De Rigeur for November

I have noticed its de rigeur to use the month of November to share with the internet all for which you are grateful.  Some people post a daily tribute on facebook or twitter-even if the reflection is just three seconds it takes to post a stats update on a social network, I think it’s always a good idea to stop and reflect on what all we are grateful for. 

Today I will list out 30 things I’m thankful for.  While this list is not all exclusive, or in any particular order, it does touch on the big thing.

1. I’m grateful for my family and that I like them all.  Of course I love them, but its rare these days to actually enjoy every single family member- My parents, uncle/aunts, cousins, even my in-laws, I enjoy being around all of them, as they each bring a particular flavor to the table-and for that I love and like them.

2. I am thankful for my hubby.  He puts up with my energy, my nagging, the cat, and the fact that I don’t like (Alabama) football.  Its also pretty wonderful that he loves me for all my faults.

3. I’m thankful that my parents act young.  They may be older than most parents, but I’m glad they are healthy and active.

4. I am grateful for stylemepretty.com, gilt.com, spider solitaire, Pacman, and Tetris.  Without these wonderful inventions, I would be a bored person (at work).  I am also thankful for Ankit, for adding some competition to the day.

5. I’m thankful that my husband is an only child and that my mother-in-law lives ones stop light away.  I get all her attention- which I love. 

6. I’m grateful that my sister is my best friend and that she’ll always be bossy.  There are three things in life that are constant- death, taxes, and Ann being bossy.  I hope she never changes.

7. I’m thankful for cookie dough.

8. I’m thankful that I have the ability to look back on my life thus far and think how wonderful it has been.

9. My thankful I got to know my grandparents, Boppy and Grandma.  They were both exceptionally outstanding people and I’m so grateful they were my grandparents.

10. I’m thankful for Iron Tribe Crossfit.  Its more of a social outlet than actual workout/competition for me, but I enjoy it and therefore I’m thankful for it.

11. I’m grateful for all the traveling I’ve done.  As a young child and now.  There are so many places in the world that are interesting that are hundreds of thousands of miles away and I’m thankful that I have traveled so some of them.

12. I’m thankful for my job (sometimes).

13. I’m grateful for my closet, shoe, and handbag collection.

14. I’m grateful that Scott and I laugh all the time when we’re together.  He always finds a way to make me laugh.  I love to laugh, and I love him.

15. I’m thankful for home cooked food.  I don’t care anymore who cooks it, as long as its home cooked. 

16. I’m grateful for all the friendships I have scattered all over the US.  Sometimes I’m not that good at staying in tough, but for the most part, when we reunite, its just like old times.

17. I’m grateful that 24 of my family members will be going on a cruise together this Christmas.  I’m sure we’ll come back with plenty of memories/stories.

18. I’m grateful for technology.  Especially cell phones.

19. I’m grateful that I live close to a TCBY. (My body is not).

20. I’m grateful for our home.  Although I’m not grateful for the mess inside the home.

21. I’m grateful for Papoose.  He is one of the most selfless people I know and I’m honored to be part of his family.

22. I’m grateful for William and his phone calls.  While I can’t understand much of what he says, his voice always brightens my day. 

23. I’m grateful for my coworkers. The locations we have to go to aren’t always the most desirable- so it’s nice to have fun coworkers around to joke with to make the time pass faster.  There is only one I’m not grateful for.  Ok, maybe two.

24. I’m grateful for all the time I spent going to swim practice.  It taught me at a young age dedication, hard work, and self-confidence.  I miss the smell of chlorine and the feel of swimmer’s ear.

25. I’m thankful that my dad-enough said.

25. I’m grateful that I know how to ski and for all the ski trips we go on as a family.

27. I’m grateful for chocolate.

28. I’m grateful for my dog Nellie and her energy.

29. I’m grateful for mine and Scott’s health.

30. Lately, I’m thankful (again) for my family.  Because at the end of the day, they are the people who I am so happy to spend the rest of my life with.  

I can taste Thanksgiving

Hooray its almost Thanksgiving!!  Just when I start getting tired of work, traveling, and the daily grind, it becomes holiday season-the best season of all.  My parents are coming this weekend, which is quite the event for us.  I can’t remember the last time they were both here together.  Usually daddy will visit on his way to a cycling event, and mom will visit on her way from Tampa to Birmingham-so to have them together means we’ll have a packed house! 

