Thirty Days of Thankful

Well I made it!  I was thankful for thirty different things, thirty days in a row, and not one of them was a sarcastic comment or backhanded anything. :)  It hasn't adjusted my attitude as much as I had hoped (not the sarcastic part of me, I happen to like that part) but I have noticed a little change in the way I look at the world, so it's a start.  Here is what I came up with:

Day 1. I am thankful Sam's ashes are home, and for the time she was a part of my life.
        2. Good Neighbors
        3. Happy hour on Thursday.
        4. Our beautiful fall this year.
        5. Thankful could be there for a friend, and remind her what a strong woman she is.
        6. People who challenge me and stretch my mind.
        7. My health.
        8. Getting to hear the voices of singing children, daily.
        9. Parents who take time to be a part of their child's education.
       10. Thankful to see the first snow with the kids, and be reminded of unbridled joy.
       11. Veterans (Veterans Day)
       12. Good coffee
       13. Anna
       14. Green Bay Packers!!!!
       15. Pay day!
       16. Hot bubble bath waiting for me.
       17. Cookies (and remembering to bring them home)
       18. CL reminding me to catch snowflakes on my tongue.
       19. The bee charmer. ♥
       20. Two Thanksgivings that I don't have to cook.
       21. Three day work week.
       22. Appreciative people
       23. Facebook connecting me to old friends.
       24. Wonderful Thanksgiving memories.
       25. Espresso maker and the rockin' cafe mocha I made.
       26. My sister who accepts me for who I am, even if she doesn't get it. :)
       27. My brothers, who drive me nuts, but always have my back.
       28. My in laws, and their families.  One big extended family to me.
       29. All of the children in my life, most of all baby pig nose, Hurricane Hannah, Tater, TAFKAP
             and C-biscuit.
       30. Well, I'm thankful that I was actually able to be thankful for something everyday, without being sarcastic. That is NOT easy for me. It wasn't the big attitude adjustment I was hoping for, but I can tell that it has made me more mindful of the little things in life. So quietly to myself I will continue to be thankful. :)

So I guess the experiment was a success.  Now I'm working on finding and keeping the Christmas spirit.  Oh, yes I am.  If it kills me, you, and several innocent bystanders.  Ho Ho HO!  There's a Beiber singing Christmas songs on my tv as we speak.  (heaven help me) I'm going to watch them light the tree in NYC! 

Auntie's Day

Today is Auntie's Day!  Finally, a day for some of the other women in our lives, important women who may have played a big part in shaping the person we grew to be.  I hope that you are lucky enough to have one.  I consider myself lucky to be one, and am always mindful of the role I play in the kids' lives.  Well, that's part of what I do, being a preschool teacher and all, but even if I weren't I know how important it is to be a good role model.

I have a half dozen or so Great Aunts that have been a small part of my life, although Sister Eva Jean was a bigger role in our family life.  From these women I gained a sense of family connection, and more importantly from Sister Arlene my love of music.  We also share a talent for it, and apparently also the love of writing which I didn't find out until she was gone.  If I had followed the regular college route I would have tried Viterbo in LaCrosse due in large part to her.

I have three Aunts.  Aunt Dorothy was the visiting aunt, so it was always laughter and good times.  I was excited to visit her, and excited for her to arrive at our house.  I have mentioned before in one or more of the "Traveling to Madison" childhood story blogs that she has the most crazy, amazing laugh.  No one else can top it, I promise.  Aunt Pat is the local Aunt.  She is the one I have the most contact with, although admittedly not enough.  She's there for me though, always in my corner no matter what nuttiness is going on, and I know it.  Then there is my Aunt Mary, my Mother's sister.  My one and only by blood Aunt, and also my Godmother.  The original Queenie.  If you take my no nonsense, absolute control, give me a situation and I'll handle it, side and amp it up by three.....that's my Aunt Mary.  She was Director of Nurses at St. Joseph's here in town back in the day, and I'm sure that she ruled that roost with an iron fist.  She absolutely told it like it was, no holds barred, and she pulled no punches.  She's been gone for a few years now, and I can't tell you how much I miss that strong presence in my life.  She put me in charge of some of her affairs, including her final send off, and I'm so honored that she knew she could trust me to carry out all of her wishes.  Which I did, exactly as specified, because even in the great beyond you do not mess with Aunt Mary. ♥

Many women pass though our lives and leave a footprint on the wonderful woman we grow to be.  Aunts or not, to those who have left their imprint on who I have become, I thank you.

