TToT – Enjoying Life!
We have been busy here, friends!
I have to tell you this. I can’t remember quite enjoying the time leading up to the holidays as much as I am this year. It’s different. I could ramble on here for a few paragraphs about all the specifics of why, but I’m not going to. Let me just sum it up by saying that what I’ve spent my life doing for the last many years was preventing me from actually living my life.
![20141213_204601[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20141213_2046011.jpg)
I love this new life. I love having the ability to be available for my Daughter and my Husband – and for myself, actually – in a way I just haven’t been able to for a very long time. I love that I can make my own hours. I love that every aspect of my health has improved dramatically since making this change. There is no question that freeing myself of the negativity of the last several years was the right choice.
That said, I think my first item of thankful this week has to be something that I’ve been reflecting on a lot this week. I am so very thankful for the support and encouragement of our families. My Mom and the Hub’s parents especially have been so supportive in every way possible of this change. That means more to me than anything. It puts me at a loss for words, really, because I feel like there is no way to adequately express how much it means. And if you know me at all, you know that I am never at a loss for words so this is huge.
I am thankful for my Hub’s support. We’ve made a dramatic choice in doing this. It changes the landscape completely in so many ways and it is definitely a financial challenge. I am so grateful to him for figuring out how to keep things going, how to balance it all, and for never making me feel like this was a wrong choice, even when the cash flow is light.
![imagejpeg_4[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/imagejpeg_41.jpg)
I am thankful for my first tutoring clients this week! It’s a slow start, but it’s a start to my tutoring roster and that is a good thing. The kids are both great and both have some very particular needs so I am glad to have the opportunity to help them. And yes, from a very practical standpoint, I’m thankful for some income.
I continue to be overwhelmed by Kidzilla’s excitement and enthusiasm for all things holiday right now. There is nothing in the world more magical, I am convinced, than seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child. It’s not like we haven’t had her around before…but something about this year is just completely unique.
![20141220_191408[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20141220_1914081.jpg)
Kidzilla gets a spot on the list this week for FANTASTIC results in school. Despite all the holiday nonsense that comes with the last full week of school before Christmas break, she has managed to not only hold herself together, but come home with five days of great behavior reports!!! It’s not that Kidzilla is ill-behaved. She’s not. It’s just that when you live with what she does – the ADHD and all it’s co-morbidities – getting through a day of school is a challenge.
I am thankful for the time the Hub and I have been spending together. We love each other, without a doubt. We don’t always remember to stop and put time alone together at the top of our list of things to do. But we have been doing that lately and it’s a great thing.
I am again thankful for the wonderful people I have “met” through this Ten Things of Thankful group and just from having this blog in general. I would most definitely count so many of them as friends, regardless of distance or actual in-person experience. Exchanged phone numbers, shared videos, personal e-mails and more…I am so glad for all.
On that note, I’m going to share a video here that Zoe sent me – cats and Christmas trees. I do hope Zoe also shared this with Dyanne because all I could think of was Ruby and her Christmas tree adventures last year! And I’ll add here that I am very thankful that my Three Little Idiots have thus far not attempted any of these shenanigans!
I am thankful that my family has enough. We have a warm home and clothing. We have plenty to eat and are surrounded by good friends and family. Never more than at this time of the year does that become clear.
I am so glad for some wonderful time spent together and with others these last several days. We have enjoyed meals together, quick visits, trips to see holiday lights, and more. I know that in several instances, the time we spent with people around us made their day and lifted their spirits. To have the ability to bring that to someone with something so simple as your time and presence is powerful.
![20141213_205845[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20141213_2058451-e1419125794336.jpg)
I am thankful for what feels like a lifting of the so-called writer’s funk I’ve struggled with lately. I’ve enjoyed some opportunities (I listed them last week) lately that have made me feel really positive about writing again. And I feel like I’ve found an improved focus for my Soup of the Week posts. You’ll still find great recipes, but I’m working on adding more story to the mix and not just recipe. Check out the latest one about Stuffed Pepper Soup and Time Travel if you haven’t already.
