A Month of Thanks

So I've noticed a lot of people on Facebook have been trying to list something they're thankful for everyday, not to be left out I decided to do something similar, but I can't make a daily commitment, so I've decided to do 3o things I'm thankful for and they'll come in chunks and one at a time. I liked the idea of counting things I'm thankful for; it's easy to get wrapped up in daily life adn all the things that don't go right, I tend to forget to take the time to see all the good around me. So here goes:

#1 - I'm thankful for November. I'm thankful that November is in the fall and that finally the temperatures begin to drop, sweaters begin to be worn, fireplaces get lit and hot chocolate gets made. Football is in full swing, the holidays are creeping around and a general feeling of coziness sets in. November is a good month.

#2 - I'm thankful for Brushy Creek Lake Park - I recently started running (that is a blog post on it's own) and I've started working myself up to a 5 mile race on Thanksgiving day. After work Isaac and I have started meeting at Brushy Creek Lake park and running their trails in preparation. I'm thankful to be running there, after a long summer on the treadmill and the smal trail in our neighborhood, I'm happy to have a nice, safe place to work out. The trails actually goes between two parks and then some. Most of it is trail, but there is some sidewalk and there are always other people out as well so I never feel like I could be grabbed at any moment. (Call me crazy, but when you think of joggers, you think of murdered ones) The parks are well maintained, there's lots of trees, and I love being able to see feel myself get stronger and faster each time I run.

#3 - November 3rd is the birthday of two people in my life; one of my closest childhood friends and my niece. I'm thankful to have a friend that I can say things like "remember in 2nd grade..." and she totally does! I'm thankful to have a friend that was still my friend after 2 years as roommates. I'm thankful to have a friend that sometimes sends me texts that say "let's have dinner tomorrow" and I know a night of cocktails and laughter will occur!
My niece was born early and had sleep apnea for the first few months of her life. I'm thankful that 7 years later she is a very healthy, happy, and sweet little girl!

#4 - I'm thankful for my co workers. Annual Enrollment ended Friday, and that is always a very stressful time for HR. I'm thankful that I have co workers to help ease the stress, make me laugh and understand how frustrating it is to deliver customer service to internal customers. I haven't met most of them face to face. We sit in various locations around the country and I have never actually met my boss of over 3 years face to face either, but through Facebook, emails and multiple calls during the day they have become a trusted support system. As for the ones here in Austin, we've become a weird little family at this point, all females who have no "TMI" around each other any more. I couldn't get through the day with out them! So Thank You to Kristina, Marni, Kathy, and Lori for shared breakfasts and 3pm snacks, therapy sessions, confessions, commiserations and celebrations.
To Stephanie, thank you for being an easy boss to work with, answering my multiple questions multiple times, editing everything I write (for good reason!) and letting me jet off to Spain for two weeks in December!! To Darlene thank you for answering my questions about leaves even when you've answered them before. To Elaine thank you for answering all my questions on documents even when you've answered them before as well as all the work you do to get our websites working, we'd be lost with out you! To Ann and Sarita thank you for catching things I don't. And to Gary, Allison and Maryann thank you all for taking the bullet and generally delivering the bad news no one else wants to, the thought of doing your job makes me weep! I work with great people that make my sometimes "eh" job, a whole lot easier!

#5 - I'm thankful for an amazing variety of Austin oriented blogs and twitter feeds that are crucial in helping us find fun and interesting things to do with Carolina. Free Fun in Austin, DO512 and Macaroni kids save me. Today we went to a very cool Science and Engineering fan at the Convention Center that was completely free! Money is pretty tight, but we'd all go crazy sitting at home. Thanks for these blogs we've cupcake tasted, trick or treated at park lit by hot air balloons and made multiple trips to the pumpkin patch. We don't get much time with Carolina and we try to make the most of the time we are together and find fun things to do, I'm thankful that these blogs exist to help us make the most of the time we are together with fun activities and family adventures!

Whew, caught up for now, we'll see how I do the rest of the month!