November 1st

Today is November 1st.  It is in this month that my most favorite holiday occurs.  It's funny, you ask my kids what their favorite holiday is and they give the same answer as I did at their age ~ CHRISTMAS!  I think it has something to do with presents.  But the older I get, and the longer I have kids and see things around me, I see that gratitude is so long lost on even people from my own generation.  And especially in this country today, there seems to be a "Give me give me give me" mentality.  Wanting something for nothing.  Wanting a slice of the pie of the wealth of some while not willing to put their time, effort, energy, credit or reputation on the line to either succeed or fail.  While sometimes I find myself wishing I could just win the lottery, I realize that the best things in life are the things that we have worked for, saved for, and paid cash for!

Anyways, to get off that (I'm afraid I may just get to ranting about politics and the dire plight of our nation, but that is not what this is about ;) ).

The month of November ALWAYS gets me to thinking about and counting the blessings, big and small, in my life.  And so, I have decided to do a "what I'm grateful for post" as often as I can.  I am not promising one every day, because I tend to not follow through.  But I'm going to do one as often as possible!   So, I shall start today!

Right now, I am sitting on my recliner and I look to my left and see the family picture we had taken last year.  We didn't get one taken this year for a number of reasons.  I LOVED the pictures we took last year, and we don't really have the $$$ ca-ching to do it again this year.  But, not much has changed, really.  Jesse and I still weigh the same (if not more, and what girl wants THAT captured for all time).  My hair is shorter, and I have the same wardrobe.  My guys haven't changed much either.  Maybe gotten a little more ornerier, but that really can't be captured by a camera!   But, I just LOVED the pictures we took last year.  She captured us perfectly.  I would LOVE to do another shoot this year, but maybe we'll just do it ourselves!

Anywho ~ geez, I can't help but go off on tangents :D

My thing I am grateful for are those people in the picture. 

My husband is such a wonderful guy!  He is a great provider, he works so hard for us.  And when he does have free time, guess what he does with it?!  He spends it with us.  I'm sure there are lots of things he would rather do ~ golf, riding a motorcycle (if he had one that worked) ~ but he spends it with us! And I'm so grateful for him and his love and time!  Oh, and he came home this morning and said that the Chief asked him to stay for a couple hours of overtime tomorrow because he is getting the Officer of the quarter award!  ISN'T THAT AWESOME!  He works hard, and I'm so proud of him, and he is getting rewarded for being an awesome officer!

I'm also grateful for those 3 little guys in that picture.  They are the source of my greatest joy, and sometimes a source of great frustration.  But, also seeing them succeed is so rewarding!  I am not the perfect mom.  Sometimes, I feel like I am not even a good enough mom, but they love me.  They forgive me.  And we work together to be better at everything together!

So, there you have my November 1st "I'm grateful for......."

What is it you're grateful for?