I'm Thankful, Just Short on Time!

I know what you're thinking: "What the heck? Kerry, that ingrate - she's not even really thankful for anything. She was supposed to be posting once a day until Thanksgiving."

Yes, I WAS supposed to be posting once a day. But life has gotten in the way, as it often does. We'll just say that it counts that I've been THINKING ABOUT POSTING every day for the last week and leave it at that!

Since I know I'm not going to have time to keep up with my previously set posting schedule, please see my list of 14 things I am thankful for below (please note that these are in no particular order):

1. My Family (as previously stated in my last post)
2. Being a Mom
3. A job I sincerely love
4. Friends who not only put up with me, but also seem to kind of enjoy spending time with me :)
5. Being an organized person
6. Other Mom friends I can talk to about the joys, frustrations and questions of parenthood
7. Non-mom friends who I can cut loose and relax with
8. Opportunities hidden in seemingly bad situations* (will elaborate below)
9. Enjoying the age I am, no matter the age I am, 'til death do I part
10. Looking backward and clearly seeing the hand of God guiding my life
11. Our house, quirks and all, I REALLY love it
12. A husband who loves me in spite of the crazy (or maybe because of it?!) and who I'm fully aware I am lucky to have as my partner
13. My health and the health of the people I love - something I frequently take for granted and SHOULDN'T!
14. Chocolate (OK, I can't lie, making a list of 14 things was getting hard - though I do appreciate chocolate!)

There is one point above that I'd like to elaborate on a bit. And it sort of ties in with another point - #8 and #10. First of all, 2009 was a stressful year. A pretty challenging and bad year, if I'm being honest. I was laid off of a job I loved in January. I have a lot of opinions on this particular incident that I won't share in a public forum. I wish that company the best, but I certainly am not happy at how I was treated. Such is life. Moving on. I went through a couple of REALLY tough months after that. Suffice to say it threw me into a depression that I really didn't think I would be able to climb out of on my own. Finally after almost 6 months, things started to get better. And I realized that while I was suffering through the gloom and doom of my daily life, I had actually, inadvertently wound up in a much greener pasture. I found a job where I am appreciated, where I am able to stretch a bit, where I am trusted for the capable individual that I am. When I really thought about it, the only thing I missed from the old place (besides a few friends who I've kept in touch with) was the extra day off that I had arranged each week to spend with Anna. It was an opportunity that I NEVER would have sought out, but has in fact put me in a much better place both mentally and financially. I guess my main point here is, looking back now, I can see that even though it wasn't a path I had chosen for myself, that it was, in the end, for the best. It was an opportunity stumbled upon in what seemed like a bad situation, but has obviously become good.

Anyway, that's definitely not everything I'm thankful for, but that's all you're getting! I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving. Rest assured that I'm once again tackling my life-long goal of eating my weight in mashed potatoes this Thursday!