On A Scale Of One To Ten.

Today I am grateful for the number four.

because on a scale of 1-10, One being that my husband loves me exactly like he did the first day we met and everything is glorious and chill and Ten being that he is no longer speaking to me..we are currently running at about a four.

we had to have a discussion tonight about budgets. and plans for the year. and i was not so nice and threw him a really big curve ball. (to be discussed at a later time here)

I was actually expecting him to be more like a seven, realistically.

I tried to sweeten him up first by talking about helping him make extra payments on his student loan. nothing puts The Marsh is a good mood like to smell of paid off debt.

I knew it wouldn't exactly be his favorite thing in the world ever, but i'm glad that he trusts me enough to make everything work out for the best.

and he got back at me by making me realistically budget my wine for the next six months. nothing makes you feel like an asshole (and an alcoholic) faster than having apply a price tag over time to that shit. I think my slight humiliation made him feel better about the whole thing. cause he's a big jerk face like that.

but at least he's my jerk face, right?

so I'm eternally grateful that it was only a four.

I guess now it's time to think about getting a passport....

Thanks for reading!
Lana

(WO)MAN DOWN.

Today I am grateful that my children have reached an age where they understand the sentence

"Momma doesn't feel good."

It's taken awhile for them to get that mom isn't, in fact, invincible and there are moments when she just can't play. or deal with whomever hit whom first or who isn't sharing. but slowly they've come to understand.

today was one of those very days. i got a message from my best friend, Kristy, asking if I would be up for a visit for a little bit with her this afternoon. since she lives a couple states away and just happened to be home for the holidays, i didn't want to miss her visit. but as i rushed around picking up toys, vacuuming, and doing the dishes..i felt it starting.

the dreaded migraine.

i popped some advil as soon as i felt the tell tale throb behind my left eye, but unfortunately it didn't make a dent. i managed to get through my visit with Kristy and Ken, which was lovely, but by the very end I could feel the nausea coming on. after they left I wrapped up in a blanked and basically slowly died for the next few hours.

and I have to give the kids credit where credit is due, they got it. they really understood that i didn't feel good and didn't act crazy or loud or bother me with unimportant stuff. they did keep coming into my bedroom and talking to me. but they were quiet and would lay down with me for a few minutes. it was pretty sweet on their parts actually.

and when The Marsh got home I didn't even have to tell him i wasn't feeling well. the babes had informed him that i had a headache before he even managed to make in all the way inside the house. at which point he was then kind enough to take over parental duties and i was left undisturbed for a good 50 minutes or so.

I'm already feeling better now. and it sucked that i felt so awful earlier, it's been a few weeks since my last migraine. but i'm so grateful that Mr. Breyman and Miss G seem to finally understand whats going on. it certainly helps make the whole horrible process go by the much easier.

now i'll be grateful if i can just manage to go a little bit longer before having another one. like forever.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Snow Angels.

Today I am grateful for my little sister Jasmine.

Isn't she adorable?

of course she is.

and this afternoon while I was finishing up at work and my mom needed to come into the office for an hour or so while babysitting Mr. Breyman and Miss G, Jasmine was kind enough to play with my babes outside of the office so they wouldn't be cooped up inside.

do we remember what yesterday's post was about? Frosty being a dick and all that jazz? yea. there is like a foot of snow on the ground. and my beautiful baby sister spent 40 minutes playing in the snow with my kids. and when I say "playing" I really mean some sort of reenactment of something that has to do with the video game Zelda. my geekiness doesn't extend into that fandom so I'm not really sure what exactly they were doing. but it had to do with battle.

and while i'm extremely grateful the she was nice enough to play out in the snow with them so that my mom and i could finish our work, what i'm actually grateful for is the snow fix she gave them. they should be satisfied for at least a couple of days (please God) and that means that I won't have to be the one freezing my ass off out in the snow any time soon.

someone give that child a pat on the head for me. she deserves it.

Thanks for reading!

Lana

Frosty? Go Away.

Today I am grateful that I only work part-time.

aside from the obvious reasons to be grateful for such a thing,

like watching my babies grow up and not missing anything

and saving a pretty penny in childcare costs...

it comes in pretty handy on days like today.

Live in the northeast? Do you have about 8 inches or more of snow outside your house right now? me too. and I am NOT a snow person. Frosty The Snowman is not my friend. I can drive in the snow, but i don't particularly like to. I don't play in the snow unless my kids force me to. and I certainly have no desire to get up early in the morning to clean off my car during a blizzard to drive myself to work.

and while that is exactly what hundreds of other full-time working people did this morning, including The Marsh, i lounged in bed for awhile until i decided to get up around 9:00 am and have a cup of coffee.

bliss, i tell you.

I'm so grateful that The Marsh works so hard so that I can enjoy this kind of life. The babes and I had no worries or obligations today. while other people were complaining about the roads and such, we just hung out here and watched My Little Pony.

not a bad day indeed.

but please don't think i take it for granted.

because while I don't have to be to work everyday, i do actually have to work tomorrow. so while i was grateful to avoid the snow today, tomorrow? not so much. let's just hope the snow stops sometime tonight. that would be something to be grateful for.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Last Christmas.

Are you sick of the Christmas posts yet?

me too.

so I'm grateful that Christmas is finally over.

It's time to move on to other things.

Like the New Year. since 2012 started off pretty fucking shady (hence this blog), i'm hoping for better things in 2013.

also, Miss Georgiana's 4th birthday is in a week, so it's really time to put Christmas behind us.

We don't celebrate Christmas until after Brey's birthday, and we take down Christmas as soon as possible so that we can celebrate Miss G's. those are the rules. (that I have just made up)

I don't mean to be going all Mr. Grinch on you guys. Okay, so I totally do, but what I'm saying is that I do understand that people legitimately enjoy Christmas. I'm just not one of those people. and it's not just a case of getting older, I've just always been this way. and having children makes it extremely hard to be a scrooge. I don't want to rub my negativity off on them, and they just get so excited, there is no point killing their dreams by ignoring a holiday that i would rather forget about. So we "enjoy" Christmas.

but oh December 26th.

how I love this day.

Why?




Because I get to push my Christmas tree out my front door.

The Marsh always says "Oh we'll take the decorations off and put it out when I get home from work."

ha

haha

hahahaha

i'm not waiting for him to get home from work.

i'm a strong, independent woman.

and i am capable of pushing a tree out of my house all by myself.

there may come a day when i need help to dispose of my Christmas tree, but today is not that day!

i pushed that sucker out without breaking a sweat. all The Marsh said when he got home and saw it was gone was "did you set it on fire yet?" man knows i hate me some Christmas trees. (and no i haven't set it on fire. yet.)

This should be my last Christmas post, like i said it's time to move on to other things. and i'm generally grateful for moving on to hopefully better things.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Beautiful Mess.

Today I am grateful for a beautiful mess.

and by mess I mean complete and utter disaster zone.

Santa was good to my kids this year. and so was their grandparents. and aunts. and the lone uncle.

stuff. fucking everywhere.

and deep down I really am grateful for it.

