Halloween

I went to a Halloween party last night.  I went as Gilligan, D was supposed to be my Skipper, but he did not get home from work in time.  I think I am getting old.  I was home from the party, which started at 7, by 11:30 and in bed by 11:40!  I did have a great time.  It was a very small gathering and it was very subdued.  Very out of character for this party, and this was my eighth year going.  I guess time does change everything.  I am not going to say that it was a bad change, because I still laughed and had a great time, but still it was a change.  The food was awesome and the company was even better.  Since I am trying to maintain some anonymity, no pictures, you will just have to trust me when I say my costume was awesome!

Sunday is our Church Fall Festival.  I know this is going to be a great time.  My church is full of awesome people who really care about our kids having a safe place to go.  My bestie and I are going to do a table together with a Jack-O-Lantern theme.  I made tons of little foam Jack-O-Lanterns yesterday while I was supposed to be working.  :)  We have some cute things to decorate with.  I think I am more excited about these festivities than anything else I think!

Now to the real Halloween.  I have trick or treat night.  I always find other things to do so I am not home.  I don't like people stopping at my house.  I have nightmares that someone checks out what we have and comes back to rob me in the night.  Traveling salesmen do the same thing to me.  That might qualify me for freak status but what can I say, I have no control over it!  I liked going trick or treating as a child and never thought about it.  Of course, I did not trick or treat at strangers' homes.  My mom only took us to people that we knew.  I don't remember getting the bushel baskets of candy that kids get nowadays.  We had enough to MAYBE last us a week if we divvied it out accordingly. I think my brothers ate much more than I did!  :)

I am not sure what kind of Halloween parent I am going to be yet.  Of course, I don't have to worry about it just yet.  I am in the 2 week wait though, so we will see if maybe by next year we might have a little pumpkin!  Keep your fingers crossed and prayers coming!

So readers, do you have a favorite Halloween memory?  Any thoughts or ideas on Halloween?

Thankful Thursday

Today I am going to count my blessings.  I should do this everyday of my life, but I am human and sometimes take for granted what I have.

I have a wonderful family.  My mom and I have a great relationship and I truly enjoy spending time with her every chance I get.  I have a good relationship with my brothers and sister.  We understand each other, we are our own special breed of crazy...haha!

I have a pretty great husband who does everything he can do to make a good living for us.  (He is in the midst of trying to decide to make a career change or not)  I am kind of hoping he does one thing but I think he is going to with the other.  I am not going to complain because he has a job after a year of unemployment!

My friends are so awesome.  Even when they are going through their own issues they still have time to talk and go to dinner.  I appreciate that.  I do the same for them.  I want everyone to be happy (not going to happen, but I can hope!)

I love my job.  I have great kids.  I am getting over having to move to a new school.  I am NOT completely over it but I am working on it.  I am so glad to have other preschool teachers to work with, which is something I have not had before.  I still miss my friends from my other school but it is going to be ok.

I have a wonderful church and church family.  I feel such a wonderful connection to so many there.  It has really helped me become closer to God and live my life for Him.

I just felt after this week of uncertainty for some of my friends that I just needed to look at the bright side and all I have!  I hope you all have a good weekend!

Considerations

D and I have not been seeing much of each other lately.  His work schedule is to blame.  He is traveling Sunday through Friday night.  It has not been fun.  He can't help it, it is what he has to do for his job.  After a year of unemployment we need him to have a job, even if he has to travel.  He has an interview on Monday for a different job, this too will entail travel.  I am thinking the travel will be a little better at least since it will be Monday through Thursday.  D is really feeling some stress and pressure trying to figure out the right thing to do.  When D works somewhere, he works so hard and gives all he has to that particular job until he can give no more.  I appreciate this about him.  However, it sometimes bites him in the butt, so to speak.  :)  So I am praying that he finds peace to do what he needs to do.  He knows what he NEEDS to do,  but he has formed relationships with his coworkers and hates to disappoint anyone.  If he is offered the job at the interview, he needs to take it and never look back.  He KNOWS that, but he is still struggling with the decision.  It has more money, better benefits and better travel benefits.  So if you are the praying type, please send him some thoughts and prayers for peace in his decisions.

