Did Someone Say SUPER BOWL?

I'm trying to write a Ten Things of Thankful post AND watch the Chiefs v. Titans game, and I seem to be having a little trouble concentrating on the writing, but here goes:

1. I'm trying to be thankful that I did not win tickets to the Chiefs game today, even though I really wanted to go (the price of tickets was prohibitive on our budget), because the temperature at kick off was 18 degrees and felt like 5 degrees. My comfy chair, warm house, and tv are serving me pretty darn well.

2. I got two new students this week at school after three of mine moved up to the next age group. (There is a wait list of children wanting to come to our school, and that equals job security!) They are both sweeties and very cuddly.

3. First half of the week: unseasonably warm and we played outside. Second half of the week: stinkin' cold and we were trapped inside when it rained buckets of icy cold water. Guess which half of the week I am thankful for?

We colored on Friday, which is a risky thing
to do with one year olds, as they tend
to eat the crayons.

4. I ran into a very beloved friend yesterday at the grocery store. It was meant to be for us to see each other, because we were both at a store that neither of us usually go to. Did my heart good to get a quick visit in with her. She's pretty special.

5. Ran into yet another friend when my husband and I went to the movie theater to see "1917". Our kids are the same age and grew up together, and it was good to catch up.

6. My daughter came home from school this weekend because she was diagnosed with strep throat. I'm thankful that she finally went to urgent care after texting me a dozen times to tell me her throat was sore. I'm also thankful we live close enough to her school that she can get home easily if she needs to. That counts as two thankfuls.

8. Have I mentioned my new memory foam mattress pad?

9. Patrick Mahomes.

He might not have played the same
if I weren't wearing this shirt.

My future son-in-law....

10. THE CHIEFS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL! I remember well when they went 50 years ago. My mom was a huge Chiefs fan, and she would be so happy for this moment! She would also want someone to take me to Miami to the Super Bowl, I'm just positive, so..... who's up for it?

Monday is the day we observe the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr., and in closing, let's remember these words from him, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Stand up for those who can't. Have a beautiful week!

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It's Always A Good Week When You Don't Blow Away And Other Thankfuls

I survived the week! At my new job at the child development center at our local university, we rely on college students for nearly all the support positions, and when they have Christmas break for four weeks and we have it for two, then you can see where there might be a problem. But you know there are thankfuls everywhere, even when you're short-handed at work, so here are mine for the week:

1. Some of our student workers live locally, and they worked their fannies off this week, filling in for others so we would remain within our ratio of children to adults (kind of a big deal that we do that). Still others came back from their Christmas break early just to work, and between all of them, we made it through the week and stayed within ratio!

2. Ohhh, that new memory foam mattress pad! It was heaven on earth this past week when I was so exhausted from work!

3. We had a tornado drill this week at work. We made it down a pretty steep staircase to the basement of our building with over 60 children ranging from 1-5 years old and there were no casualties on said staircase.

4. One of the reasons we had a tornado drill (besides the fact that they are required by law) is because we were expecting unseasonably warm temperatures and severe thunderstorms which would be followed by below freezing temperatures accompanied by freezing rain, sleet and snow (welcome to Missouri). The thunderstorms began while my little nugs were napping, and one big ol' clap of thunder woke all but one of them up, but we did not get anything worse than that and did not have to put our tornado drill skills to work. 

5. We didn't get the ice or snow that was forecast for our area. I'm thankful for that because ice is bad stuff and makes the power go out if you get too much of it. We lost our power for a week back in 2007 because of a nasty ice storm. 

6. The forecast called for up to 6" of snow, and I don't think we got a single snowflake. We got some sleet, but that's it. And I'm thankful for THAT because I hate to waste snow on a perfectly good weekend, when if it would wait a couple of days, it would mean we would have a snow day from work!

7. Lewis says he's thankful for the essential oil diffuser my husband got me for Christmas. It looks a little like the cooling tower for a nuclear reactor and changes colors (hopefully something the nuclear reactor towers do NOT do) and puffs out cool mist laced with essential oils. Lewis is utterly fascinated by it and so far, has not knocked it off the table.

Lewis trying unsuccessfully to catch
the stream of cool mist.

8. My daughter bought an automatic cat fountain for our three kitties, and they are all scared of it. I decided to plug it in again and see if any of them would drink out of it. Finn and Nora prefer to drink their water from the bathroom faucet anyway, so wouldn't you think they'd be all in for this? They are not. Lewis is scared of it as well, but he had enough bravado to approach it and smack the water with his foot. I'm thankful for his incredible bravery in the face of a little tiny spout of running water and hope it will lead to the other two drinking from it, because I get very weary of turning the faucet on in the sink for them every time I'm in the bathroom.

9. My dad fell yesterday, and since he has a medical alert necklace, he can't hide it from me that it happened, because I get a phone call from the company when he sets it off. Mind you, he has set it off more than once by accident, like the day he was eating leftover cheesy potatoes and rested the bowl on the button, causing it to go off three different times, but this time, he really fell and it really worked. I am NOT thankful that he fell, but I believe he learned his lesson about walking outside in the dark to get the mail when there was ice, sleet and snow on the ground, because he took a pretty good tumble into the yard.

10. CHIEFFFFFFSSSSS!!!

My future son-in-law 😂

Did you avoid the nasty weather this weekend? Do you have a nuclear reactor cooling tower on your bedside table? Think about your thankfuls every day. If you are a blogger, link up with us. 

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Because Some Weeks, Finding Thankfuls Is More Crucial Than In Other Weeks

There's some bad shit going down right now in the world, so bad that I can't even wrap my head around it. I believe it's more important than ever to remember to be thankful, starting right now. Here is my Ten Things of Thankful:

I'm thankful for friends who feel comfortable and safe coming to me when they need to talk (you know who you are). I hope I was helpful in some small way, and remember, don't borrow trouble.

It was a two-day work week. It's a good thing, too, because they were two exhausting days!

I'm thankful for the sweet little nuggets I spend my days with. 

I'm thankful for sweet little nuggets who nap well.

That 3" memory foam mattress pad deserves a second mention this week.

My son actually let me take a picture of him before he headed back to school after Christmas break.

2-1/2 years of being a med student
down, 1-1/2 to go!

I'm thankful for a quiet, uneventful New Year's Eve. I'd rather pull out my fingernails than go out anyway.

I discovered Aussie Miracle Curls leave-in detangling milk and it was life changing. The tight little curls I have all along the nape of my neck tangle like crazy, and unless it's happened to you, let me tell you that's one sensitive area! Truth be told, I was originally turned off by the word "milk" in the name, but it isn't and it's wonderful.

I'm thankful that I forgot to take my detangling milk home with me after last weekend at the lake house, because it's here for me THIS weekend at the lake house, and if I had put it in my pink polka-dotted toiletry bag, it would still be sitting in my bedroom WITH ALL THE REST OF MY TOILETRIES, MAKE UP, ETC., where my husband LEFT IT when he packed the car while I was at work. 

When, shortly after arriving at the lake house, I discovered that I had no pink polka-dotted bag or its contents, I went to Sally Beauty Supply, Ulta and Walmart to replace some of the things that were left behind (in all honesty, I could have lived all weekend without most of it, since we have no plans other than to be lazy, but where's the fun in that?). I got (mostly) over my mad when I was able to take a picture at Walmart to add to my collection of butt crack photos (hey, you have your hobbies, I have mine). 

I can't even begin to tell you how much
is actually going on in this picture....

Find the thankfuls in your life. It's crucial, especially during rough times. Hey, it's crucial ALL the time, right?

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