Happy Thanksgiving!

Time to reflect and think of the things that I am thankful for. First of all my life. I am thankful that I am alive and healthy enough to do the things that I need to do to provide for my family. I could do better but I am able to stand, use my arms, legs, fingers, toes, and every other part of my body just fine.

Next, I am so thankful for my family. It took a long time to get married and have my 3 beautiful children but they were definitely worth the wait. They keep my going when I feel like quitting. I am thankful that John is still here with us watching the kids grow older and become independent and so cute! It is truly amazing to be a mom and know that I helped Heavenly Father create these wonderful kids. I know of those that have not had the opportunity to be a parent and so I am truly thankful for the blessing that I have of being able to have 3 wonderful healthy children.

I am thankful for my extended family, they also are a huge support to me. They have always been there when I needed help. It could be a shoulder to gripe on, or cry on, advice, giving us a place to stay, taking care of the kids while I take care of John when he is in the hospital, or just being there, it means the world to me to know that I have a whole support system behind me.

I am thankful for my friends. They also are a great support system and help boost me up when I am down (which seems to be a lot).

I am thankful for the internet and the technology of today. We can communicate with loved ones instantly and not have to wait for a letter to arrive in the mail. Blogging is wonderful and I am thankful for it, I can jot down my thoughts and I can read others and see pictures of those special people in my life.

I am so thankful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It has been a true blessing in my life. It has given me strength, friends, courage, lessons, and taught me things about myself that I could do that I would not have done so without it. Evanslee is about to be baptized and I am so thankful that she has chosen to do so. John and I have been focusing our family home evening lessons on being baptized. We feel that we want her to understand what she is getting into and not just do it because we said to. We had the Ward Missionaries over last night to talk to her and they were surprised that she was able to answer every one of their questions. It was a proud moment for this mom, to know that she has listened and understands and is ready to be baptized.

I am even thankful for my job. It has saved us many times with John's various job losses, it may not give us the finances we need but it does help get us through. I am thankful that I can work from home so that I can still be with my kids and I am thankful for the flexibility it gives me to work around their needs.

Well, what can I say, I am just THANKFUL for ALL of my BLESSINGS!

Okay I am old but I have EXPERIENCE!

I get an email the other day from my supervisor that says that myself and a few others are transcribing a certain doctor's dictation wrong. OH NO WE ARE NOT! The person from the clinic that sent the original email stated that we were typing the the pharynx is injected and it should be infected. I thought to myself, I have been in this business for over 15 years and I know what I hear and the doctor says injected every time. I look up in Stedman's Medical Dictionary and the 2nd definition for injected says "Denoting visible blood vessels distended with blood." HA! That means that if you are sick with a sore throat your pharynx would be red, so injected. If the doctor said infected, it just does not make any sense, infected with what? So it made me so mad to have some person that probably has no medical background or very little (schooling only) to tell me I was wrong. I sent a note back to my supervisor with this definition and she said okay great, I will let them know. Ha! My experience is medical information. Okay so now I get this doctor again and the patient comes in complaining about not feeling well, feeling a cold; again the doctor says CLEARLY "pharynx is INJECTED." I listened to it several times and definitely it was injected. Oh my JOY!!!! I WAS RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!!! HEHEHEHE!

I love my job but then again I can really hate my job, and that just made my day, I do know what I am doing and it makes me greatful for the experience and the chance to learn new things daily. The pay sucks but the experience and learning capabilities are wonderful. To that end I have applied for a 2nd job and have to go and get fingerprinted Saturday and prove that I am a US Citizen. Wish me luck!

UGH!! I am officially OLD!!!!!

I went to the doctor today to have my yearly physical. I was telling this new doctor that I have been having some pain in my back when the kids try to climb on my back or just bump my lower back. It feels like a sharp stabbing pain so I am thinking it is a horrible knot in my muscles or some weird nerve thing. But alas, it is ol' arthritis!!! YUCK! I also tell him about a pain in my right toe and in my knee (knee I suspected because I injured in back in high school during my one and only ski trip). He has prescribed some naproxen and this evening I am actually feeling a lot better, just hating to have to admit the old part!

On another note, the other night I was up watching TV and Miko was still awake and just jabbering away about this and that and I ask her "Miko, how come you're so cute?" As a mom I am thinking because she is mine and she looks like me but the response I get is..... "Cuz you're not!" I am flabbergasted, and say "Hey, that's not nice!" her reply is "you're not cute, you're a mommy!" From the mouths of babes! I guess mommies can't be cute, we are just mommies. Well at least she had learned to be honest, that I must be happy about.

Evanslee turns 8 this weekend and I cannot believe it. She is getting so mature, she is at the age of wants to play but then feels too old to play with toys. I took her to WalMart to get an idea of what she wanted for her birthday and to my dissatisfaction, no dolls or Barbies, she wants games, animal figurines, and movies. They grow up so fast. The next thing I know boys will be knocking on the door to ask her out on dates, I wonder who will be more upset me or dad, hmmm!

Another funny, this time Caddis, I go on Mondays to his HeadStart class to help the kids pick out a book that they can take home for the week. Some of the books are written in Spanish (most of the class have Hispanic heritage). So I am helping Caddis pick out a book and he insists on a book by Eric Carle with a big gorilla on the front, I do not know the title in English. I proceed to try to convince him that he cannot take it home since it is in Spanish and he insists that that is the book he wants. So finally I give in and tell him well if you take it home only Grandma Alice will be able to read it to you, she is the only one that speaks Spanish. He decides that that is just fine and selects that book for the week. A little while later while I was helping one of the little guys, Caddis comes over and says "don't pick that one it is Chinese!" I about died! The little guy's mom is standing there and overheard our conversation earlier, and I try to explain that it is not Chinese but Spanish to Caddis, his little friend says to me, I can speak Spanish and so can my mom and grandma, even my dad can speak Spanish. I told him that he was very lucky to be able to speak Spanish and he just grinned from ear to ear. I think that impressed his mom. I think she would die to realize that my little blonde boy is 1/4 Hispanic himself. The only clue he has is his brown eyes. I hope that he can one day learn Spanish, his grandmother would be so proud. She did not teach her children to speak Spanish and one of her grandsons served a mission in the Dominician Republic and it tickles her to death to have him call and speak to her in Spanish, she just eats it up. I would love to see Caddis be able to do the same. I just have to get over this hurdle that if he does not understand it, it must be Chinese!