November Thankfulness

We tend to use the month of November to tell people what we are thankful for. Why we don’t discuss these things year around is beyond me. There is ALWAYS something to be thankful for. Right?! Maybe we should start sharing our thankfulness once a month instead of just the 30 days of November. Obviously we should share our thankfulness EVERY DAY but if we did that, people would stop paying attention to us. Let's pick something to be thankful for each month and let it be known. Blog about it. Share it on Facebook or Twitter.  Shout it out to the world! There is always, always, always something to be thankful for!  Who’s with me on this?

Besides the obvious - thankful for family, friends, food, a roof over my head, a warm bed to sleep in every night, money for necessities (and then some), etc., etc., etc…. I want to focus on one thing this month – MY JOB.

I am very thankful for my job! I was hired in August and I absolutely love it! I can’t say enough wonderful things about the company, my co-workers, my bosses, and everyone else that works there! I honestly cannot find one single negative thing to say! There are no tempers flaring... no slammed doors... no petty gossip... no backstabbing! There is a ton of appreciation, no limit to teamwork, and plenty of smiles! This isn’t your typical law firm - at least not like the ones I've known in the past. This place is at the top of the list! I’m not sure how one company can hire so many wonderful people and not have a single bad egg but the fact that the Operations Manager (HR) has been there for 32 years probably says is all – she knows how to pick them! Many employees have been there for many years with no plans of leaving. Why would they?! The company treats its employees with respect and appreciation. (After all, the wheels wouldn’t turn without the hard work of the staff, correct?) I’m amazed and I feel truly blessed to have found this opportunity. I never wanted to return to a law firm after being laid off in 2010 (it left a bad taste in my mouth) but after spending a year in the financial business (I was in a very small office but it too was full of wonderful and giving people!), I decided to go back to where I was the most comfortable and knowledgeable about my job - the law firm.  And I’m so happy I did!

Being out of the business for three years, I was in the dark about how some of the courts now handle things and of course all firms do things differently, as well as individual attorneys, so I’ve had to learn A LOT - and I’m still learning every day - but I’ve had no end of help from everyone around me from accounting, to paralegals, secretaries, assistants, and the lawyers themselves! They are all happy to help me learn their way of doing things and all of the procedures. What a great place to be employed!

After two years of not working, I walked into the financial business a very beat down individual with absolutely zero self-confidence. I felt “stupid” and “worthless.” Being laid off was so traumatic for me and sent me into a very dark world of depression, one I wasn’t sure I would ever find my way out of. But finally being given the opportunity to work in a part-time job (at least that's how it started) gave me the ability to get my feet wet in the working world again and the opportunity to learn something new – proving to myself that I actually COULD learn. I really appreciated having the job and made some real friends there, who I miss now but know they are happy for me. It was a great job and it was exactly what I needed to get myself working again and to rebuild my confidence. I was sad to leave the people I worked with - I miss them all - but I knew I was making the best decision for me in the long run. They understood that too and I left knowing I could always return. (That's such a wonderful feeling...)

I'm very happy in my new environment and I feel very fortunate. 

I'm very, very thankful for my job.

Veteran's Day

Thank you to all the Veterans out there, especially my Dad and Uncle Jim, for serving – today, yesterday, and tomorrow - to protect our Country. Today is YOUR day and a day we appreciate you immensely!

xoxo

Verse Salute
by Paul Berchtold, September, 2010

O mixed up world, that needs a bunch of wars,
To keep people free, and also our shores,
But without the war there is no peace,
Justice can't flourish, nor wealth increase.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

O brave ones willing, to protect and serve,
Our freedoms defend, our values preserve,
Willing to go, and pay the price,
Willing to make, every sacrifice.

O brave ones leaving, your family and friends,
Ready to travel, to the world's ends,
Base to base, and port to port,
Upholding our country, with your support.

O brave ones learning, how to fight,
Properly use, all your might,
To stop evil marching, all over the place,
Shaking it's fist, right in your face.

O brave ones united, in lawful pride,
Fighting as a team, side by side,
Then the shocking, horrible time,
Your closest friends, cut down in their prime.

O brave ones crying, seeing black and blue,
O brave ones hurting, through and through,
O brave ones crying, many tears shed,
O brave ones shocked, dying, dead.

