Dear So and So....

So I was hopping around this morning as usual and found a link to 3 Bedroom Bungalow where she's doing a sort of hop with a neat little twist.  Figured it would be the perfect way to end the year and wrap up my first calendar year of blogging as well.  Go check her out and join in, this was too much fun!

Dear 2010,

You were okay, but I'm really hoping next year is nicer.  No offense.

Dear Mornings,

I still don't like you and I'm sure that's not going to change anytime soon.  Even though you've got the whole sunrise thing going, I much prefer your twin, evening and his sunsets are to die for.

Dear Hubs,

Hang in there baby, I love you and things are going to start turning around for us soon, you're an amazing person and I have every confidence in you to be here for me and Kitty, to be the loving, wonderful man you are and to keep us going just like we've done for the past two decades.  When things get bad just remember this.  "Somewhere out there....beneath the pale moonlight, someone's thinking of me, and loving me tonight."

Dear Kitty,

Wow, I guess what I  most need to say is that I trust you to make the right decisions in your life.  Even when I think you're not, I'm going to have faith in you and your intelligence and wisdom.  I'll still be here no matter what, and I'll do my best to support you in your decisions, but in the end?  I'm Mom and no matter what they are, I'll always love you and I'll always be here to either celebrate your happiness or just hold you if you need to cry.

Dear Kitten Cats,

I would very much appreciate it if you did not make more kitten cats this year.  I'll do whatever I have to so be forewarned.  If you wake up with parts missing, I warned you.

Dear Mortgage Company,

You suck.  You will NOT take my house.  I promise you that.  After 17 years I'm attached to it and I'll do whatever it takes to keep it out of your grubby little greedy hands so take that for what it's worth.  A promise.

Dear Kitty's Boyfriend,

I try to like you, but it's not working.  Maybe if you treated my little girl the way I think she should be treated we could come to some kind of mutual understanding.  She's not a trophy for you.  She's not some girl you can treat however you want.  She's special and loving and considerate and you need to see that and appreciate that about her instead of finding things that aren't exactly how you want them to be.

Dear Mom and Goumpa,

I love you guys.  Dearly.  Just so you know.  There aren't words.

Dear Inlaws,

We may not always agree and there are times that I don't understand you at all, but thank you for giving me my husband, for being supportive when you have been, and for welcoming us in your home.

Dear Body,

We have this love hate relationship going on and I'd really like to work on the more love, less hate thing.  We can start with the shoulders and knees if you don't mind.  I'd like them back please.  Oh and if you decided you didn't need quite so much sleep that'd be okay too.  Oh and while we're here you can stop with the aging stuff.  Enough already.

Dear House,

I know you'll never be self cleaning as much as I'd love that, but would it hurt to not attract quite so much kitten cat furs?  Or maybe offer some kind of repellent to guide them towards litterboxes instead of the little throw rug they've christened their own?  I'd also like it if you'd make some kind of policy for the applicances. Washers, hot water heaters, refrigerators?  You know all those things that make puddles when they decide to play dirty?  The puddles that ruin my kitchen floor that I don't have money to replace and the insurance company gets concerned when things keep happening because we can't pay the deductible to get them fixed to begin with?  That'd be real nice.  Please and thank you.  Oh and I know I said I wouldn't complain about it being cold after the air conditioner went nuts and stopped working last summer, so just disregard those complaints please and if the ac unit asked?  You didn't hear a word.

Dear Durango,

I love you.  You've been the one constant in the sea of stuff breaking, busting, leaking, spraying and costing me too much money to replace.  I appreciate that and I love you for it.  Remember what I said though, if I win the lottery, I'm keeping you.  That's true love and I hope you'll continue to reciprocate.

Dear Bed,

I don't have to tell you how much I love you because we spend so much time together.  Not that I don't love it, but you know, I'd like some me time now and then.  If you don't mind.

Dear Novels,

Too bad you're not like my child and grow as fast as she has.  I think I'd like to see you grow, in spite of the headaches you give me from time to time.  I promise I'll spend more time with you this year and when we're done, we'll go out looking for a new home for you.  One with lots of other novels around you to keep you company until people start taking you home to live with them instead.