I’m calling that a list because I have a daughter and a Gingerbread house project waiting for me. And I’m about to be thankful for another cup of the Hub’s awesome coffee to get me through the experience.
![20141220_150437[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20141220_1504371.jpg)
UPDATE: Here is our finished gingerbread house! Complete with an improvised icing snowman and a wreath. I had one very large cup of coffee and Kidzilla and I consumed our fair share of the icing.
Nailed it!![20141220_185410[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20141220_1854101.jpg)
According to an e-mail from Lizzi that admittedly, my ADHD could not process, there is no HTML this week and so no linkie thing here. Thanks to Sarah for explaining that we are somehow linking up via a Facebook something or other which I don’t understand because of my anti-Facebook status. Sarah promised to help me get linked and so once I figure out what in the world all that is about, I will provide some info here for you.
In the meantime, HTML or not, keep the thankfulness going! Share your moments of thankfulness here…and link them to the Facebook thing whenever I figure that out!
In the meantime, please enjoy a new song I found. Kidzilla has made it her current favorite. Enjoy!
Love this? Share the love and tell someone!
19 Comments
Comments are closed.
Great list of thankfuls, Lisa. Facebook is an entity unto itself. I am very glad your health is improving because of the job situation. I agree, the hustle and bustle of the holiday “project” is much more enjoyable when you are under less stress from the job and other things that take up your time. Have wonderful times over the holidays with your family.
That’s exactly what it is, Val. Remove a huge amount of stress that had become intolerable and see what happens!
We are having a completely wonderful time! Happy holidays to you and your family, too!
Love your list, Lisa! I know exactly the struggles you’re talking about, and I’m glad that your family stands so firmly behind you and your decision. Being happy with one’s job is so important, and if you can financially handle it, it was definitely the best decision in the long run. Congrats on the new clients; may many more follow! I hope you enjoyed building the gingerbread house! And yay for Zilla’s good reports from school! Hug her for me and give her a high-five!
Enjoy the week and the holidays, Lisa!
It’s hard knowing that if I were still in the full-time guaranteed paycheck scenario, things would be less tight. However. The alternative? Not worth it. I know your family understands, too – good know we’re out there doing this together! The fact that clients started up right before holidays with all of the expenses that come at that time of year is very hopeful for me.
The gingerbread house was more fun than I thought. Zilla and I are both covered in icing – and we may have eaten a bunch of it, too. You know…just to make sure it would be effective to hold the house together.
Happy holidays and week to you, too, Stephanie, and the whole bunch!
OH! Zilla loved her hug and high five!
[…] Brittnei ‘Homemaking with Style’ Michelle! Pet Aware News Lisa ‘The Meaning of Me‘ * lol…spellcheck you […]
hey! great Post…. working on a Musicvid Comment/Reply (I’ve been leaving them back at the Doctrine, ’cause I gots a feeling that most blogs don’t let people come and install live links..lol
good to hear that the beginnings have begun and the process is continuing with the (new) business venture. You seem to be putting a lot of yourself into it, and (in my opinion) there is nothing that contributes more to success than that… clients (in any business or endeavor) will always respond to that kind of personal investment in what you do.
Thanks for your supportive and encouraging words, Clark, really. I have been throwing much of myself into this whole endeavor and it’s been a long time since my work gave me that desire. It is a good feeling!
It sounds like you are having a wonderful time! Congratulations on the changes that are allowing you such enjoyment!
We really are! Thanks, Kristi!
I think the first two paragraphs are what resonated the most with me. So very true. I don’t know how I survived in that atmosphere for as long as I did. My health has slowly improved in so many ways and being available for my daughter has been very rewarding. She also struggles with ADD. I think Curiosity killed the cat was thought up by someone who knows her. It has been suggested to have her sit where there are no distractions. What they don’t understand is that doesn’t work when the distractions are in your head as well.
