The Six of Us

My best friend came into town for the weekend.  Flew in Friday night and then out early Sunday afternoon.  She didn't come to see us she came because she had a sick realative and she wanted to stay with us because we are super cool. Her first night in town she hands me a card.  A hand written card with some cash in it.  I was touched by her incredible generosity.   In the middle of her losing a close relative she thought of us.  She thought we could use the money.  We can.  We don't need it but could use it. I cried and she almost cried.  It has been a tough year for her. I am going take some to spend on some clothes and the rest goes to a family event.  Still undecided what.  I could be responsible and put it towards debt which would get us out of debt 2 months faster according to my get out of debt app.  :) It was good to see my friend although she did spend most of Saturday with family which was her purpose of coming here.  I will see her again at her place in a month

I had a job interview several weeks ago.  I had most the experience they wanted but not the letters behind my name they wanted. I knew even if they offered to me I couldn't take it.  It would have been nearly 15,000 less then I could make working full time at the hospital although it would have been work from home after a few months.  But they never offered me the job.  Lee and I figured out that if we could come up with $500 (ish) more a month then we could get our credit cards paid off in a year instead of 2.5 years.  So today I interviewed with the BHU at the same hospital where I have done PRN for seven years.  I am pretty sure I got the job and I am pretty sure I will accept.  I will only work 2-3 days a month and that will be about 500-600 towards debt a month.  Which will be ideal.  I am giving up my other Mental Health Job.  It would be too much and I don't like working there for several different reasons.  I will keep the ER job because I love it.  Then in a year w

Tuesday Night I cried.  Three different times.  Once when Trump won Iowa. Once when Lee told me turn off the TV because it was clear he was going to win although they hadn't called it yet.  And the last time was when I was in bed and CNN reported that Trump will be the Untied States new president.  I was shocked.  This isn't so much that I disagree with his politics which I do.  But I disagree with who he is as person.  He is a sexist racist pig.  I can't see how people thought this guy who has been married three times and treats women as objects is the guy that we want running our country.  I can see agreeing with his policies although I think deporting people who have been in the country their whole lives although illegally is horrible and will rip families apart.  I think not allowing refugees into the country is against what God would want.  Getting rid of ACA 100% will cause lots of issues for working families who have somebody who has medical needs.  I was hurt.

My mom is amazing.  One of our friends who has kids on the cross county team with Jake commented how amazing it was that my mom goes to so many things.  She went to most cross country meets and football games for my nephew this fall season.  She is always there for us and the little people.  The last few years have been hard as she found out who she was with out my dad.  But she did it and she is so amazingly strong.  My mom showed me that you can work outside the home and still be there for your kids.  That following your dreams is important no matter what your age.  My mom taught me about charity.  About doing good for your neighbors. Today is her 70th birthday and I am grateful that God allowed her to stay around for a while.

Today marks three years since my dad's funeral.  Sometimes I am still bitter he left.  But back to being thankful.  My dad taught me about hard work.  About doing a job until it is done.  My dad taught me how to save and the importance of a rainy day fund.  He taught me that I should always have a way to support my kids if needed.  And for me it was needed.  He taught us to support ourselves financially.  He gave amazing advice.  Every time I would call him with a question after I was married his question was "  What did Lee say?"  He never wanted to get involved in our marriage and I am sure that he bit his tongue often.  He made it clear that Lee and I were in this together and he had taken a back seat.  I wish he would have stuck around longer.  I wish he could see his grand kids grow up to be the amazing young people they are.  I know he is still watching us and stepping in on occasion.   But I so thankful that he stuck around long enough to be a super great influ

Last night when I was cleaning I came across Lukes medical report from last year.  I cried.  I know how close we came to losing him that night.  I know if he would have died or become severely injuried my life would be drastically different right now for many reasons.  I am thankful for his laugh and his energy and his craziness.   More and more I see how he just fits and how he completes our family.  It has taken a while for me to get to this point and although Some  days I wonder what we were thinking I love Duke the Puke.

Although I may not always realize it. Hard work is fabulous.  It is good for the soul and the brain.  Today we spend several hours cleaning out the garage.  It was hard work but we did it as a family and we were able to accomplish quite a bit.  It feels as though it is a never ending process but we are getting there.  Slowly.  I hate mice.  Despise them/  Came eye to eye with a dead one in a soda bottle.  I will be having nightmares for a week I am sure.  Didn't see any live ones which was good. 

Since I started working less I have been cooking more.  Trying all sorts of different things.  There were several things that inspired the cooking more.  One is that we visited Lee's cousin who cooks everything from scratch and does it well.  The other thing is that I will likely be leaving the family for a week in December and wanted to have several freezer meals for Lee so I have been using recipies from my freezer cook books. But.... after about 2 I am spent and the nights I work I have to been done with dinner by 4 so I have time to get ready and to work by 5. So I have been using crock pots a lot.  I have made a goal to be done with dinner by noon and for the most part it has gone well.  Crock pot I can just throw it in and be done and then Lee and the kids can be eating when ever they want. Tonight white chili and corn bread already done and it is 1:00.  :)

Technology is amazing.  I can quickly look up a new recipe I want to try. Or learn how Native Americans ended up in North America.   I can see my kids grades in a few clicks.  I can text Lee pics of the kids while he is at work and he can do the same.  I can even take classes online and stay in contact with old high school friends.  I can quickly learn about a death in the family.  It does have some down falls but since this is a thankful post I wont get into that. 

Before people think that I am some materialistic crazy person which I am sure some people do...hear me out.  I am thankful for what money allows us to do.  The extra activities for the kids.  The vacations.  The ability to support fund raisers.  We don't have a lot of extra and we certainly have to budget and there isn't enough for everything we want but there is some for what we want and all of our needs are covered.  Every since we refinanced the house we decided that credit cards needed to become something of the past and we needed to pay cash for everything.  Which we have.  With my recent cut in hours we have had to make some cuts.  But we will be fine and I have decided to up the amount we put into savings as well as set up two more sinking funds. 

I am thankful that I am raising critical thinkers.  The kids like to know the Why of everything.  Although that is annoying at times especially when they are young.  I am thankful that we have found a way to encourage the "whys" to not stop.  The kids don't want to just accept the facts as they are.  I had a professor in grad school who would always ask the question "WHY?" when we gave presentations or wrote papers.  We couldn't always answer the question but at least it made us think.  That is what I want kids to ask why.  Then take the time to find the answer.