I know that there are people and children out there whose Christmas celebrations didn't even come close to my children's. I am so grateful that not only are The Marsh and I in a position to give my kids (for the most part) what they want for Christmas, but that they also have so many people who love them so much and shower them in presents.

it may be a mess.

but it's a beautiful mess. (note to self: keep repeating this tomorrow during my mental breakdown. because of stuff. fucking everywhere)

I hope Santa was just as good to all the rest of you! and Merry Christmas!

Thanks for reading!

Lana

Coffee Break.

Today I am grateful to my father-in-law and sister-in-law

for getting me some seriously awesome Christmas presents.

It's not a secret that i love my coffee.

and it's not a secret that i'm a major kind of a geek.

and they managed to hit both on the head perfectly.

for example...Bob, my father-in-law, got me this gem.



amazing, yes? no?

the correct answer is yes.

and Kristin, my sister-in-law, gifted me with this due to my recent love affair with Doctor Who...



I'm so incredibly excited about both mugs.

my biggest dilemma right now is deciding which one to use for coffee on Christmas morning, but i'm grateful to have such a wonderful, nerdy problem.

except it's not really a problem and yes i will absolutely be using my Star Trek mug for Christmas coffee tomorrow morning.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Lana

Sister, Sister.

Today I am grateful my sister, Stephanie.

and wine.

and Godiva chocolate.

and Ally McBeal.

it makes for a good night.

The Marsh is working a double tonight. so normally i would be alone reading or watching Doctor Who...which isn't horrible, by the way, but tonight I'm grateful for the company.

we decided to put in Ally McBeal, a show my sister and I watched religiously in high school, we still have plenty of wine from last night's family Christmas, and Stephanie picked up some chocolate earlier today.

perfect evening, I'm telling you, friends. perfect evening.

and i'm grateful a night like tonight before the craziness of Christmas starts tomorrow. no matter how fun it's going to be.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Nacho Emergency.

Today I am grateful that we found the nacho cheese.

no.

this isn't a joke.

The Marsh has a serious love affair with nacho cheese. it's not in anyway shape or form healthy, but whatever. neither is my affair with pepperoni pizza. to each their own.

well today we went to sam's club to buy several things, the most important among them was a tub of nacho cheese. (yes, you read that right. a TUB of nacho cheese.) and so we headed over to that direction and came to the pallet where the cheddar cheese and nacho cheese are, only to find them complete out of nacho cheese.

i thought i was gonna see a grown man cry.

we're having Christmas with my family tomorrow and are finally planning on breaking out our new crock pot. The Marsh has been so excited about warm nacho cheese ever since we decided this was going to be the plan. looking at the empty pallet were the eyes of a broken man. not only does he have to deal with my crazy ass family invading his house the night before he pulls a double shift, now he doesn't even get any nacho cheese to help him cope.

it was a sad day, people. a nacho emergency.

but then after we were all finished shopping and headed to check out...what did my eyes spy? a giant nacho display. with salsa, tortilla chips, and the missing nacho cheese.

I would be lying if I told you i didn't lift up that tub like it was baby Jesus and say "It's a Christmas Miracle!" and in the eyes of The Marsh, it really really was.

So tonight I'm thankful I found the nacho cheese. so that The Marsh could enjoy it. and so that I don't have to listen to him bitch about not having it.

a christmas miracle, indeed.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Drive-Thru.

Today I am grateful for the Drive-Thru.

Did you know that you could buy a gift card from the drive-thru?

maybe this is like super common knowledge and i'm just an idiot but I was so excited.

I guess it makes sense that you can buy one, I mean it's a product, just like any food that you would be ordering..so you should be able to buy one right?

GRATEFUL.

Let me paint a picture for you. It's December. In New England. and the weather has absolutely no idea what it wants to do. so at 8:00 this morning after hastily throwing some clothes on my babes so I could head out and try and pick up a Dunkin Donuts gift card for my secret santa, there I was driving through the freaking snow. and freezing rain. and oh wait? maybe it's just raining normally now. nope, here comes the snow again.

I did not want to get out of my car.

I did not want to get my children out of my car.

I wanted to stay warm. and dry.

but i needed a freaking gift card. i was so worried when i pulled up to the ordering microphone that they were going to tell me i couldn't get a gift card at the drive-thru. and ladies and gentlemen, I'm not ashamed to admit that at that particular moment if they had said no i may have, in fact, started to cry. i almost did in relief.

some days it's nice to catch a big break in life. some days it's nice just to catch a little one. not having to get out of my car and get my kids out into the rain/snow may not have been a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. but I tell you what it's one little break that i was grateful for today.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Battleship.

Today I am grateful...

That it rained. and washed away most of the snow. it meant i didn't have to brush the snow off my car at 6:00 this morning.

I am not grateful, however, that I got soaked every time i walked outside today because it was fucking pouring cats and dogs.

yes. actual cats and dogs. if you missed it too bad for you.

Let's see, oh yes.

I'm grateful that my secret santa seems to have not quite figured out that I have them yet.

I'm grateful that today wasn't too busy at work considering we're heading into a holiday weekend.

I'm grateful that I managed to get to the store today to pick up the rest of the gift boxes I need. and I'm grateful that almost everything i've ordered online has made it to my house without fail. so no minor heart attacks there.

I'm grateful that The Marsh made tacos for dinner. I'm grateful that I picked up a new bottle of wine. I'm grateful that i managed to get both of Breyman's teacher's presents taken care of today. but i'm not grateful that i freaking forgot to pick up more capri suns while i was at the grocery store to bring to Brey's school christmas party tomorrow.

over all it was generally a pretty boring day. but it certainly didn't suck and I got stuff done, so who wouldn't be grateful for that?

also.

about last night.

i'm talking about the blog.

or lack of blog.

perv.

but anyway.

this is what happened. I was finishing up doing something on the computer. god knows what. i'm sure it had something to do with star trek. when suddenly The Marsh decides that he wants to watch Battleship. which I really had no intentions of watching, so i figured I would read a little bit and then write my blog. yea about 10 minutes later I was so sucked into that movie that i wasn't doing anything else. and while parts of it were kind of lame, over all I would say it was a good movie. A bit cliche. I mean, really. A guy who has issues with authority and gets himself in trouble then saves the planet from aliens and suddenly gets command of his own ship? I think I have heard that one somewhere before. but no matter. it was good. and if I had been grateful for something last night it probably would have been Alexander Skarsgard.

for..well..reasons.

Thanks for reading!

Lana

Cue Mission Impossible Theme Song.

Today I am grateful for having an accomplice.

that all sounds very sordid, doesn't it?

I assure you it's not. I wish I were that cool.

but I do, in fact, have an accomplice.

for my secret santa.

see?

