I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, I had a lovely post written out on Wednesday Night, complete with old photos, memories & some bitching because I'm here in VA & my family, such as they are, are mostly in MA. (This is my own fault entirely & there's only a few days of the year that I'm not happy to be here!) The computer crashed just as I added the last photo. I was so mad I just turned everything off & went to bed!
I'll try again, minus the complaining
, I was sick last week of course & barely came online at all, Tuesday I slept a lot & ended up taking the kids to the doctors, both girls have the cough, congestion & sore throat I have had, mr7 has a mild cough & slight runny nose so he was mostly along for the ride! I was supposed to get 2 tires replaced on my car due to some problems in the sidewalls but they were'nt on the truck so they couldn't be put on the car. This is the second time this has happened & I'm starting to think the garage doesn't want to honor the warranty on these tires (I only bought them in January, there's plenty of tread left but one has a big bulging bubble in the sidewall beneath the valve, the other problem tire has large cracks building in the sidewall.) He's not exactly being rude about it or anything but I've given him my phone # & told him to call me if the don't come in on the truck when he thinks they will to save me the trip (yes, it's only 12 miles but when I'm already going to be spending money on the tires 2 wasted trips to town are two too many) The first week- the day I took the car to him to show him the tires he said he'd have them the next day & to come around 2 because the truck would have just off lodaded them around then, I showed up the next day at 2 & he just shrugged & said they didn't come in. so we made an apointment for 10 am the following Tuesday (I'm only off Saturday, Tuesday & Wednesday & they're closed Saturday) He did call Monday & say the tires hadn't come in on that day's truck & to come at 2 Tuesday because they'd surely be on that truck but then when I showed up Tuesday, same deal, no tires. I drive a PT Cruiser (yes, I've already heard all the jokes about Fat Chicks & PT Cruisers) & the tires are incredibly, ridiculously expensive. Even a 40,000 mile tire is about $80. but they should be available - Which is why I feel like I'm being dicked around.
The Doctors apointment was OK. We didn't actually see the doctor, only her assistant & I missed seeing the doc, she's a really cool lady. I have fluid in my lungs, this is a fact of my life, when I get a cold it goes to my lungs & I usually have to sleep sitting up for most of the winter (I Consider this year a triumph because it's the end of November & I've only been sick for a week- It's usually more like September to March that I'm sick!) The girls have the same cough etc. that I have & I was worried that there was fluid in their lungs & wanted to get something to take care of it- I don't need them to get pneumonia- if I get it it's no big deal, I'll just go on. The doctor's assitiant didn't hear fluid in the girls lungs though so that was a relief, she did suggest that I try that mucinex stuff & it has helped a bit which was nice.
We spent Wednesday maki
ng our Thanksgiving dinner, I'm not a turkey fan but Miss 16 is & so we got the smallest turkey we could find (still over 9 lbs.) & made it with all the trimming, set the table with my mother's good china & silverware (she said, when we moved back to VA in 1997 that she had no use for it & gave it to me) & had a lovely dinner complete with a pumpkin pie made by miss 16, miss 10 was the biggest help, she stayed right with me peeling potatoes & onions, mixing the stuffing & basting the turkey, mr 7 was all about setting the table - his normal, every day chore anyway- & by 7pm Wednesday we sat down to a lovely feast. Back to work for the actual Thanksgiving holiday & then again Friday, I'm in a space right now where I'm just ok with being at work, not exactly happy but at least at peace, it all rolls off when I walk out the door at the end of the day. I hope it lasts because I can't very well quit! I always run in phases of dissatisfaction to tolerance, the computer 
