & being out in the rain sometimes. He would love, as he loves to play in water & puddles.

This winter didn't seem so bad to me. Maybe because it didn't seem like we had too many super cold days & it didn't drag on. I can handle all the snow we got. My problem with winter is that it can get so cold & that the roads can get way too nasty for driving. But I was definitely ready for spring to arrive!

I am looking forward to spending some time out in the sun (& in the rain once it gets warmer). I am glad to see that some trees & bushes have buds, as well as some flowers having bloomed. Can't wait for the grass to get nicely green & to smell freshly cut grass!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! Hippity hoppity, Easter time is here! Thought I would do kind of an Easter related blog. I think there will be three parts to it: how I celebrated Easter as a child, how I celebrate now with Richie, & things that I am blessed with (kind of like Thanksgiving).

When I was young, I would get a basket. My basket usually contained jelly beans & other candy, as well as a gift (which was usually like a new dress or some toy that wasn't too big). I attended church with my Grandma & family. We all got together at someone's house for a late Easter lunch & usually an Easter egg hunt. Some years I had 2 family gatherings to go to, one on each of my parents' sides. On my mom's side when we had a get-together (it depended on how much of that side is living in Michigan usually), we also did a think where you hit eggs (hard-boiled, I think) with a golf club.

Since Richie was born, he gets an Easter basket that contains a little bit of candy & some smaller gifts (like sunglasses, bubbles, small toys, etc). This year he is getting a Cars fishing pole; he had asked for one for his birthday, but I told him he should wait until Easter, when he would be more able to actually go out & use it. Some years I hide plastic eggs for him. We also go to one of our family member's for lunch.

My blessings... (to name a few)

• Richie D. He is the smartest, cutest, wonderful little kid I know. I love him so much & feel so lucky that I not only get to have him in my life, but I get to be his mommy. Even though he is naughty at times, he is still such a great kid.
• My friends & family. I have family & friends that I've known all or most of my life, & I have some that are newer. I love & appreciate them all!
• Health.
• Not being homeless or living in my car or even a shelter. The economy may be tough & job market impossible, but at least I know Richie & I will always have somewhere to stay.
• The wonders of technology, such as the internet & cell phones, which make it so much easier to stay in touch with everyone.
  

Early Posting?

It is 6 a.m. It's early, especially for a Sunday morning, right? Not for me. No, for me, it is late. It is late because I have not awoken this early, rather I have not gone to sleep yet. I cannot. I am sleepy but not tired enough to fall asleep apparently. It's a side effect of insomnia issues, I suppose. It isn't rare for this to happen to me. I'll prolly finally get tired to a point of actual sleeping in an hour or so.

I see warmer weather ahead again in the forecast for the upcoming week. Hooray! I love warm weather, especially after not-so-warm weather. Sunshine & warm air. I wouldn't mind throwing a thunderstorm in there, but I prefer it to be at night. For one, I like the nighttime ones more. For two, then it doesn't interrupt any time that could be spent outside in the warm weather.

Trees are starting to gets buds. Soon the leaves will come out & things will look so wonderfully different, so wonderfully green! And more flowers (have seen a few already) will sprout out & all the other plants & such will grow as well. Fabulous!

I wish I could sleep. But I long ago accepted that sometimes I will not sleep as much as one should or even at all. I've had insomnia issues at least since high school. And over-the-counter pills do nothing for me & prescribed ones are either to expensive or the ones I could possibly get would knock me out much more than I want to be (mostly because of the being a mommy thing).

When I get no or next to no sleep, there are 2 effects this can have on me (other than the obvious being tired). I can feel more easily irritable & kinda grouchy. Or I can feel silly-hyperish. I prefer the second option, although the choice is never left up to me. If it were up to me, I would obviously choose just to sleep.

My sleep issues mainly occur in 2 ways, sometimes overlapping. 1) I have trouble falling asleep (or back asleep). 2) I have trouble staying asleep. Occasionally I take naps but sometimes that makes it hard to get sleep the following night. I can stay up all day in order to sleep at night & then by night, I am suddenly not tired. It's an odd thing.

Some weird is good, some weird is not. It just depends on what type of weird we are talking about. And sometimes, how much.

Well I suppose I shall end this & hope to drift off to sleepy time. Some happy thoughts to end the post...

Spring, animal crackers, orange juice, green grass, flowers, CutieMan hugs, pillows, oxygen, texting, pajamas, fresh laundry smell.