I told you it really wasn't all that exciting.

but i'm grateful to have one none the less. you see on Friday I had every intention of leaving my secret santa a present at work so that I wouldn't have to worry about it come Monday. I don't work on Mondays, and sometimes it's easy to swing in and drop it off. other times it's not so easy. so there I was at work on Friday without my secret santa gift trying to decided how I wanted to handle the situation. 

and then i found out it was suppose to snow on Sunday night into Monday. god damn it. you know what's not on the list of my top 10 favorite things? driving 25 minutes into town to drop off something at my office in the snow. even if the weather channel was wrong (ps. they weren't. it's fucking snowing outside) I wasn't sure I wanted to chance it.

this is where my accomplice comes in.

sometimes working with family isn't the greatest idea. i'm not going to go into all the ways working with someone in your family may not be such a hot idea, common sense will fill in those blanks for you. and I just happen to work with my mom. for the most part it has all turned out to be fine. i'm not complaining. we tend to be exceptions to rules in my family. (this isn't always a good thing, people) and today I am grateful that we work together. cause my Momma? she works Mondays. 

cue mission impossible theme song.

so I gave my mom my gift and she'll bring it in for me tomorrow.

this is awesome for two reasons.

1. I don't have to drive up there in the snow. HOLLA!

and 

2. The person who is getting the gift wont suspect me, because I won't be there to have gifted it. HOLLA! again.

oh and thanks mom! you're the best accomplice a girl could ever ask for! 

Thanks for reading!

Lana

There's A Hole In The World Tonight.

In light of today's horrible events, I'm not going to go on and on today about how grateful for my children I am.

I think today of all days it goes without saying.

I cannot even begin to imagine what those parents and families in Connecticut are going through. I don't want to imagine what the parents and families are going through.

It literally makes me sick thinking about it. 

So I am just going to leave this here.

and I'm going to hug my kids a little bit longer.

and kiss them goodnight one more time.

and pray to God to keep them safe.

because my heart is just broken for those children who didn't make it.

Thanks for reading.

Lana

That's A Wrap.

Today I am grateful to have my wrapping for Christmas all done.

ahaha.

okay.

so it's not ALL done. but anything that was in the house as of today and needed to be wrapped...was wrapped. we still have a few packages that we're waiting on in the mail, and The Marsh still needs to get his shit together and finalize his plans for his parents gifts...but other than that, we're good.

and it's only December 13th.

weird.

I come from a long line of procrastinators. and I'm a procrastinator myself. like, still buying presents and wrapping like crazy on Christmas Eve.

but tonight my Mother-in-law had my babes and The Marsh was working a little bit late so I thought "What the heck, I'll wrap my family's presents and get them out of the way.

So I grabbed a glass of wine, put on some Dr. Who (nerd, remember?) and then away I went.

Now, even though I'm not exactly a huge fan of Christmas, I do enjoy wrapping presents. and making them super pretty. this year's theme, however, is make the presents as impossible to open as I can. It will be amusing to watch everyone try and get past the ribbon and glitter poinsettias.

A little while into my wrapping The Marsh came home and we decided to tackle the kids presents in order to eliminate any last minute craziness. (I also married a procrastinator.) As we were wrapping up the gifts I actually mentioned to him that it was weird getting it all done ahead of time instead of marathoning it on Christmas Eve. He just looked at me like I was crazy. "I'm too old for that." was actually his response. After I picked myself up because I fell over laughing I just simply said "You obviously didn't grow up at my house. We were the only ones who had parents wake us up at 3:00 am to open presents because they had just finished wrapping them."

true story, bro.

and while I'm sure there are some fun memories that my parents have associated with those blitz wrapping sessions, tonight I'm glad that we got the bulk of it done. I feel like this time of year there is just so much going on all the time. It's hard enough to keep life on track, so why not just make it a little bit easier if you have time. right? right.

So I'm grateful that we're done almost done.

and I'm grateful for all the pretty presents now sitting underneath my Christmas tree. like I said, I enjoy wrapping. and glitter. so it's pretty much a win-win situation.

Have you started wrapping yet?

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Hit and Run.

Today I am grateful for "It could have been worse."

what could have been worse?

The car accident Miss G and I got into today.

yup.

a fucking car hit my car.

and then just drove away.

WHAT. THE. HELL.

I just don't understand people. and he actually pulled over right after it happened. we were on a pretty busy street in town so he drove up like a 100 feet or so and pulled into a gas station. I, not knowing what condition my car was in, decided to pull right over where I was.

After checking on Georgiana to make sure she was fine, i hopped out of my car, looked up the road to see he was still pulled over and then checked out the damage.

there was none.

zilch.

nada.

I'm so grateful for that. The accident was clearly not my fault, as the dude that hit me tried to merge into my lane, you know, right where i was, but I'm still glad that my pretty CR-V is still pretty.

another call pulled over and asked if I was okay and I let her know that we were fine. We then watched the car that hit me pull back out into traffic. We both assumed that he was taking the turn after the gas station to turn around and come back towards me, so I reassured her I was okay and she went on her way. then I waited and waited. after a few minutes it became obvious the guy wasn't coming back.

asshole.

I called the police just to report that someone hit me and drove off. an officer came and took my info, in case some crazy guy calls them up tomorrow claiming i hit him or something, so they would know what really went down. Then Miss Georgiana and I went back to business as usual.

on one hand, I am super pissed off at that guy. I mean, he pulled over at first, so why didn't he decide to come back? I parked with the passenger side (the side he hit) away from him, so he couldn't have known that there was no damage done. and if he had come down, i probably wouldn't have even called the police. besides some scuffing on the tire, there was nothing to even see. I don't know if dude was driving with a suspended license or what, but it just seems like such a prick move to hit someone's car and drive off.

not cool dude. not cool.

on the other hand? I'm just grateful everything is okay. I'm grateful that my car is fine. I'm grateful that Georgiana isn't traumatized and that she was sitting behind me on the drivers side. I'm grateful that for the most part my brain is repressing all the "what if" scenarios to keep me from going crazy.

and I'm grateful to know that I will never be the type of person to hit somebody's car and then just drive away. It would never have really been an option before, but now as somebody whose had it happen to them, I can't even understand how someone can do that. so thanks for the life lesson. asshole.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Expecto Patronum.

Today I am grateful for Expecto Patronum.

no. not because of Harry Potter.

but because of reasons.

that don't need to make sense to you. because they make sense to me. and this is a blog about things that I am grateful for.

Today that happens to be Expecto Patronum.











it keeps the dementors away.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Follow Rafiki, He Knows The Way.

Have you ever been grateful for something that pissed you off?

It's not always easy to do.

and it happened to me this morning.

sometime around 4:00 am my children decided to crawl into my bed. that's right. both of them. usually it's one or the other. The Marsh and I being too tired to carry them back to their own bed, just let them crash in between us and go back to sleep. BUT TWO. that's a different story all together. christ, thats practically a party. in my bed. at 4:00 am. 

THIS IS NOT OKAY.

and after getting kicked and punched and pushed to the complete edge of the bed, i got out of bed and headed to the couch. because at this point there was all kinds of room on that thing.

so I wrapped up in a blanket, climbed up on the couch and closed my eyes to get some more sleep.

and then punk ass #3 (a.k.a. my FUCKING cat) decided he wanted to sleep with me too. so there I was once again not able to sleep.

and I was pissed. 

at this point it was like six something and I could not believe I was awake. what the hell was I awake for? what good could possibly come from my being awake at this ungodly hour on a day that I do not have to work? NOTHING,

and then I heard Rafiki's voice in my head.

wait a minute.

it's six (almost seven) o' clock in the morning.

my lazy babes aren't getting up anytime soon. so i have a solid hour maybe even an hour and a half to spend time with my husband. while my house is still quiet.

yup. i was that wife. and I went into the bedroom and woke up his sleeping ass too.

