No...I Am Not Dead, Missing Or Have Fallen Off The Earth

Contrary to popular belief I have not...............
  1.  Fallen off the face of the Earth
  2.  Gained any of my weight back (which is a Christmas miracle)
  3.  Been kidnapped by aliens.
  4.  Been eaten by the mountain lion that lives on my hill.
  5.  Been driven mad due to the continual whining of my children.
 
Yes, I am still alive.  Quite alive.  But, we have had a very crazy couple of months.  Here is the brief outline of what has gone down....

  1.  4 out of 5 of us had the flu.  Not little coughing and congestion.  We had the full blown 10 day flu. 
  2.  Had family in from out of state for Thanksgiving.
  3.  Caught a stomach virus.  Which circled thoroughout our house.
  4.  Gone stark raving mad trying to find Christmas gifts for my super picky children.
  5.  Had an out of state family wedding.
  6.  ALL of us caught yet another cold...lucky us.
  7.  I worked a 40+ hours during the last week before holiday break at school.   
  8.  Why did I work so much?  Because all my PTO volunteers also had the flu.
  9.  Had a family Christmas break from illness for about 3 days. 
 10.  Yes, then we got another cold.

It has been absolutely CrAzY at my house.  Last Friday, was the first time I got a chance to send all 3 kids to school at the same time.  As you can imagine, I am trying to catch up.  But, the jokes on me because we started basketball season.  Saturday we have 5 games.  Yes, you read that right.  5 games.  With pictures thrown in the middle.  And tomorrow, I have a school event until about 5 PM.  And tonight, we have a science fair awards ceremony.

I honestly can say I am so thankful that I have lost all this weight.  There is no way I would have been able to keep up with all this before.  No.  Way. 

Oh, I did start a new boot camp.  The trainer is a long time friend of mine...and she is very hard.  I couldn't sit down for a week after starting it!  Sweet!

So.....I promise to write more when the chace allows.  But, right now I am busy just living.  And that was my goal all along.  To just live.

Happy living!!!!

30 Days Of Gratitude............Day 15

Today I am especially thankful that I got to go celebrate Thanksgiving with 2 of my girls at their school.  Even though I didn't partake of the cafeteria cuisine, I still spent quality time with Lily and Georgia. 

I don't say this often  but I am very thankful that I have the choice to stay at home with them.  We may not have lots of extra money but hopefully they will remember the time that I spent being extremely active in their school lives.

Oh, and while we are on the thankful kick.......................

I am especially thankful for my PTO Veep, Tanya (a.k.a Mini-Martha....cause she is a crafty little thing!).  Tanya made these wonderful Thanksgiving signs.  Without her I would surely be locked away in the PTO loony bin by now.



30 Day Gratitude....Days 9-14

Well, I have been a bit absent from my blog. 

Hannah (12 yr. old) has been sick for 6 days.  Yuk!

So today I am grateful that she is feeling better and was able to return to school.

 Cuz, mama needed a little break.  Really.  I am not kidding. 

Gratitude...................Day 8

Today I am grateful that I am not related to this dude......................

Yep.  You read it right.  He is looking for a wife by advertising on his truck.

And in case you are wondering, I took that picture.  Today.  In my town.  With my cell phone.  In my gym parking lot.

I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

30 Days of Gratitude.................Day 7

Today I am sooooooooooooooooooooo grateful to Mark Z. and the person at FB who invented the "hide" button.  Seriously, you are genius!  I no longer have to read ignorant FB posts (and there are ignorant comments from both sides).

 A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!

30 Days of Gratitude................Day 6

Today I am grateful that we can get all this election business done. 

I have never been so ready to be able to turn on the T.V., radio or log into the Internet without campaign propaganda being thrown at me. 

This election seems to have drug on and on and on and on..............................

30 Days Of Gratitude..............Day 5

I am grateful for my recovery from my VAD/Stroke.

Today at the gym (our gym is also the physical therapy office for the hospital) a lady came in and began to exercise on the cross-trainer next to me.  She had clearly had a stroke.  Her gait was unbalanced and her speech and mannerisms were labored.

And it made me remember all too well those early days of recovery.

When it took every ounce of my energy to walk across the room.  When I felt so frustrated to not remember the correct word I wanted to use.  When I was appalled that I (a 34 yr. old) had to use a walker just to get the bathroom.

I remember that out of control feeling.  The feeling that what I wanted and what my body would physically do did not match. 

And today I am thankful that my recovery (after almost 7 years) has come so far.  It truly is miraculous.

Sure there are days when I feel off.  When I am tired.  When I limp a little.  But I have pushed beyond every obstacle that was thrown my way.  I have overcome what the doctors said was impossible.

I am truly thankful for my recovery and for the journey I have taken.

It has made me stronger, more resilient and I think a more compassionate person than the person I was before my stroke.