Happy Anniversary Baby!

Well here we are, one year later! I wish I had a planned out blog for this, I've been trying for weeks to come up with something. My sister and I are definitely going to have a glass of wine later today in celebration!! For me to stick with something like this for so long is amazing. For me to enjoy something I've committed to (other than a relationship....and even then....) so much is unheard of. Case in point, Friday night's concert. Yes, I have to bring him up again. After the Bo part of the evening I ran back to my assigned seat and said to the girls, I can't wait to blog about this!! I need to get me one of them new fangled telephone dealys that lets me access the internet and type. Come up into 2011 and all that jazz. (read that last part with a southern accent) I think my voice sounds sexy with a southern accent. Too bad I've never had the chance to try it out for real. (and yes that is a direct comment at someone)

In honor of my one year anniversary I was going to go back to blog number one and read forward. Every last one of them. I actually do re-read from time to time, because as I've said before, I find myself hillarious for the most part. No self esteem issues here, other than the ones caused by a few select men that have slid through my life. To whom I say ♫ I guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough, FORGET you ♫ Anyway, re-reading must start on day number one, and that was a bad day. A very bad day. It ranks up in the top 5 worst of all time and I just don't want to go there right now. Especially because it is still affecting me, I can't shake it, and most of me doesn't even want to try. Nice time to figure out what REALLY loving someone is all about. You can't just shake it and move on, it's kind of like a disease of some sort. Very nasty business if you ask me.

Thanks once again for reading. My goal for this next year is to give you something else of mine to read! Oh wait, you can! I wrote a review of the concert for Ticketmaster today! :) Notice how we come back to Bo..... Anyway, I had to rewrite it like 834 times because I had way more to say than they would allow. Not only about Bo either. I had a LOT to say about the seats we had. I think I got the tickets about two weeks after they went on sale. I put into the computer best seats available and this is what we got. Section C row 10. Not bad. Full view of stage. Who knew ten rows was so far back? Full view? Uh, yeah....if NO ONE IS SITTING IN FRONT OF YOU. So yes, when Vicki, Kate, and I stood up during .38 special and no one in front of us did, I could see! The part that really ticked me off was the fact that section B row 2 was half empty. I would have gladly paid for those seats. Heck, I used one of them for a good portion of Bo anyway. ;)

I'll leave this post with my favorite quote from Emily Dickenson:

~ Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all.

Never, ever, give up hope!

Jo

One Hundred

Well here it is! I can not believe that I have 100 blogs! I have spent most of my life writing, but have never stuck with it like this. Every diary stops when the world got too tough and I didn't feel like I could put my real thoughts where someone might see them. Instead of finding other things to write about and focus on, I just stopped dead. That sure has changed!

This blog started almost 1 year ago, on March 27, 2010. It was a Saturday, and a very awful day in my life. The subject matter was supposed to be a how (not) to about online dating, and the name was actually "Coffee Date". If you haven't read those earlier blogs, I encourage you to take a look. There's some good advice, and some laughter at my expense, but it's o.k. because I laugh the hardest. Then my whole attitude and focus changed, and here we are!

I was kind of stumped about what to write in this blog. I started trying to gauge how much I've grown in this past year, but it's hard. Leaps and bounds in some directions, and in others just baby steps. That is hard for me to accept, and I'm trying not to call myself names publicly or privately, and just accept that time will heal all things.

Thank you for all of your comments, encouragement, and compliments! I have readers from all over the world, and that is just unbelievable! Hopefully you'll stick with me through the next 100. I am so grateful to have you along for the journey. Just promise me no raisins in the car. Hey, I haven't told you the raisin story! I'll have to add it to my list. :)

Jo