*cough* misery loves company *cough*

but I was nice enough to make him a cup of coffee, so good wife points for that yea?

anyway, there we were, awake. and  the house was quite. it was amazing. we drank our coffee, looked over all the new store flyers that came out today. made a game plan to do a little bit more christmas shopping while Brey was in school. laughed about stupid things. he told me he loved me. you know, lame but awesome married stuff.

stuff that for us isn't easy to accomplish at night after the babes go to bed. come 9:30 at night when the kids have actually made it to bed and are actually asleep, I'm usually trying to write this blog, catch up on a TV show or I've started reading. and then ALL bets are off. and The Marsh? lately he's been so tired that I've found him passed out in the kids bed next to them after reading the bedtime story. our biggest interaction lately has been him yelling at me for having cold toes when I climb into bed. sometimes hours after he went to sleep. I know. you're jealous of our super amazing marriage. everyone wants cold toes in the bed.

any who. we managed to spend a little over an hour together this morning, and for that I am grateful. as I've previously mentioned, this is a busy time of year for him work wise. so i'm grateful for every single hour i can get.

and to think, if my babes and the cat didn't piss me off so much this morning so that I couldn't sleep, I never would have gotten to spend it with him.

Thanks Rafiki.

Thanks for reading!

Lana

HIMYM.

Today I am grateful for Season 7.

and Netflix.

again.

cause season 7 of How I Met Your Mother is on instant streaming.

and I've wasted this glorious day catching up on the wonderfulness that is this show.

I regret nothing.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

The Beginning of the End.

Today I am grateful that my son takes an adorable picture.

obviously.

he is my child.

but I will admit that a couple weeks ago when it came time for him to take his first ever school photo, I was nervous that they might not come out so great. Breyman sometimes has a tendency to stick his lower jaw out really far when smiling for a picture. or doing this weird thing where he makes his eyes look really big and creepy. it's a talent he picked up from my little sister.

anyway, i knew it wouldn't be the end of the world if he made a funny face, but it was his first ever school picture. and i really wanted them to turn out nicely.

this mama had nothing to worry about.

Isn't he the most adorable thing you have ever seen in your life?

I'm so grateful and happy that they came out sooo good!

of course after gloating over how beautiful my child is, i then realized I was holding a school picture of my baby boy. a SCHOOL PICTURE. as in, i have a child old enough to have his school pictures taken. i've had to overcome alot of feeling about him being in school, but i somehow wasn't prepared for the feeling a fucking school picture would stir up in me.

last night while The Marsh and I were getting ready for bed I just looked at him at said "This is the beginning of the end." 

okay so I admit that it was a touch dramatic. but if you think about it, it's really true. this is the start of many more school pictures to come. and what happens when the school pictures stop? it means your babies are all grown up and done. and while that will be special in it's own way, my brain isn't ready to process the fact that my son has started on that journey towards the end.

so while I'm extremely grateful he took such a great picture, i'm also grateful that it was just his first. and that we're still at the very beginning of this new journey.

Thanks for reading!

Lana

Teaser.

Today is a glorious day in the nerd world.

today was the day the new Star Trek movie teaser trailer was released.

and it was amazing.

absolutely amazing.

I am so grateful that after YEARS of nothing, and i mean NOTHING, from JJ Abrams (the director of said film) we got a freaking trailer. 63 seconds of beautiful star trek action.

and the Japanese trailer had an additional 14 seconds of footage!

oh yes.

today has definitely been a good day.

and I'm grateful that I got to fly my nerd flag high and proud.

and i'm grateful for this.

 

yup.

Kirk and Spock touching hands through a piece of glass?

Classic trek.

I'm so excited i think i might pee a little.

Is it May 17th yet?

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Hide and Seek.

Today I am grateful to have been able to hide some presents from Miss G.

while I was actually in the process of buying them.

that's the one problem with kids growing up, folks.

they get observant.

it's kind of a pain in the ass.

especially when I'm out and about shopping and see something i want to grab for the babes for Christmas and I have one of them with me. It's usually Miss G lately because I run errands while Brey's at school. and it's hard because I think to myself "well, i could come back for it later. but maybe it will be gone then. do i try and grab it now while she isn't looking. will she see it later. can i actually check out and pay without her noticing? when will i get a chance to come back without a babe if i don't get it now?" it's a vicious cycle.

and today I tried to play the "I can sneak something past my 3 year old" game.

for the most part it worked. some of the smaller stocking stuffer things I shoved into the new hat i was buying so i managed to sneak them by her. cashier gave me a funny look when she saw the hat was full but whatever. she did sneak a peak at one thing that i bought her. and of course when i told her to just stop talking about it she kept talking about it even more. so then began the dilemma of do i put it back? do i just get it and not put it in her stocking? I decided to get it anyway. I'm still trying to decide a game plan. but i managed to get her to stop talking about it by telling her it was a secret. lord knows how long that will last.

for the most part though, she wasn't her normal observant self. she was too caught up in telling me how she wanted Santa to bring her every single god damn thing on the shelf this or that. so I managed to sneak a decent sized present for Brey past her.

this whole having kids who are aware is hard. you can't just tell them not to look because they don't understand. but i'm grateful that I got away with what i did today. especially because my chances of pulling it off again are not looking all that great.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

O Christmas Tree.

Today I am grateful for Christmas trees.

                                                                             a
                                                                           aha
                                                                        ahahaha
                                                                      ahahahaha
                                                                    ahahahahaha
                                                                  ahahahahahhaha
                                                                ahahahahahahhaha
                                                             ahahahahahahahhahaha
                                                                          ahaha
                                                                          ahaha
                                                                          ahaha
                                              

sorry.

I just needed to have a good laugh at the idea of  me being grateful for a christmas tree. cause you know, I'm not.

Christmas and I ain't exactly BFFs.

But i have children. CHILDREN. who think Christmas is fun. and want to listen to Christmas music. and can't wait for Santa to bring them presents. and who expect a Christmas tree. they're like little Christmas extremists. especially Miss G. She met Santa this past weekend at our family's Christmas party.

and while she may look all sweet and innocent here, what you actually can't see is that she is ripping that package out of Santa's hand like a woman with pms whose found chocolate. I think even Santa was suprised by the amount of strength coming out of such a small person.

anyway, the babes, but especially Miss Georgiana wanted a Christmas tree. like now. even though it's only DECEMBER 4TH. there is going to be a Christmas tree in my house for like 20 days. okay 21. I deliberately place the tree next to my front door so that the day after Christmas when The Marsh leaves for work, I take everything off the tree and then push it out the front door.

I'm not kidding even the least bit.

all of this is really fascinating, right? the problem however? I still haven't technically been grateful for anything. 

sigh.

