It's Thankful Thursday again!

Our cottage school is off for the week, and DH was actually able to get the week off from work as well. Score! We have been laying around in our PJs until waaay too late in the day and wiping snotty noses on three kids. Boo!

The good news is that we are getting away for some true R&R for a few days and that will feel blissful.

I'm still praying that my lacking list gets shorter and my not-lacking list gets longer, but for now I'm thankful that...

• We've all been enjoying the Olympics at our house (even though the media coverage is terrible)
• We're getting out of here for a few days
• I found cheap boots for Charlotte
• I did six loads of laundry at my Aunt's house for free last weekend
• We have a new computer
• DH got the "check engine" light checked on my car
• We ate some of my favorite sausages for dinner
• We have hot water
• Email friends
  

I'm really struggling with Dallas right now which is stressing me and the husband. Generally not a pretty picture right now but hopefully some day soon he will make it on to my Thankful Thursday list. :)

Thankful Thursday

It's been a while since I've done a "Thankful Thursday." I'm having difficulties being positive these days, but I was really encouraged by Mrs. Fuzz who recently mentioned that there is enough negative out in the world; even though it may be "hard times" in life, who needs more negative? However, I have to dwell on what I don't have for a minute so that I can consciously be grateful for what I do have and seek intervention for changing up my lists. Here we go:

Sleep. I'm seriously lacking in the sleep department.

Patience. I'm also lacking in this department.

Cleanliness. (home cleanliness, that is) Lacking. Along with:

Sanity.

Support.

Contentment.

Insight and wisdom to see "here" from "there."

Communication.

Not lacking:
Money.

Job.

Family.

Home.

Food.

Hot water.

Lord, please help me shorten my lacking list and lengthen my not lacking list. Amen.

misc.

I had a bunch of things I wanted to share with y'all but I'm kind of losing my mind right now so the list is shortened. whoops!

I do remember this fun item: we are part of a small co-op and last Thursday one of the families came and held a concert for us. They are mostly an "old tyme" band so that was super knee-slappin' fun (literally). :) They sang, played mandolin, guitar, upright bass, and fiddle. so fun! Today on the way to school, Charlotte kept asking me if they were going to have a music contest again today. I'm thinking "WHEN have we ever had a contest at school?!?!" We are all ~ including Austin ~ going around and around for a few minutes when finally I realized she meant concert. sigh.

Then, as we are arriving at school Charlotte starts up with the questions again: "What is our school card?" I tell her I don't exactly understand her question and she keeps repeating herself, over and over. She is getting mad at me and I'm getting mad at her.

"CHARLOTTE," I say, "I can hear you perfectly fine but I don't understand what card you are talking about!"

"Mom, I just want to know the name of our school!"

"Oh... What our school is called you mean?"

sigh.

I can't even get the communication right with a 3 year old. How am I supposed to get it right with a crotchety old LEO husband?? :O Since I can't answer that one, I'm going out for drinks with a friend tonight. Probably just a hot chocolate, but it's nice to dream about drowning my sorrows in something a little stronger than that. ha! Talk about ignorant bliss.

So besides the communication errors, the computer is about to die, the check engine light is on in my car, and DH's car has been renamed Mr. Big Stink because it smells like a cat has crawled up inside and died. Oh, the baby's temperature is 103 degrees, and I walked him around the neighborhood for an hour this afternoon and he wouldn't nap. I'm going to my ignorantly blissful place with a girlfriend tonight!

Hope you have an "ignorantly blissful" day... but not too ignorant so as to require the services of a motor cop, a happy medic, or something much more serious! :)

In case you haven't heard...

If you follow Stephanie over at Because Of Love, you'll be interested to hear what I read on her twitter this morning:

Well...went for my 27wk appointment. Now admitted to hospital waiting to check on possible blood clot in leg. Baby is FINE! Crazy day so far

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers (if you are the praying kind). I know she will update us when she can!

p.s. I hope you didn't fall over from reading two posts from me in TWO days! ha ha.

Disappointed

I know, I know. In law enforcement the most common 'emotion' (if you have any left) is disappointment. Disappointment that "no one" respects you, "everyone" breaks laws, "anybody" walking down the street could be a felon... and let's not even go to the personal side of it! Disappointment that every holiday is celebrated on a different day (although I don't mind this one so much), that your LEO isn't home on time, that you never sleep in the same bed, or are home at the same time... the list goes on. The point is, we're no strangers to disappointment.

So, why should it come as a surprise that I am disappointed in the "powers that be" over at the Hubs' department? If you've followed Mrs. Fuzz for a while, you might recall there was a "CJ" (aka Calamity Jane) in academy with Hot Fuzz ~ she's no longer 'with' us if you catch my laid-off-drift ~ and I stole the idea because there is one such, ahem, officer that MY Hubs works with too. Imagine that. Anyhow. Back to my story with CJ and The Brass as our star players.

Over time DH has developed "favorite" patrol cars. He's been disappointed (there's that word again!) twice to come back from vacation and have his particularly favorite car at the time be totaled by a female officer. This last time really takes the cake. The officer -- Yes, our very own CJ -- forgot to set the parking brake on the car, and well, let's just say it ended up on it's roof and it's totaled. :( So, after crashing two cars and myriad other on duty "offenses", I'm disappointed to report that CJ got a super special, plumb awesome assignment. Oh dear, what IS this world coming to?!?! My initial reaction was disbelief. But when my husband started enumerating the reasons why her taking this position is really a threat to the safety of many, many people... then I was just disappointed. Can that many people really be so dumb as to agree to her assignment? Sheesh.

When I compare this to a smaller mistake that DH made recently and the "beating" he's expecting to get from it... I just don't see how that works. He will be the first to tell you it was a MISTAKE, albeit one that didn't cost thousands of dollars twice over to replace two cars.... but seriously. Seriously? You crash two cars and you get a special assignment?

Seriously. I'm going to bed!!

Tactical Corsets

If you read Slam Dunks' blog you've already heard about this. But if not, you'll have to go over and check out the Tactical Corset that allows women to have both practicality and beauty in one. My thing is ~ with the, um, neckline on that thing, there is no WAY I'm going anywhere near a gun ejecting hot casings!



I think I should label this "on duty" given it is tactical and all... but I think I'll have to add "silly stories" to that too. ha.

Momma Guilt

Cop Mama is hosting a Mama Guilt Monday and for some reason, it really resonated with me today.

Being a non-traditional family has it's benefits, right? (And I mean "non-traditional" in the most traditional sense, ha!) Yes, we're a mom and a dad; yes, we're married; yes, we live with our three kids. But Dad has an interesting and CRAZY scheduled job. The crazy schedule right there kills the traditional thing immediately. I am forever attending every function imaginable by myself ~ with three kids in tow ~ while explaining away that my husband just got home (at 9 in the morning) or is sleeping because he wants full use of his functions a few hours later for work on the off chance he'll have to pull his weapon or do something drastic. (This is the dramatic retort I always come to when I just can't take "The Comments" any longer.)

But I digress! The point is, my husband's schedule is so weird that we are often trying to do things that really should NOT be done at certain times. We've driven 45 minutes in rush hour traffic to arrive for the last opening hour (yes, ONE hour) at a big fancy museum. We've tossed the kids in the car for dinner at a restaurant an hour before bedtime. Generally this is about the only time everyone is awake, and even then it's hit or miss.

So, in the interest of "family bonding" we drag the kids to places we shouldn't go at times we shouldn't be there; forgoing naps or bedtime or mealtime all so that we can be grumpy and together as a family. There's something just so wrong about that!!