I worked my booty off getting the house ready for the big arrival.  Lisa helped me decorate the tree (ok that’s a lie, she did it all), the house got cleaned, and both rats (Nellie and Gigi) have been brushed and polished ready to see their grandparents.  I remember when Boppy and Grandma use to visit us in Tennessee.  Before they came, mom would go on mad crazed cleaning rage.  We had to polish all the silver, clean under the beds, mop all the hardwoods, and daddy would vacuum the garage.  That’s pretty funny- vacuuming the garage- I use to think how silly my dad was for doing that, now I find myself vacuuming the garage. Haha.

The best part of Thanksgiving is the food.  Lisa is cooking this year - which means it will all be prepared with about 5 lbs of butter.  I’m sure Scott is already day dreaming about the food coma he’ll be in.  I’m thankful that 3 days out of the year (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easer) Scott is full.

After our food coma wears off, we’ll be heading to Iron Tribe for their Bring-a-Friend day.  Scott is brining John (brother-in-law) and I’m bringing daddy.  This should be entertaining.  Mom will probably come to watch-and document John and Daddy getting their butts kicked.

I’ve already got Black Friday mapped out in my head.  Let’s just say, it starts on Thursday at 10pm.  I need to find something particular to shop for.  This same thing happened last year- I didn’t really have anything special to shop for, so I just went ahead and purchased everything I could think of just incase I needed it.  Got any ideas?

Well that’s all for now folks.  Have a fabulous Thanksgiving filled with family, food, and shopping!!!

Slacking

This is slightly embarrassing.  I can’t believe it’s been almost 3 months since my last post.  I don’t even have a good excuse-well I’m sure I can think of something since we all know I’m never at fault (in true Neidhardt fashion).  I’m also sure none of the 5 followers probably have even noticed that I’ve been MIA.  Its only my dedicated coworkers, looking for entertainment, that have noticed my laziness (Helpling/2 Naughty) Here are some news items that  happened since the preceding blog post.

·         We (me, Scott, Lisa, and Papoose) took a surprise trip to NYC for Papoose’s 85^th birthday to see The Phantom of the Opera.  It was a blast and I know Papoose loved it-although I’m sure he is still recovering.



·          For the first time in William’s life, he was the cool kid at school.  Grandma Karen got him a Curious George backpack from the clearance rack at Costco and his life changed.  The kids in his class were so obsessed with the backpack and its zippers, the teacher asked John to keep the backpack at home, since it was such a disturbance.  Oh and he also got his first professional hair cut!  No more Lloyd Christmas look-a-like.  I feel like he has a chance at being the cool kid again-hopefully for more than 1 day next time.



William in his Fireman oufit for Halloween



·         Football games!!  Last weekend wasn’t the best.  I was on suicide watch with Scott since Bama lost and we had to cancel all our reservations in Miami for the BCS Championships.  Thankfully, he has made a full recovery.  I, on the other hand, don’t get upset when Auburn losses since that would be awfully repetitive.



·         Our big black hairy baby, Nellie, had surgery.  The doctors originally thought she ate a foreign object, but after surgery, they discovered she suffers from IBS -which means she now gets fancy dog food.



·         I have been traveling in the great state of Mississippi for 3 months straight.  Not sure how I got on the Naughty List, but I’m on it, and I now have to work in MS.  While for the most part the state is beautiful, some things dumbfound me.  For example, I was at the Wal-Mart in West Point (probably the first mistake) and witnessed the couple purchase at least 80 packets of Kool-Aid.  They weren’t even on sale.  It was amazing to see Kool-Aid packets fill up an entire Wal-Mart bag.

·         I have become un-addicted to gilt.com.  It was a long process-but it had to happen.

·         Our next big thing will be Thanksgiving.  Not sure if I’m more excited about Lisa’s cooking or Black Friday….tough call…but I’ll pick Lisa’s cooking since its Paula Deen style.  My parents will be coming in town for the holiday along with The Musser’s.  The highlight of the holiday will probably be going on The Polar Express with William, Olivia and Harper (his cousins)!! Can’t wait!!  Such an exciting time for everyone!

Hope everything is doing well and loving the fall/winter weather as much as me!

Happy Fall Y'all!



Nellie on the way home from doggie ER