I guess I'll go ahead and say that I am grateful that the one thing I tend to actually be organized in my life with is my Christmas tree ornaments. don't ask me why i am. the only other thing i have OCD about it how I fold my towels. but i have to put all the ornaments back into their original boxes and i have special wrapping for the extra fragile stuff. 

it all seems like a pain to put away at the time. but i tell you what, on nights like tonight when it comes time to decorate the tree again? it's pretty fucking handy. and i'm always grateful to myself for taking the time to put things away neatly the year before. there's never any broken ornaments or wondering where this one is or that one is. it's all together. as a mom of two young children, i'm always grateful for anything that happens quickly and efficiently. (read into that what you like)

anyway. I think it came out okay, right?

right.

Thanks for reading!

Lana

Scholastic.

Today I am grateful for Scholastic books.

Come on, you guys. I know you remember scholastic book orders.

those little paper flyers you used to get at school with all kinds of books and weird science-y things in them?

oh yes. I can tell it's all coming back to you now.

and weren't they freaking awesome? I feel like every single month I used to get those things and just want everything in them, and when my mom actually did order something from them? AMAZING.

well, now that Mr. Breyman is in school, he actually gets book orders. I almost fell out of my chair the first time I took them out of his backpack. I had completely forgotten about them!

nostalgia, people. gotta love it.

The Marsh and I were pretty excited about ordering some books for the babes, but with the trip to Disney and getting into the swing of things with Brey and school, we just hadn't gotten around to it yet. Finally The Marsh created an online account (that's right, you can order scholastic books that can be sent to your child's classroom online. note to self: grateful for technology) and ordered a couple books last month. The babes really seem to like them and they really weren't that expensive. and really, you can never have too many books.

Last week we got his december book order and I was pleased to find that most of the books were about Christmas. You see I have this plan to accumulate a ton of christmas books. at least 24 of them, but it could be more than that. what do you do with 24 christmas books? you turn them into an awesome advent calender.

Step 1: Get a basket. or a large bucket. or some sort of storage device that will hold 24 books.

Step 2: Wrap up all of the books in wrapping paper and place them in the basket.

Step 3: Let the babes pick one book each night leading up to Christmas to unwrap and read as a bedtime story.

awesome, right?

and the best part is that you don't have to get all new christmas books each year, just put them away during the rest of the year so that they don't lose their holiday fun. obviously as the babes get bigger we'll have to start exchanging out some of the books geared toward younger kids. I'm sure 10 year old Brey won't care too much for Llama Llama Holiday Drama. but classics like The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Night Before Christmas will always be able to be re-used.

but there is one little problem with collecting alot of holiday books. they are expensive. YIKES! well, not super expensive individually. but you know, 24 of them add up. that's why I was so excited to see this month's book order flyers. because they had some cute books. and some of them were only $1.00. heck yes. and while we didn't go crazy and get all of them tonight when we placed our order, we did manage to get quite a few without breaking the bank. they even had a 6 pack for $9.99. and they were actually decent books too! double score.

So tonight after placing Brey's book order I am so grateful for scholastic books. I'm grateful that school's are awesome enough to send these flyers home (even after all these years geez) and i'm grateful that we have access to children's books without feeling like we have to pay a pretty penny for them. not that my kids ever have to worry about not having books around. reading to me is like a part of my soul. i'll always have books around me and will always surround my children with books. but hey, if you don't have to go broke to do it, even better right? right.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Anonymous.

Today I am grateful for anonymous.

you see I started this little blog not exactly sure where it would end up.

Would it it be forever lost in the bloggesphere? would only my friends and family ever read it? would it even matter to anyone else that it was here?

and to be fair I didn't really care what the answer to those questions were. who cares if it's lost in the bloggesphere? if only my friends and family read it then i know it's at least being appreciated by people whom i know love me. and you know what? i don't care if it matters to you if it's here or not, the point was it mattered to me enough to find something everyday (okay so we can all admit that i suck at this everyday so we'll say everydayISH) to be grateful for.

I needed the reminder in my life that everything isn't shitty all the time. that everyone and every family goes through hard times. medically. financially. legally. romantically. so why not look for the positive in life instead? and that's what I did.

I made a blog for me that other people occasionally read.

but then something awesome happened. I received a reader comment here and there. from people that I don't know. and then I almost fainted when my silly little Dog Shaming post resulted in Maymo The Lemon Beagle posting on his facebook (well his owner, i'm sure) that he thought I was funny with a link to my blog.

say what?

That little post from them resulted in literally hundreds of views to my blog.

and then today while checking my email i noticed I had a comment on a post I had written a few months ago.  a comment from anonymous that said "great stuff".

It made my day. I was pleased that somebody took the time to read my blog and write a comment letting me know they thought it was great. that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate my friends and family whom I know read every post. I write every post with them in mind, I love them. but every now and then it's nice to know that even though this blog is solely for my own purpose, that maybe somebody else got something out of it too. that maybe anonymous, after they got done laughing at how completely ridiculous I am, thought to themselves "you know, I think I'm grateful for something too."

so tonight I'm grateful to anonymous and to every single one of you that takes a moment to read my rants.

poor things.

I'm grateful to you for sticking with me even though I tend to go on and on about my husband. and nerd life. and my cat. whom I am not currently speaking to because he ruined my kids' letters to Santa. note to self: remember that you love the cat. and are, in fact, usually grateful for him. I'm grateful that you stick by me even if you might possibly vote republican while I make no secret about my love for the democrats. and I'm grateful for you for sticking with me even though this is the second time in less than two weeks that i've gone two day in a row without blogging. I am grateful for every single one of you.

and to be fair one of those days involved alcohol.

like a lot of alcohol.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Screeaaach.

Today I am grateful that my mom was in a car accident.

okay.

that sounds weird.

backing it up a bit.

so my mom was in a car accident...oh about 6 or so years ago. it was right around the time The Marsh and i met so it must have been about 6 years ago now.

she's okay. her jeep wasn't quite so okay. but she is. at the time though, she really screwed up her back. or hip. or her lower back / hip region. whatever, the point? she fucked up her back.

why am I grateful that she fucked up her back?

because the end result was that she ended up with a hot tub. and sometimes on a cold night, after a stressful week (stressful for her, not me) sometimes the hot tub is just the right medicine.

I'm grateful that on Thursdays when The Marsh is working late my mum doesn't care that I come over to her house and drink her wine and relax in her hot tub. i'm grateful that she is perfectly willing to share her hot tub, because if i owned I hot tub of my own I'm not so sure I would be quite so generous. and i'm grateful for the rest and relaxation that comes with just a few short hours in the tub.

so essentially I'm grateful that 6 year ago my mom was in a car accident. that resulted in her getting a hot tub. so that tonight I could go over to her house and soak in it and forget that there is actually a real world out there.

still deciding if this is a horrible thing to be grateful for or not.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Running On Empty.

Today I am grateful for making it home.

before my car ran out of gas.

why didn't I just stop and get more gas, you say?

well. funny story.

