another day..another antibiotic

i cannot believe this is thanksgiving week.. i have to admit ive been a little whiny and not so thankful lately. i think ive been sick for like a year.. or a month.. but a year sounds better. ive finished one round of steroids (prednisone..not 'the juice') and a 10 day supply of antibiotics.. only to start another antibiotic today. cant seem to kick this crazy cough. but after blood work, other tests and an MRI - i officially just have a serious amount of congestion. and nothing more! well.. a little more, a herniated disc in my lower lumber - but that is definitely not making me cough. i actually think i have a new cold on top of the 'serious bronchitis/walking pneumonia'.. who catches a cold while on other medication? anyway.. the point is im totally gonna live.. and i do have SO much to be thankful for!

the little kid left for her fathers this morning.. she had the entire week off for the holiday. so even tho i have to share her - which is harder than you might think - at least we got to spend some quality time together monday and tuesday. we cleaned her room yesterday.. usually a total beating.. but we had a really good time. it was our afternoon nap project. she was reasonable about getting rid of some stuff and she even did the vacuuming herself. have i mentioned lately that she is growing up too fast? im thankful we get to spend so much time together.

the little man is sooooo smart. im sure every mom counts their little person as a genius- so i, nor he, are any exception. but i have proof! just today i shh'd paula and he put his finger to his lips and shh'd her too. he said.. shh- baby. it was too cute for words. he has also added quite a few new words to his vocabulary. in addition to putting words together like 'bye bye kay kay' (kay kay is kennedy's friend kaylee) we've been working on food words and my new favorite is pickle. and mato (tomato). and cracker. honestly, theyre all cute. im thankful he is a part of our lives and that he makes me smile everyday.

i love my job. its been almost a year! 10 months.. and i can still say that it was the best career decision ive ever made. there have been moments when ive doubted that... and running your own business isnt always easy. especially when you take care of peoples babies and you cant help but let your heart get involved. but i am thankful that i dont get up everyday dreading my work and that i am blessed with happy healthy smiling little faces to spend my time with.

my parents make me proud. as long as weve been together we have always rotated thanksgiving and christmas between our families gatherings. the 2007 calendar says thanksgiving=palmers & christmas=shoffners. but seeing that christmas falls on mon-tues creating a long weekend & a possibility to see both families.. and in the true jammi-spirit of trying to do too much in too little time.. i came up with the idea of inviting both families here for thanksgiving. ya know .. since i have so much time on my hands to cook and clean on my one day off. not to mention all that extra energy in between coughing.. anyway. i pitched the idea to my dad and he quickly reminded me that he and my mom have been serving thanksgiving lunch at the childress county jail for as long as i can remember. i quickly argued that he could at least try to find someone else to do it. he told me they were counting on him.. and that i should just stick to our original family plan..even tho that means my parents will actually eat their thanksgiving lunch alone. they are committed to serving the community.. and i am very thankful to call them my parents.

i am also very thankful for my inlaws. and not just because i dont have to cook and clean for thanksgiving! i am thankful they have always been so welcoming of me. and i am thankful that they make time for our children. korb and kennedy love them very much! they are special people and i appreciate them very much.. all 3 of them!

im thankful for the friends weve been blessed with..

its awesome to have new people in your life to get to know. we have a few new friendships 'blossoming' and their company has been so much fun over the last few months. im thankful were not too old to make new friends!

its awesome to have friends in your life that you can neglect, for lack of a better word, even if they are down the street, and then pick right up where you left off. im thankful for those friendships and the occasional friday night reminders that they are still alive and well!

the usual suspects, as they are fondly known, are always there for us! the mincheys and cardwells have definitely become our 'family' in the last year. we rarely make it more than a few days with out getting together and it has become so comforting to us to know that we can depend on them when we need a laugh.. or a cry.. to celebrate a small victory or moan about a battle lost. its good to have close friends. im thankful for them.

and speaking of friends.. over the last couple of years kyle and i have been able to grow a friendship with my brother and sister in law that i am very proud of. i know.. theres a automatic relationship there.. and not always something you think about..but we have worked really hard to figure out where and how that relationship works best for all of us and that makes it so much better. we could just take for granted that we are family and go from there - but instead we have thought thru each personality and created something special. i am thankful that we are really friends..not just family!

and finally i am thankful for my loving husband and best friend. he makes the world go 'round for me. love you kyle!