program change in May ushered in my longest phase of dissatisfaction ever but I'm hoping that it has passed. We were having really horrible problems Friday night & the guy who sits next to me especially was really freaking out over the whole thing & I didn't really feel too bad about it at all. (a lot of that was knowing I didn't have to come back for 2 whole days!) Which brings me to today, it was annother beautiful day here sunny, warm - in the high 60's & just beautiful, I had promised we'd put up the christmas decorations one day of the weekend (& of course, we have to go grocery shopping on the other day) Miss 16 had a quince (pronounced kinsay) which is a 15th birthday party for a latina girl we know, to attend tonight so I figured it was better to just stay close to home today & do the running around tommorow. (tommorow is my birthday which is why I have it off, my first 'real' job for a company with more than 10 employees was at a place called Building19, - people from New England will know what I'm talking about- & the owner did give paid holidays, one of which was a 'floating' day off specifically for your birthday. I know it's an unusual concept now. But at 17 when I was working there it made perfect sense & I've never lost the idea that it really sucks to work on your birthday & so I take it off if possible every year) I got a new nightgown & got myself a cheap mp3 player which I've already filled (120 songs my ass, try 60 if you're lucky!) With my favorite songs- or at least as many of them as I could fit! We'll be going out to dinner somewhere tommorow afternoon because Mom shouldn't have to cook on her birthday! Then off to do the lovely grocery shopping (because I only shop every 2 weeks it's a real chore which takes some serious time & thought to get everything we need)
So in reading other peoples blogs I notice a lot of the usual thanksgiving stuff, what we're thankful for, family memories, far be it from me to be out of the loop, better late than never, I'm posting my old pictures anyway, here's one from the year I was 16, of my grandmother, myself & my brother in our dining room in the house I grew up in. I used to love cooking with my grandmother on the holidays, staying up until 1,2 am making pies & the stuffing so it would have time to set up before the turkey had to be stuffed at 5 am (I wasn't present for that part I don't do 5 am unless I'm still up from the night before) you can't really see how nice the table etc, looked (the picture is taken looking away from the huge, beautiful picture window at the other end of the dining room) but it really looked lovely with all the china, crytal & silver laid out on the linnen tablecloth my grandmother would stay up ironing.
The other picture is from
my first thanksgiving here in VA back in 1987 with Chrissie & her aunt Colleen, I Mentioned this in a previous post & when I was looking for the above picture came across this one too. 19 years old, nearly 20 years ago now! it doesn't seem possible. Even then I knew this was where I wanted to be, away from my family or not, it was too beautiful & the people were too nice not to be here. I belive I'm supposed to be here still, I never fit in up in Mass. I'm not into status or power, fashion or who's got the newest, best whatever & that is what I see up there for the most part (of course, there's plenty of people I know well who aren't like that at all- but many more are) I'm too slow, too relaxed & too quiet to do well there & I accept that & it's why I'm here. (Of course, I also thought it would be a great place to raise kids & It is!)
I'm thankful for my home, family & friends, for my job & my co-workers (VERY thankful they're having their thanksgiving potluck tommorow while I'm not there!) I'm thankful for my health & the kids' continued health & well being. Thankful that except for medicaid we're off public assistance & independent. I'm thankful that the state caught up with the ex & I get something every month for child support. (Only a little bit, but anything is better than the 4 years I went with nothing!) I'm thankful that the events in my past have helped me to grow & learn. Not become bitter & miserable like some people I could mention.
On to Christmas, I intend to be done with my shopping by December 13th if not before. I'll probably make it, as long as no one gets sick & needs to stay out of school, I've got it down to a science, for a couple of Tuesdays I get up when the kids leave for school, go to C'burg & do the shopping, arrive home just before the school bus, put the stuff in the shed & lock the shed up tight so the kids can't go peeking. (I did learn last year not to put shampoo or bubble bath in an unheated shed though, when they freeze & expand the bottles can break & spill all over everything!) I bought a new lock with a combination lock instead of a key this year because I found out that Miss 16 is not the only one of my kids with a knack for picking locks, (she is, however the only one old enough to realize that if you check out your Christmas presents before Christmas you don't have a lot to look forward to on Christmas!)