So Georgie and I decided to run into town this afternoon to do some Christmas shopping for The Marsh, but I had to drop something off at my work first. I noticed on the drive over that my car was running low on gas, but I had enough to make it to my office and there is a gas station right across the street so I figured I would hit it up after leaving the office.

and then I reached my office, shut the car off and reached for my purse.

which wasn't there.

fuck.

So there Miss G and I were, 20 minutes from home. with no money. and not much gas.

to be fair, my mom (whom I work with so she was at the office) did offer to give me her card so I could get gas if I needed. but I wasn't quite on "E" yet, so i thought I just might make it home.

I tell you it was the most nerve wracking drive home there ever was.

Miss G didn't seem to think so.

but I did.

But since I already gave away the ending and told you that I made it home before I ran out of gas, we'll just leave it at this. I'm grateful I made it home. I'm grateful Miss G and I didn't find ourselves stuck on the side of the road while it was freaking snowing and i'm grateful that i didn't have to call anyone in a hysterical panic and have them bring me some gas.

I'm am not grateful, however, for being such an idiot in the first place and forgetting my purse, leaving me without money in the first place.

I'd love to say it was the first time this has happened. but it's not. so I guess live and learn isn't really appropriate. but and maybe live and live again and learn, perhaps?

lets hope so.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Happy Birthday, Baby Bear.

Today I am grateful for my little man.

Today is his 5th birthday.

somebody tell me where those last five years went, man. because they went by exceptionally fast.

How is it even possible that this little face...

has suddenly turned into to this adorable face?

It seems like it happened over night, i'm telling ya.

He seems like he had a great birthday. he's really been looking forward to telling everyone that he is now five. he practically shouted it at my inlaws when they walked into the house tonight, but it was cute anyway. 

He got the crown in the above picture at school and apparently everyone on the bus sang him happy birthday, so he was a pretty happy kid all day today.

He's such an amazing, happy child. and I'm so blessed to be his mommy. I'm so grateful to have had the last five years to watch him learn and grow and manipulate. I'll be grateful if I get to see him do all those things for many many more years to come.

Breyman is more than just my son. he's my baby bear. he's the one who saved me when I had absolutely no idea what i wanted to do with my life. I was lost. oh sure, i had The Marsh, but i had no idea what i was suppose to do with my life. everything i thought i wanted to do or be, i realized somewhere along the way that I really didn't want that out of life. but I had no idea what to do instead. and then i had Breyman. and became exactly what i was suppose to be in life. his mom.

so happy birthday little man. and know that when you looked at me last night and said in such a little voice that you couldn't believe you were going to be a big boy, that i can't believe it either. but we'll tackle this next adventure together too.

Thanks for reading!

Lana

Ketchup. Again.

Okay, so today I'm grateful for a few things.

time to play catch up. again.

Let's start with Thanksgiving. it's a time when everyone is thankful for something. facebook statuses are full of people letting us all know what they're grateful for...and since that's sort of a common occurrence over here at casa de grateful, i hope you'll all forgive me for taking Thanksgiving off. but I hope you all know that I was extremely grateful for everything in my life that day. The Marsh. the babes. my house. my parents. my brother and sisters. my cat. I was grateful for it all.

I'm also grateful that The Marsh and I managed some excellent black friday shopping. we went out at midnight and picked out a few gifts for the Breyman at target that we were set on getting him. we also got a new bed for Miss G for her birthday which happens to fall a week after Christmas. Later during the day when The Marsh was at work, my sister and i went out and did some more black friday shopping. no place was too too crazy and we managed to get some great stuff. I even managed to get The Marsh a present that he doesn't no about. success all around.

I'm also grateful that my sister convinced me to get this thing of beauty.

I'm grateful that i listened to her and bought it because my first reaction was "I can't buy that! I'm 25!" I love it because it's a fun little reminder that it's okay to unleash your inner kid sometimes. and well, because it has pink fucking sequins.

I would have blogged about the christmas shopping and the fabulous hat last night, but when I got back home last night my entire street was out of power. not so much fun. So i'm also grateful to have my power back. and that I wasn't involved in the car accident that was apparently responsible for my neighborhood losing power in the first place.

That brings us back up to today. and today I'm grateful for The Marsh and my's amazing family and how much they do for my little munchkins.

We had Brey's birthday party today. because he is going to be five on Monday. excuse me for a minute while I throw up in my mouth. I cannot even begin to tell you where the last five years went.

anyway.

Like I said, we had baby bear's birthday party today and he seems to be in love with all of his new birthday presents. The Marsh and I are both so grateful to have our parents and our siblings do so much for him. and it's nice to be able to have all of them over to our our house for some pizza and cake to celebrate in our own little way.

and last but not least I am grateful for the undivided attention I got from my son for the last five years. because my mom, dad, and sister gave him his own Nintendo DSi for his birthday today, so i'm pretty sure he is never going to pay attention to me again.

Thanks for reading!

Lana

Calm Before The Crazy.

Today I am grateful for the peaceful day the babes and I had together today.

It started off wonderfully with B & G waking me up in bed being all adorable like. Brey kept telling me that he wanted to snuggle and Georgie was sweet and told me she loved me.

Then after watching a movie together, they were exceptionally well behaved at my hair appointment.
that may or may not be because I bribed them with happy meals, but either way. very well behaved. after that we dropped off some "hot chocolate" rice krispie treats we made for one of my co-workers bake sale her girl scout troop is having on black friday.

then we came home and made our own rice krispie treats because we wanted some too.

it was a lovely day. ordinary, but lovely. and days like today are exactly the reason I am so grateful to be able to stay home with them five days a week. I love days like today. I just wanted to soak up every little mundane detail and remember it always when my babes are grown up.

anyway, the reason I'm also grateful for such a quiet, ordinary day is because the next few days will be anything but. Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night at my in-laws. black friday shopping. Thanksgiving dinner take two at my mom's house. Brey's birthday party on saturday. among all of this The Marsh is going into work four hours early both tomorrow on Thanksgiving and on Saturday. PLUS my sister and niece will be here all weekend as well. oh and I need to make a pie and some home made sangria. sunday will be a little bit of a cool down then monday Brey is back to school and it's also his fifth birthday.

the next few days will be lots of fun and family and very little sleep.

so yea, I'm grateful for my nice quiet day today with my babes. the calm before the crazy.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Tired Eyes.

Today I am grateful that I finally managed to get an eye doctor appointment.

well, actually the appointment was yesterday.

but i'm grateful for it today instead.

stop asking questions and just go with it.

so.

grateful for the eye doc, yes.

you see, I made an appt. back in the beginning of October to go see an eye doctor who also happens to be a patient at the office I work at. and got scheduled for December. now, I tried not to freak about the time, we have some patients who have to wait months for appointments at our office too. although that's generally not the case for new patients...but, not the point. the point is that I was going to suck it up and wait.

but as time passed, i started to realize that i just couldn't wait.

these poor eyes of mine are tired. with a capitol T. apparently they didn't get the message that the rest of me has been tired since 2007. but they are tired now. they were really beginning to bother me whenever I was on the computer or reading...which lets be honest is about 98% of my life. so I broke down and called a different eye doctor's office, one that i had also been previously seen at before.

obviously they managed to get me an appointment. because i'm grateful for that. I'm also grateful that as a result of that appt. I found out that my prescription hasn't changed since 2005 when I was last seen. not that I ever wore my glasses. So after getting my prescription yesterday, I went out and bought myself a new pair of reading/computer glasess which really means all the time glasses and after wearing them this afternoon at work and this evening at home while I caught up on some of my shows on Hulu, I can definately say that my eyes are feeling better. I am still "aware" of them if that's the right word to use, but I don't even feel the slightest bit of a headache coming on. praise Jesus, people.