People often asked me how I managed to hang in there in a place I did not want to be, especially after what happened with my Husband’s job (he had worked there, too). The only answer I could ever come up with was that I just had to until things were in place for us to do otherwise. The difference in me just health alone is huge.
Glad your health is improving, too – when I read at your blog, I see you really working to keep that going. Hooray for you!
And that is a huge thing with ADD/ADHD kids – so many just don’t understand that the distractions are often internal, especially for girls, and classroom location has absolutely nothing to do with it. Hang in there! And have a very Merry Christmas!
Bryan and I have lived about as poor as poor can be and as wealthy as we could have imagined. The amount of money we had had absolutely no bearing on how happy and content we were. I am so glad you are supported in your life changes, and I am beyond happy to hear that your health and frame of mind are so improved.
I never, ever would have guessed that I could be good friends with people I had never seen face to face. Amazing how that works, isn’t it?
Merry Christmas!
I think it’s true that if you follow your heart and make the right decisions, the rest falls into place. It sounds over-romanticized, I know, but I really see evidence of it over and over as we have moved toward and into this new place. The money is not of great import, but it is scary not having the guaranteed security. But so far, we’re doing fine and the benefit to everyone’s overall well-being is worth all of it.
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Your gingerbread house is AMAZING!!! I am so impressed! You know I’ve never tried one? That seems odd for me.
That third paragraph–it’s like you were writing out of my brain. I GET that SO much!I mean, it’s can only be said from a certain position of privilege, and I feel sort of guilty for that, but I love my life not working outside the home.
Yay, first clients! Congrats! And congrats to Z on a great week!
(BTW, I asked Maggie if she’d like a penpal, and she said no, and no she doesn’t like getting mail. Hmmmm, I say. Leo, on other hand, shouted “Me!” with great joy. If A wants paper full of glitter glue in the mail, she can partner up with Leo and then we’ll see if we can get M on board.)
OK, I think your cold has addled your brain because if you look closely you will see that is by far not an amazing gingerbread house. However. My Kid and I made it together and it didn’t fall down and we had a wonderful time decorating it and squirting icing into our faces to eat. So by those standards? It’s perfect. And I have to say I’m kind of surprised that you have not tried one because you are my crafting hero. This was a kit – the house came already standing and the rest was mostly just fluff.
You know, there is a part of me that sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night (not that I was ever really sleeping) and says “who the hell do I think I am not working at a full time job where I have to leave the house every day?” In my mind, both parents go out and work because in this world you have to. But maybe that’s not true. Maybe we just make choices based on what we’ve decided or realized is important and the idea of what we “have to” do is no longer really…anything. Now you must know I’m going to pull out a Thoreau, right? I’m thinking of the part in his Conclusion to Walden where he says if we live the life we’ve imagined and endeavor to achieve it, we will meet with success unimagined. I think more than ever that he’s completely right.
Well, I’m pretty sure Zilla will be happy to pen pal with either or both of yours, so I say we go for it. Proper letter writing is a lost art but it’s not going to die with my bloodline, that’s for sure! I’ll bet M. will jump in when she’s ready.
Okay I consider myself a pretty crafty person and decorate cakes as a hobby but I have never been able to do the Gingerbread house thing! Yours looks awesome and I can’t even get one to stand up correctly lol! Great list!
Thr trick is to buy a pre-fab house! Truly all we did was decorate the thing. I sincerely doubt I could build from nothing and have it hold!
Doesn’t it feel oh-so-good to walk away from a job that has been bringing you down far too long? It is like having a new lease on life…and definitely a new appreciation for Christmas!
Yes, that’s exactly it. I knew it was right when I did it and I know even more now that it was absolutely the best thing for me and my family. I’m experiencing and enjoying Christmas in a whole new way and it’s wonderful! And Kidzilla at six and a half is at that exactly perfect age for all the magic and wonder and excitement of Christmas. This could not be better!
A very happy Christmas to you, May!