Dear Disability Office,

It's been a while now.  Not real sure how you guys expect people to live when they're not working and can't work, so a little "arriva" would be the order of the day.  I've done everything you've asked and I've been real nice about it, so let's get a move on shall we?

Dear Bill Collectors,

We meet again.  See Dear Disability Letter above.  One day we'll get this all worked out.

Dear Blog,

I love you.  I'm looking forward to our time together next year.

And finally, Dear Readers,

It's been such a wonderful experience traveling down this road with you all.  What started and sputtered into life has grown to a passion that I enjoy and that I hope you do too.  I've had so much fun discovering new friends, learning more about you guys and what makes you the wonderful people you are, and I'm looking forward to discovering more and more of you next year.  I hope you will all have a happy and blessed new year, that you'll find happiness in every moment of every day and that smiles with surround you.

Happy New Year!

The Finale! Happy Thanksgiving!

November 25 - It's that time.  I've been writing in another post, adding each day what I'm thankful for, and so far it's full of randomness and small things for which I am grateful.   Since today is the big day, I'm writing a stand alone post for the token Thanksgiving thoughts and thanks. 

First of all, I'm thankful for my husband.  We've had our problems, sure, but any relationship worth having will have problems.  What can you say about a man who knows all the bad sides of you and not only loves you anyway, but understands, or does his best to understand.  After 21 years he still tells me I'm beautiful.  Still wants to hold my hand when we go out.  I'm still the person he'd most spend time with.  For all that and so much more, he has all my love.

I'm thankful for my daughter.  Who knew that 18 years ago I was giving birth to my best friend.  She's given me hope when life has been at its darkest, laughter when I wanted only to cry, and so much more.  I can't say how proud I am to be her Mother, how happy it makes me to see her growing into a beautiful woman and knowing that I had some small part in making her who she is.  

I'm thankful for my mom and stepdad.  Losing a parent is never easy, but my stepdad has come as close as any man could to giving me back a parent.  The two of them are always there for me, for our family, they've done without to help me when I needed help, and they've provided financial, emotional, spiritual and mental support for me more times than I can count.  I couldn't ask for better parents, except maybe if they actually decided that tatoos and piercings were cool.

I'm thankful to God that He has seen us through the past four years, that every time it seemed like the rope was gone, He added a little more for us to hang onto.  I never expected him to solve all our problems and there have been times that I've been furious at Him.  Wanted to curse and scream and keep asking why we were going through all this.  But I trust that He has the answers and one day they'll all become clear.

I'm thankful for the men and women in our military, some of who are celebrating without their family and loved ones so that I can sit here, safe in my house, and write this blog.

Finally, and oddly enough, I'm thankful to all the people who hurt me, who mistreated me, who didn't believe in me, who spread lies about me, who went out of their way to ensure that my life wouldn't wander down the primrose path untouched.  They've all made me who I am today, and I've never been more proud to be me.  I've proven that I'm stronger than I knew, smarter than I thought,  more resourceful than I'd imagined.  I'm thankful that I didn't stoop to their levels to get revenge, and in so doing perhaps have been instrumental in helping them understand that being hateful and envious doesn't do anything but make you a bitter person.

There are so many other things I have to be thankful for, in spite of the situation our family has been living for the past few years, but suffice it to say that I'm here, I'm still kicking, I can still find joy in almost every day, and that alone is enough for me.

So with that, I wrap up my list of Thanksgiving thoughts, and wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, or Happy Thursday, whichever you might be celebrating today.

To read my random thanks posts for the rest of the month, clickie here!

The Fading of Fall

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and in my mind, the official end of fall.  Maybe that's why it's never really been one of my favorite holidays.  I can be thankful (and try my best to be) every day.  I don't need a special day to realize how blessed I am no matter bad things look from time to time.  This month in particular has been a trying one.  We'll no doubt run out of money before the end of the month, and I've already got commitments to pay past due bills on the first, so we'll be going into December already behind.

That means several things, next month is going to be rough, and well, no one is getting any gifts for Christmas.  It'll be okay though, we had the same situation last year and it seems like the holidays end up being even more special because we realize that the frills and fluff aren't the most important things after all.