I'm not sure if this is going to be an easy fix or if i'm going to have other problems with my eyes, but for right now I am grateful that things seem to be going in the right direction.

Cute, right? I'm also grateful that they were only $11.99 at target. and that included a soft case. HOLLA!

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Slow Cooking. Times Three.

Today I am grateful that The Marsh and I decided to buy ourselves a little Christmas present early.

We got a shiny new crockpot.

but not just any shiny new crockpot...a triple slow cooker buffet & serve cockpot.

It's a thing of beauty.

and while I am obviously excited about our purchase, it should definitely be interesting using it. The Marsh and I actually never use a crockpot. ever. and now we have a triple one.

I guess i really need to start finding some crockpot recipes.

all The Marsh wants to use it for is nacho cheese. seriously. he's been talking about nacho cheese for like the past 6 hours.

it's a problem.

he also started volunteering us to make stuff and bring the slow cooker to the family reunion next weekend.

this is also a problem.

but him already whoring out or new crockpot aside, i'm grateful that The Marsh and I decided to treat ourselves. and I'm grateful for all of the hopefully amazing future meals that will come out of this investment.

because as previously established, I'm always grateful for food.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Ash.

Today I am grateful for Ashley.

She's been one of my best friends for the past 10 years or more, and today is her 26th birthday.

The Marsh was working a double today, so the babes and I headed over to Ashley's house to have dinner with her, her parents, her good friend Beth, and her younger brother and sister. It was a very lovely dinner, Ashley's dad, Paul, is a phenomenal cook. and we all had a good laugh.

Brey and Georgie also had a ton of fun playing with Ashley's little brother and sister, so it was nice for them to have a little playdate.

Ashley and I have had many many amazing times together. We've also had some pretty shitty times together (and apart) as well. but she's been a major part of my life for many years and I couldn't imagine not having her friendship. I'm grateful for the many wonderful memories we've made. and I'm grateful that no matter how much time passes in between each of our visits now, it always feels like we just saw each other the day before. 

25 was a very rough year for Ashley, so I wish with all my heart that 26 is a much better year for her, and I'm grateful that no matter what happens in our lives, I know that i'll be some small part of it.

Thanks for reading!

Lana

Rsecue Bots.

Today I am grateful for Rescue Bots.

what are rescue bots?

they are these adorable little transformer toys that look like this.

Last year for Breyman's birthday my mom got him the rescue bots garage and a couple Bots for him to play with. they transform into their vehicle forms super easily, which was nice after brey had managed to break a few transformers that were too hard. or he needed The Marsh to do it every time.

it's one of the few toys that he's remained faithful to over the course of the year, still playing with them while other ones just sit in a bin or stay down in his playroom.

we also recently discovered that The Rescue Bots also have a tv show. and it's currently on netflix instant viewing.

Being a parent you get excited about a lot of little things. and watching your children get excited about something is one of them. I love listening to him use his imagination while playing with his bots. i love hearing him sing the theme song to the Rescue Bots TV show, and i love him going crazy when Bumblebee (the yellow one) appears in an episode.

It's adorable. and it makes me happy on a deep level considering how small and silly it is. but him being happy makes me happy. that's what being a mom is all about. especially being a mom to this little boy. i'm grateful for robots. now there's something i never expected to hear myself say.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Chrome.

Today I am grateful for Chrome.

Google Chrome.

I have a security blanket.

It's called Internet Explorer.

The problem with this security blanket? it sucks.

but it's like this drug that I just couldn't stop. except that it didn't particularly make me feel good either.

after months of frustration and slow moving internet and error after error after error I was reaching my limit. and during my latest Adobe Flash upgrade I accidentally also downloaded the Google Chrome browser.

Tonight I decided it couldn't hurt to give it a spin, just to see if the speed time was any different or if it would have the same trouble loading some images the way Internet Explorer has been.

It's so wonderful.

I think I may be over here actually crying tears of joy at how quickly my internet is loading again, and so far not a single failed image download.

this is a very beautiful thing, people.

and yes, I'm sure you are all probably cringing at the thought that I was still using Explorer, but I am perfectly able to admit that I am not the most tech savvy person on the planet. I never thought switching browsers would actually make any difference to me.

I think I was wrong.

remember this moment. I don't admit to being wrong often.

anyway, I'm just so grateful for that stupid accidental download. I'm grateful that i thought "hey what the hell" and decided to give Chrome a try. and I'm grateful to be slowly getting rid of my security blanket. I still haven't figured out half of this new browser so until then I'll keep explorer on standby, just in case.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Clean House.

Today I am grateful that I took the time to clean my house.

okay.

let's be realistic.

when I say I cleaned my "house" i mean I cleaned my kitchen and my living room. I plan on hitting up my bathroom tomorrow. but that's really all the important parts.

why am I grateful that I spent the day slaving away over my kitchen sink and cleaning up weeks worth of mail on my kitchen counter?

because there is a direct link between how clean my house is, and how I treat anyone within a 300 mile radius of me apparently.

I was getting bad. and so was my house.

it's not dirty, cause we're not dirty people. just cluttered. stacks of mail. magazine. the kids toys all over the living room. laundry that the kids take off in the living room and decide to just throw on the floor.

I thought I was going to have a panic attack this morning. so while The Marsh was at work (this is key to the cleaning cycle because the only time I am bitchier than when my house is dirty is when I am ACTUALLY CLEANING my house) I set to work cleaning off the counter tops and getting all the dishes done. I picked up everything and vaccumed.

and I feel like I can finally breathe again.

it took a little bit because after The Marsh came home he kept setting stuff on the counter and we sort of had it out because i thought i was going to have an aneurysm. but it's okay now.

I'm grateful because there is just a sort of peace that comes with having a semi-clean house. I mean, I don't have OCD, although somedays I wish I did because i literally do not feel compelled to have my house be perfectly tidy all the time, but I do feel a little bit like I will sleep easier tonight. probably because I know when I wake up in the morning I won't walk out into a messy living room.

or it could be because we just bought new flannel sheets and they're super soft. jury's still out.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Take 2. Or More Like Take 1.

Today I am grateful for picture re-take day at school.

When the Breyman first went to school I kept waiting to find out when his picture day would be.

and kept waiting and waiting.

