Life

Today being my birthday, and my 35th birthday at that, I'm thankful for my life.  I'm thankful for the good and great parts, and even thankful for the not-so-great moments.
I'm thankful that I have my health and that I have people to share it with.
I'm thankful for all the experiences, good and bad, that I've had over the years.  They've shaped me into the person that I am.  And, you know what, I think I'm a pretty decent person over all.  Sure, I have my flaws, and some of them are big ones at times.  But everyone has moments and things that they (or others) wish they could improve about themselves.  If not, they wouldn't be human.  As Dad has told me for most of my life, there's no such thing as perfect.  (And besides, perfect would be boring.)

Today has been a good day, actually, this week has been a good week.  I really do like having my birthday in Thanksgiving week.  I really love the Thanksgiving holiday, and it makes it so much easier to spend the time enjoying my birthday, not just having it lost amongst a full and normal work week.
Today I went down to work after dropping Gak off.  Boo and I were going to have lunch with a handful of my friends from work.  It was great.  There were three who joined us, and two who wanted to, but couldn't because of other things.  We had a nice long lunch (even if Boo was being a bit of a stinker about eating...) and just relaxed.  The morning started off really nice (despite being woken up at 5:00 or so by a boy having a night terror, that thankfully only lasted a few minutes) and both my boys let me sleep in until about 8!  Boo even slept in until about 9:30!  (That's part of why he was cranky later, he woke up late which threw off his whole day and he didn't get much of a nap...)  After hanging with my friends and checking 2 or 3 out of 30+ emails at work, we headed down to the big Target near work.  You see, for my birthday, I got my son a new car seat.  Yep.  By no means is he too heavy for his current seat, but he's just tall enough that it needs to be replaced.  His shoulders are just at the top shoulder strap setting (unless he sits up nice and tall, then his shoulders are above the strap opening).  This means it's time to replace the seat.  I tried to yesterday, but they were out of the one I wanted at my Target.  They carry two that are 5-point harness, tall back boosters that can then be used as belt positioners.  The one that they had in stock, rated the harness to 40 lb and he was already taller than the shortest strap position.  This one cost another $25, but the shoulder harness goes one more position higher and is rated to 50 lb harnessed.  He's still taller than the shortest belt position, but he's still got 2 more to go in this seat.  I'm sure he'll get too tall before he gets too heavy, even though he's 30 lb as it stands now.  (I hope he stays long and lean for a very, very long time.)

I also went to my water aerobics class.  I think this will be my last session at the Y.  The pool is cold (83* my foot!), I'm tired of fighting with the swim team and having to work out in the small shallow area of the pool that's OK for me, but really is too shallow, and I figure I'm paying just about as much there for one class a week as I would pay full membership to a local gym that has a pool that I could use any day or night of the week I wanted to (other than Mondays).  I enjoy the instructor, but I haven't really gotten to know the others in the class, as they keep fluctuating and I couldn't hear them to talk to them anyhow over the swim team in the lap lanes beside us.  So, I think I need to investigate other options.  I like my Y, but it's just not a great fit. That and I really need to find somewhere other than there to take Boo swimming, he keeps asking to go, and it's just too expensive to take him to lessons there right now. *sigh*  Maybe if we get him to like the pool and to like to swim and get his head in the water, bath time won't be such an issue... or am I dreaming again?

So, yes, I'm thankful for my life, even if this year has been pretty rough in a lot of spots.  I'm thankful for the relative ease of it in general and for all the good that is in it.  Today has been a good day, and here's to many, many more.

Peace to all and may you all find something in your life to be thankful for.