On another note, D did not get to come home last night, so I went to visit him where he was working.  We had a wonderful date night.  We went to Target, ate at O'Charley's and watched Zookeeper.  I thought it was really funny.  I think Horrible Bosses is on the date night agenda tonight, if he ever makes it home!  This darn work is really getting in the way of our together time.  He is really starting to feel that.  I know that his travel is much harder on him than it is on me.  I get to be home, he is at a hotel.  I can see my friends, he is alone.  We talk on the phone but it is not the same, ya know.  Last night, we cuddled on the couch in his hotel room, we actually went to bed at the same time and talked, I mean really talked!  We needed that!

We have been kind of grumpy with each other, not in a malicious way, but more in a gosh, what do we do now that we are here together, kind of way.  When D is home, he wants to be home.  I have been home all week by myself, I want to see people, go out, have fun!  He wants to veg in his man cave, I can't blame him.  I would want to do that same thing if I had been gone since May.  So me going and meeting him in a different town last night kind of forced us to just be together without the distractions of home.  We are so guilty of just doing our own thing and not telling the other what we really need.  I am in the living room, he is in his man cave.  I am not a big fan of his man cave, that is where the cat's litterbox is and it is stinky and makes me gag....lol!  So I am here he is there, I don't want to fall into that pattern.  I have decided that I am going to ask for what I need and I want him to do the same.

Sometimes the baggage we carry from previous relationships get really heavy after a while.  I think I need to sit mine down for a while.

Happy Wednesday!

I love Wednesdays!  My kiddos do not come to school on Fridays, so I know that Wednesday means the hard part of my work week is over.  I also love my Wednesday night kiddos at church, they are so precious. 

I was just thinking today that I have so much to be thankful for.  I got to see my family last week and that was much needed.  It was not a long enough visit though.  I had not seen my mom since July, I don't think I had ever gone that long without seeing her.  I do talk to her everyday though.  I appreciate that we are so close now, I don't know what I would do without her.  I love that she is not an overbearing mother.  I can talk to her about what I need to and she will give me advice, but only if I ask for it.  She does not push her views on me.  I tend to be a poll taker...I want to know everyone's opinion on what is going on in my life!  D is just the opposite.  I don't know if that makes it good or bad for our relationship.

On a different note, I have been stressing.  Shocker for those of you who know me in real life.  D is stressing me a bit.  He is uncertain about his job.  It took him almost a year to find this job after being unemployed.  He has an interview on Monday with another company making more money, which would be nice.  However, I am just concerned that he is falling into a pattern of running from a job when it gets tough or things are not going his way, so to speak.  I am just hoping he finds something that makes him truly happy and he will stick with it.  It seems like we are always starting over.  I will just keep praying.

Spa weekend

Every year me and my girls go somewhere for a long weekend.  This year we went to the Stonewall Resort in West Virginia.  It was awesome!  Stonewall Resort

I should start out by saying, I have never had a massage before.  I decided this time I was going to bite the bullet and go for it.  I enjoyed it.  It is not something I feel like I have to do all the time though.  I did have to tell the guy to lighten up on the pressure.  I was sore the next day too!  Fifty minutes is a really long time for me to be left with my own thoughts.  I chuckled to myself several times, especially when he was working on my feet.  The sound of someone rubbing lotion between their hands grosses me out.  I did enjoy the massage, don't get me wrong, just not something I want to do all the time.  I am thinking once a year is good enough for me!  I thoroughly enjoyed the pedicure though!  I could do those every month and be happy!

Since my group of friends have 16 kids between them, it was awesome being able to get away together and just spend the weekend relaxing.  The weather was kind of rainy so it forced us to relax.  Some of my girls are going through some crappy life things so it was so needed for all of us.  We laughed, we cried, we sang and we prayed.  I am pretty sure that made it a full weekend. 

We met some really sweet old ladies.  They thought we were in college!  Since we range in age from 38-mid-twenties, that made us feel really great! I had to laugh when they said, when you get as old as us, everyone looks young!  They were very spunky!

I think the game of Truth or Dare made the weekend very interesting.  Let's just say, the dares were pretty awesome!  It is amazing how a group of girls could go for 3 straight days and never run out of things to talk about.  We did our best to help each other and be there for whoever needed to talk.  I just pray that things work out for the best for my besties!