I'm getting ahead of myself though.  I'm going to miss fall.  As much as I love the holiday season, the bright lights, the decorations, and hopefully (fingers and toes crossed) lots of snow, I'll miss the crunch of leaves underfoot;  The crispness in the air that only fall can manage.  I'll miss the colors of the trees in the yard and on the highways where usually that's the only thing worth looking at in the monotony of cars and pavement.  I'll miss the scents that linger in the air, scents I can't really describe, but are there nonetheless.

Tomorrow, fall will wither away like the fading leaves on the trees, slowly becoming bare.

There's a beauty there all it's own though, and as usual, nature replaces one beauty with another.   Things now though will pick up, people will either be a little bit kinder or a little bit more rude, in some cases a lot more rude.  Drivers will be more likely to honk their horns at you, or flip you off as they drive by.  People in the malls won't smile as often or as freely.  Everyone will be in a hurry, going here and there, preparing, in too  many cases spending too much money for too many things.

To me, fall is simpler, easier, like the calm before the storm.  I'm looking forward to Christmas, don't get me wrong, but I'll miss fall when it's gone too.  I'll look forward to it all year, until once more the leaves start to fade from green to brilliant orange and red and yellow, to finally drop to the ground to crunch under my bare feet (yes, bare) and leave the tree limbs naked as they spike up into the not quite as blue skies.

I'm going to send it out with a bang though, decorating starts tomorrow so that I can enjoy the Christmas season, kinda like Cindy Lou Who before the Grinch saved the day.  Hopefully I'll find a Grinch for the Riley family, but if not?  Well that's okay too, a tree is just as beautiful all dressed up without anything tumbled beneath it to take away from it's splendor.

So, I guess that's it.  Happy Thanksgiving one and all, and for those who don't celebrate the day, Happy Thursday.  Make it a thanksgiving Thursday, and remember how many blessings we all have, because no matter how rough life gets, no matter how many trials we have to endure, in the end, it's our life and that in itself is enough to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving - What are you thankful for?

Facebook is full of people listing in their status messages all the things that they're thankful for each day.  I'm not all that big on status updates, I barely keep up with the few I do post and my daughter and I have come to an agreement that when you add someone on Facebook, you suddenly learn more about them than you ever thought possible.  Still though, I've always looked at Thanksgiving as more than the Turkey and fixins.  Granted, I absolutely love fixing the big dinner, I love the formality of linens and matching china and silver, the floral arrangements and candles on the table and the delicate serving bowls glistening in the light.  I love having my family gathered around the table talking and enjoying each other's company.  Life is so busy that I think a lot of people lose out on that family time.

So with that said, although I'm a bit behind, I'm going to do the thankful thing here.  I'll make up for lost time and post the first days of the month and come back and edit the post each day to add the current day.  Comment and tell me what you're thankful for too!

November 1 - I'm thankful that I woke up to see another November.

November 2 - I'm thankful that my daughter got to vote for the first time today and that we got to spend the day together.

November 3 - I'm thankful for the beautiful pictures we took at the park and that I was able to do her senior portraits myself so she could actually have some done.

November 4 - I'm thankful for being able to go outside and enjoy the fresh air.

November 5 - I'm thankful that it's Friday and I got a text from my daughter on her date to let me know she loves me.

November 6 - I'm thankful for waking up to sunshine.

November 7 - I'm thankful that I have a family who puts up with me being sick and grumpy.

November 8 - I'm thankful for clean sheets.

November 9 - I'm thankful for the light at the end of the tunnel.

November 10 - I'm thankful that I've got the time and ability to write.

November 11 - I'm thankful for my old classic car with the sunroof and a great radio.

November 12 - I'm thankful for flannel sheets.

November 13 - I'm thankful for hot chocolate.

November 14 - I'm thankful for people who know me and still like me.

November 15 - I'm thankful for Bath & Body Works

November 16 - I'm thankful for Christmas lights that make everything pretty no matter where you put them.

November 17 - I'm thankful that some people still care enough to bother.

November 18 - I'm thankful for my husband's expense checks.

November 19 - I'm thankful for friends with guitar and vocal skills.

November 20 - I'm thankful for lazy weekends.

November 21 - I'm thankful for Michael Pitt

November 22 - I'm thankful that my husband takes my daughter to school at the crack of dawn.

November 23 - I'm thankful for school holidays.

November 24 - I'm thankful for parents who understand and care about me.