Friday November 29, 2013....

     Paying bills today, always cheers a person right up.  I also went out today and bought my daughter a coat and boots. Not even Christmas stuff, but she needs them when it snows this week.  Everything is so expensive that it makes me sad I spent so much and it wasn't even Christmas.   Oh well....  I still ended my day smiling.
      My girl and I got our tree up, my son said he wanted to have a different tree than everyone else, and put all the longest branches in the middle so he looks like a chunky tree.  At first I was kindof not with the program, but then thought, 'what difference does it make?  He gets to have an opinion about the tree, we still have a beautiful tree. It still twinkles brightly and all the ornaments go on still.  In the end we left it how he had it.
      I am still so thankful for everything I have that is important.   I don't have a 5 bedroom mansion, but I have my kids, I don't have a new sports car, but I still make it to work, I don't have a million dollars but I do have my utilities paid and some food in the fridge.   It's all in how you look at things.   I may be homeless soon, but I will still have my inner peace.  I may not have money for vacations, but I have my health. I may not have enough to save for the future, but I have a future to watch unfold.
       I am thankful for the seasons, although there is one I could do without.  I am thankful for holidays, that give me extra time off. I am thankful for having the flexibility to see the things my kids do in school, and I am thankful that my kids go to good schools.
     I am thankful that I had the opportunity to live in a wonderful neighborhood growing up, and that my kids get the same opportunity.  I am thankful my kids love me and are good kids that mind what they are told, I don't have to worry about them when I am not around.   I am thankful they are helpful and that they humor me with traditions teenagers don't really care about.
      I am thankful for my siblings, even though they are all boys..  I am thankful for the childhood I lived so that I know how to handle the present moment and keep going with my head held high and a smile on my face.  The important thing is that I have a smile and I know more and more each day that no matter what happens I am becoming a new me.  I am becoming a happier and more peaceful me.
      I'm still working on the deep breath, and smile......  It's a work in progress....