thankful for 8 years of wonderful!

The headache... oddest one I've ever had... covered a yarmulke sized spot of my head... on the crown of my head... kept me out of every planned activity for the day. Yep. I was completely worthless. I napped in my nest and watched just about every miner come out... one of those indulgent days that I can ill afford but found myself powerless to avoid. Still not sure what caused the headache... it was just such an odd place to have a headache... and it lingers mildly... but I'm functional today. I can move without feeling the stabbing pains... I wouldn't attempt to run a marathon... but I can move around.

I did a trial run yesterday morning, taking a shower and trying the glam routine and it was definitely not happening for me. Later in the day I tried some housework and that, too, was uncomfortable. Finally... I decided that I would rally and make it to bible study... but first I had to go to Walmart because we were out of cat food and coffee... two necessities in my life... and by the time we left Walmart, I knew there was no way I was good for another 3 hours. I fell asleep before 8pm AFTER sleeping 3 hours in the middle of the day. Something was definitely out of sorts.

I am proud to say that I stayed 100% on plan while feeling icky... and once again I was so glad that I pre-cook my meals and keep ready to eat healthy stuff stocked in our house. I did not feel the least bit like cooking... but I had taboule and grapes and chicken salad... walnuts, pumpkin seeds... lots of healthy stuff with minimal effort. I spent a lot of fat years thinking that losing weight was too hard... that I couldn't afford it... didn't have time... etc, etc... excuse, excuse... and honestly, it's much easier than NOT eating healthy. I can rush around at mealtime figuring out which fast food restaurant is going to over charge me for mass produced, nutrient deprived, heavily processed "food"... or... I can put a few hours a week into careful meal planning and preparation and during my busy weeks (or sick days) I can reap the benefits of those efforts.

We had Subway for dinner... I had a veggie sub on 9 grain wheat bread and it felt like a feast. For under $3.

Anyways... that's my sermon for the day... it's not that hard... and I'm thankful that I've been able to maintain this lifestyle for 4 months and 3 days! Yay!

Since today is thankful Thursday, I want to share with you two things that I am most thankful for and both entered my life 8 years ago today. First - 8 years ago today I started working with my Uncle Bruce at State Farm. I had jobs... and I wandered aimlessly... without a college degree or any special skills other than my charming personality and ridiculously fast typing speed... Bruce had dealt with some dishonesty with his employees and needed someone he could trust. I needed a job in a bad way. He tested me... I scored well... so he brought me in at a good salary ... and made sure that I had marketable job skills. State Farm has been good to me, it's allowed me to support my kids apart from reliable child support from their dad. It's allowed me to find work wherever I've lived and it's brought a lot of interesting people into my life.

The other blessing that entered my life 8 years ago was my precious niece, Sarabeth. Our family had not had a girl born to our family since me... so we had a 34 year "It's a GIRL!" drought! My nieces Tiffany and Elizabeth joined our family by way of marriage and we love them as if they had been with us their entire lives... there are no steps in our family... but we had no biological Gant girls born in all that time. Then came Sarabeth... my legacy... my pride and joy... my treasure... many, many times, my reason for living. We bonded right away and we have always enjoyed a precious relationship. I had a wonderful aunt growing up who spent a lot of quality time with me... who took me out of my all boy environment and made paper dolls for me... let me spend the night with her... and just always made me feel special. I wanted to be that kind of aunt for my Sarabeth. I hope I have been. Thanks to digital photography, I have more photos of Sarabeth than I do of my own three kids... thanks to the stage of life that I'm in, I've had more unrestrained, carefree time to spend with Sarabeth than I did with my own kids. She is beautiful, brilliant, extremely well behaved and funny. She is the best big sister that Jamie could have ever hoped for. She is a deep thinker... an over-achiever... sensitive... kind and loving. Truly, she was worth the 34 year wait... so, Happy Birthday Sarabeth Leah Gant! I look forward to spending many more birthdays with your sweet self!

Time for me to glam and dash! Hope you all have a really wonderful day!