Thankful

I participated in a 'challenge' on facebook this November, while the men were not shaving...  Every day, share something for which you're thankful.  It sounds fairly simple and straight forward.  On the surface, it is simple and straight forward.  But as the month progressed, I found myself in a little bit of a struggle.  How much do I really want to share out there in facebook land?  How do I express the gratitude of an over-flowing heart for the simple gifts in my life?  Here are my posts...


Thankful, Day 30: I'm glad I accepted the challenge. "Practice the attitude of gratitude" can change your day. Every day.


Thankful, Day 29: New Toys, especially ones that disguise productivity in FUN! #1 Son purchased a new 4-wheeler and everyone's having a good time with it. Getting used a lot for chores, which means work is getting done with a lot more giggling going on!


Catching up...
Thankful, Day 28: Internet Free Weekend - loved it. Wasn't really intentional at first. Didn't want to miss a moment of family time!
Thankful, Day 27: Safe Travels - An unexpected round trip to CR area with the hubby - enjoyed the time together even if traffic was crazy. By 8 p.m., girls were safely back and settled at school. Always makes me breath easier once they're back!
Thankful, Day 26: Post-Thanksgiving snacking with friends. Fun evening!
Thankful, Day 25: Tradition - today begins, as it has every year in our marriage, the decorating of ze house. :) Christmas music is playing, the girls are giggling, and we're gearing up to make an absolute mess!

Thankful, Day 24: Family - by birth, by marriage, by choice. I am blessed. I hope you are spending the day with one, any or all of the above!


Thankful, Day 23: a short commute. When your internal alarm is still on "the old time" and your electronic alarm is mysteriously mute, a short commute is a blessing! :)

Thankful Day 22: Certainly thankful for the absence of headache. The time I treasure with family and friends will be much improved if it will simply stay gone!

Thankful, Day 21: Vehicles that warm up quickly and have added bonus of window and mirror defrosters. :)

Thankful, Day 20: My answer today is "D. All of the Above" - My house is full with all the kids home and a visit from Stacy Austin-Li and Raelynn; A nice reminder from Pastor Dan this a.m. to appreciate that there *is* a National Holiday to give us a special time to celebrate all we are thankful for, and hugs from great friends at church. Brody safely and successfully handled a rapid succession of mechanical failures while driving the 7060 and chisel plow yesterday. Yep, an "all of the above" kind of day! :)

Thankful, Day 19: Beyond grateful that Traci Skierka went to a conference a long while back, which gave her the knowledge to correctly diagnose my friend Kris who then began an education campaign that allowed LOTS of people - including many in my family - to be correctly treated for Lyme Disease.

Thankful, Day 18: I am thankful for Choices. To live in a country where we can choose to travel, or not. Choose to go to college, or not. Choose to pursue this - or that - career, or not. Choose to attend church, meeting, temple, mosque - or not. Choose to be involved; volunteer, or not. Choose to read about pretty much ANY topic, or not. Circumstances may seem to limit our choices, but at the base of everything, they are still there.

Thankful, Day 17: Farm Life. It's hard to explain the passion folks in agriculture have for their way of life. Viewed from the outside, it is just plain a lot of work - every day, every season, every year. From the inside, the satisfaction and challenge and LOVE of the land, the animals makes every minute worth it. Added bonus? Everybody eats. :)

Thankful, Day 16: A full night's sleep. Wondrous feeling!

Thankful, Day 15: Enjoying a beautiful sunrise, listening to praise music this morning on my way to work. It makes me smile, and brought to mind Pastor Dan's catch phrase - "God loves you, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Thankful, Day 14: Having "the basics" covered - Employment, Roof, Food. Many are not as fortunate, and it's not something I should take for granted. (needing to remove the groan from "Monday"!)

Thankful, Day 13. Thank you Jane, for the words - Religious Freedom. I can't imagine my life without Faith.

Thankful, Day 12: Today I'm thankful for down time. Especially slower-paced productive down time. Still checking things off the list, but not obsessing about it!

Thankful, Day 11. Veterans. What you choose to do is humbling.

Thankful, Day 10. I'm stealing from Kay. Music. There are few things that can change my center faster than the right music. One of my favorites is Life 101.9.

Thankful, Day 9: my "family of origin". Mom & Dad (Bill Austin) taught Stacy and I to be independent thinkers, brought us up with Faith and Love and RULES. (one of my favorites is NO WHINING). Hey, Mom - it snowed! It's pretty! :)

Thankful, Day 8: Skype.

Thankful, Day 7: I'm a list geek, and today I'm thankful that my week's list does not look like last week's list; and that there is no carry-over from that hideous list into this week. "Gonna be a good day, Tater"

Giving Thanks, Day 6: Six is such a lovely number. Sometimes overwhelming, as our family conversational style can best be described as chaotic, but I love love love every minute of being the Mom. So thankful, and so blessed.

Thankful for some Brody time this morning. Don't get to see much of that boy this time of year.

Today, my Thankful item is easy. Happy, Happy Birthday to Alana. You have gifted me and my family with prayer, time, kindness, love and support too many times to count. What a blessing you and your girls are in our lives.

Riding the Thankful wave - with a little catching up to do:

3. SUNSHINE!

2. Crops are in and everyone is safe.

1. Amazing family time last weekend. 

The American Royal

October 28-30, 2011

What a fantastic family weekend we had!!  Erica drove up from Warrensburg to meet us, Brody actually came along, and we were not showing cattle.  Combining those elements allowed us - for the first time in a VERY long time - to have quite a bit of relaxed, silly (dare I say vacation-like) family time.  Restorative.  Important.  Critical, actually.  None of us wanted to return to our routines and responsibilities the next week!  I can't begin to put into words how excited I am at the relationships our children are developing with each other.  It is gratifying. Heart warming. Exciting.  The icing on our weekend was that Alecia did very well in the National Hereford Queen competition - she was 1st runner-up.  What an honor for her!  She made us all very proud.


In other news...
Harvest is complete, and went fairly smoothly.  Brody is much more involved now than his Dad.  Chris focuses on fences and cattle while Dean & Brody get the crops out.  It's a good system that suits them all quite well.  Brody is anxious to get to fall dirt work.  We had snow this week, which changed his focus for a little bit - have to make sure that new (to him) snowmobile will be in good working order before the first big snow.  He "has plans, Mom".  :)


All three girls are in a good place, with solid goals to keep them motivated.  Not that they aren't experiencing confusing detours and such, but isn't that part of the college experience?  Heck, it's part of life experiences!  


My last few weeks have been a little frantic, but the lists were completed and the most exciting thing happened - I am finally rid of a server that has been a giant pain in the rump for YEARS.  I was afraid to even talk about the migration out loud in case it caught wind of it's impending demise and really caused issues.  Yes, it's one of *those* possessed sort of machines.  But it is now disconnected and unplugged and has no more power over my network!!  


Looking forward to more family time at Thanksgiving and a visit from my parents this weekend. I'm not even stressing over the dust bunnies...  but the day is young!