It felt like all the other schools were having their picture day, but I wasn't seeing anything in his weekly Preschool Press about it. Finally at the beginning of October the picture order form came home in B's folder.

after looking over the prices and wondering how I was going to show this thing to The Marsh without him going into cardiac arrest, I finally noticed the date. It was October 18th. right in the middle of our vacation to Florida. sonofabitch.

I looked for a re-take date and couldn't find one anywhere, so I resigned myself to the fact that he just wouldn't have them taken this year. I mean he's four. He doesn't really need a school picture taken, right?

but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted him to have it taken. I mean this is his first year of school. he rides the bus, he goes to the elementary school. he has friends and recess and is learning how to write his name. He should really have one taken. so i double checked with his teacher when I went on his field trip with him and she assured me that there would be retakes.

and then I waited. and waited. I was actually getting a little bit worried, like did i miss something again? but last week his Preschool Press informed me that re-takes would be this week and his teacher was even nice enough to send home another picture order form with Breyman today. with my lack of organization skills it was very much appreciated. Lord know where the original one actually went.

So Mr. B will be getting his very first school picture taken tomorrow afternoon.

I'm grateful that the schools do offer a day for re-takes in case kids are sick or like in our case out of town for the week. I'm grateful that even though the timing seemed horrible at first he'll still get the opportunity to get his picture taken tomorrow.

Now whether or not The Marsh is grateful that he still has to pay for these pictures is something entirely different.

Veteran's Day.

Today I am grateful for Veterans.

All of them. as a whole of course.

but more specifically...one veteran.

My big brother, Jorge.

He joined the Army when my son was just a few months old, and left for Iraq three days after my daughter was born.

It was horrible and nervewracking to think of him being over there. I worried about him every single day.. I don't know how people went through this before the internet and technology. at least while he was over there he had access to a computer to let us know that he was okay and doing well. I couldn't imagine not hearing from him for months.

and as tough as it was on us, the missing him and worrying about his safety, i can't even begin to fathem what it was like for him over there. oh sure, he talks about parts of it. but not all of it. and I wish there was someway to take away any horrific memories that he has from there, but that's not how life works.

Life involves war. I also wish that there was someway to stop that from happening, but I can't.

and when times of war happens it takes people who are brave enough (or dumb enough, or just seriously don't have any other options) to go and fight.

I'm so proud of my bro for doing that because I know there is no way in hell that I could have. I'm scared to go to my own bathroom in the dark to pee because i'm scared Norman Bates is going to get me..could you honestly see me in a war zone? uhhh nope.

and since I know I would never be capable of doing it, it gives me that much more respect for him for doing it. he's kind of amazing.

So tonight I'm grateful that I live in a country that so many brave men and women have given the ultimate sacrifice for so that I could continue to have my rights and my freedom. I'm grateful to all those men and women who fought hard for us and were extrordinarly lucky enough to make it home to their families. and I'm grateful to my brother, Jorge, for being such an inspiration to me.

and for finding the one thing that he could that I can't.

I'm proud of him and everyone else should be proud of him and the rest of our troops too.

Thanks for reading!

Lana

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year.

Today I am grateful that I know The Marsh and I will get through what is about to be the craziest time of year for us.

It's November.

Which means Thanksgiving is coming. and Christmas.

but on top of that we have Brey's birthday, which falls the monday after Thanksgiving this year. some years it actually falls on Thanksgiving itself. That's fun. not.

then we have Miss G's birthday. which is the week after Christmas.

awesome planning on our parts, no?

and while this will undoubtedly be a very exciting time for our babes, it also causes The Marsh to stress out a little bit in the money area. we're not exactly hurting, but between birthday presents and christmas presents and reaching the point when we're going to have to refill our oil tank again, he worries. which means he works.

a lot.

like yesterday he worked a 15 and a half hour day. and then today he worked a 12 and half hour day.

this isn't a fluke. he'll continue to work like this through the end of the year.

I'm already used to him working overtime, but this time of year it always borders a little on the crazy side.

However, I do understand why he does it. and every year we manage to get through it. just like we'll manage to get through it this year.

So i'm grateful that The Marsh and I have such a strong marriage. and that even though what is suppose to be the most wonderful time of the year usually ends up the loneliest time of year, we love each other enough to push through it, knowing it will all be worth it when january comes around and we're not completely broke.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Actual 12 Year Old Lana.

Today I am grateful that I live my life by the wayside of my inner 12 year old.

I know.

I just posted recently about how much I never want to be a kid again, and here I am admitting to actually being a big kid.

It was actually that post that made me think about it.

I walk around my house drinking wine feeling so awesome that I am in control of my life. I am a woman. I have a mortgage. (actually my husband has a mortgage, I have a Queen Bee Throne) I am a Mom. I'm so adult-like it's crazy.

except if you happen to notice this...

so what? I just happen to keep Harry Potter magnets on my fridge. In his quiddich uniform and school uniform, of course. He needs a variety....and so what if he happens to be sitting on a cut out comic strip about The Avengers. It's not like I have a keychain or anything.

or wait.



so maybe I keep Loki on my keychain. He's the God of Mischief! I mean that has to help keep bad guys away right? I mean other bad guys besides Loki.

and it's not like I hang Harry Potter scarves in my mudroom or...

shit.

To be fair The Marsh is the one who hung this up.

and Slytherin really is the best house.

and maybe I'm just a little bit obsessed with Star Trek . So I own a Starship Enterprise pizza cutter.

and I have a couple t-shirts.

and all 11 movies

and there may or may not possibly be a Samwise Gamgee figurine currently sitting on my TV stand.

I don't know where Frodo is right now.

but yea, he's around here too.

ahem.

Okay so all of that it a smidge unadult-like. nothing makes my night like when The Marsh asks which Harry Potter movie I want to watch. because yes I own all 8 on blu-ray. and nothing makes me happier than seeing my children fall in love with the characters I love so much.

So why am I grateful that my house shows all the evidence of my inner 12 year old ruling my life? because when I was actually 12, I was way too "cool" for all of this stuff.

Somedays I wish I could write a letter and send it to myself telling me to watch the Star Trek movies with my dad whenever TNT was playing them. To read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and to not wait until after I graduate from high school to read Harry Potter. There is just something so satisfying about falling in love with fictional characters that are, in fact, actually amazing characters. To fall in love with stories that change your life and your entire perception of people. and it does. If you don't like Harry Potter, I judge you a little bit. I just wish that I had allowed myself to be such a nerdy fangirl at an earlier age. It's not like walking around being a snob really enriched my life in anyway shape or form. certainly not like discovering one James T. Kirk did.

So I'm grateful that now at 25 I can really allow myself to enjoy all my geekiness in a way I didn't allow myself to in the past. I'm grateful that I have an inner 12 year old that doesn't want to be stifled into this adult mold. I think it creates a healthy balance in my life knowing that while I'm making dinner for my children my refrigerator is covered in little characters from Harry Potter that remind me of how precious life is. how magical love is. and important friendship is. all while getting a kick out of the fact that they are legos and they bend at the waist.

I suppose the best way to put it simply is to quote New York Times Best Selling Author John Green. "Nerd life is just so much better than regular life."

and I'm grateful to be a nerd.

Thanks for reading!

Lana