O brave ones surviving, but barely so,
Cruel the pain, crazy the foe,
Why not me, why my best friend,
Will this dark blackness never end?

O brave one coming back from war,
A different person, shaken to the core,
What a reception, some gave you welcome,
Some met you with hatred, treating you like scum.

O brave ones shedding exhausting tears,
Wanting to crawl and hide, for the rest of your years,
Your mind seems scarred, for the rest of your life,
Who'd understand, stories of your strife?

O brave ones feeling, your life's in shatters,
Alive or dead, it hardly any more matters,
You once thought you'd take it, now it's so much more,
You never imagined, this horror of war,

O brave ones thinking, you'd practically died,
Your mind tortured, burned, seared and fried,
Your life feels worthless, over and done.
Your soul seems lost, your spirit gone.

O brave ones whose sacrifice, seems murky, muddy, lost,
Too much pain, too high a cost.
O brave ones mixed up, in the worlds war,
What seems lost to you, I see more.

O brave ones thinking, you aren't so brave,
It's not how you look and feel, it's what you gave,
War isn't pretty, there's no beauty,
But when it counted, you did your duty.

O brave ones hurting, only feeling pain,
Gone your energy, can't get it back again,
Sit with me when you're at your deepest low,
There's a few little things I'd like to show.

O brave ones look, see the children playing?
They're free to walk to school without a slaying,
You helped bring freedom all the way back home,
May I hug you, Soldier? Huge big welcome!

O brave ones look, see, the flowers blowing,
You're the ones that kept our freedom water flowing,
You planted seeds, in the mud and gloom,
You give each of us, a chance to sweetly bloom.

O brave ones breathe, the air so fresh and free,
Your spirit lives on forever, for all eternity,
Receive from me today, a little hopeful ray,
Veteran [Soldier], I deeply wish for you, the best sunshiny day.

O brave ones when, I see your graying hair,
You are the reminder, to go and do and dare,
To walk in your footsteps, with spirit brave and free,
And always leave for others, a better legacy.

O brave ones without you, we just might be,
Wondering if we live in, the land of the free,
Without you there's a chance, we'd each be a slave,
Here with us you make it now, the land of the brave.

God bless America, but God bless you first,
You were His front line, wherever you traversed.
Wars on earth cause, so much tears and grief,
God now shed on you, the deepest sweet relief.

O brave ones showing, how to do my part,
Imitate your courage, your big and generous heart.
When on earth or in Heaven, our first meeting be,
Count me in as one of you, my dearest family.

Amen.

Lady Cave

I've always said that when my kids moved out of the house, Husband would get his own Man Cave - a room of his own where he can watch TV, drink beer, eat pizza and burp until his heart's content. However, I've recently changed my mind.

My daughter moved out and left me with an empty space. After getting past the pain of her not living under the same roof and then past the job of painting, cleaning and rearranging... I've decided Husband can't have the room at all! I have put it to much better use than creating a stinky Man Cave! My darling daughter's room is now MINE! It has become my "LADY CAVE" and NO BOYS ALLOWED! (except for the four-legged ones, of course!)

I love it!

I have my OWN room in the house now - a place to get away from the noise of Husband's movies, music and sunflower seed snappin' and crackin'! I have a place to quietly read my book, lounge around and daydream, play on my iPad, or watch TV. I can watch what I want to watch when I want to watch it! Hurray! No more viewing bloodied faces on MMA! No more seeing nasty crime scenes on CSI! No more soccer games with the annoying announcers! (Sorry to all of you soccer fans out there! I like the game, just not the announcers. In my house they are usually in Spanish and the constant chatter and the loud annoying GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL makes me crazy!! Not to mention all of Husband's hooting and hollering going on at the same time!)

TOTAL BLISS! Who knew all I needed was my own personal cave?!

Ladies... forget the Man Caves! Create your own pretty smelling, CLEAN and beautifully decorated Lady Cave! Oh, and put a lock on the door too! It's YOURS! ;)

Thank you Matthew for using those crappy tools we found the in garage to put together my table - it took a long time and I really appreciate it - even though you STILL aren't allowed in my Cave! heh heh