strength in numbers

I am tired. I'm sure there will come a point where a ten hour work day (8 hours plus lunch and 30 minutes commute each way) won't seem so overwhelming. Right now I'm making it on a wing and a prayer. I realized this morning that I have not had a "chill out" weekend in about a month. I also realized this morning that the 19th - had come and gone without me noticing. It was September 19th that "it" happened. And October 19th was just a busy, victorious, glorious day!

The weather here has turned cool and I love it! I was feeling so cutie-patootie in my red wool jumper and black tights today at work. Work was hectic... much busier than I would have expected at our little country office... but the great news is that I booked an auto loan and there's a good cha-ching in that for me, although that commission won't be payable until the end of November. I have another appointment to try to do a loan tomorrow at ten.

I have questions I need to answer...
Yes, mom, the dresses fit the girls perfectly. They were so incredibly cute and got tons of compliments... so much so that when the guy at the peanut stand north of Helen complimented MY dress, I thought he was talking to Sarabeth.

Jen, I don't think I had seen that blog before but I will have to go back and read the whole thing now.

Yes, I have looked a bit at Craigslist for a bed and haven't really found much. The thing is... we live in a pretty remote area which is FABULOUS but it makes things like going to Starbucks *sob* and shopping for anything a little more difficult. I've seen a few things on craigslist that might work if I didn't have to factor in a four hour roundtrip drive in the price/process. I think about the whole bed thing and I think... in the scope of everything I've been through, not having a bed is a minor detail. Austin is sleeping on the couch so he's happy as a clam. I'm sleeping just fine... just a little stiff in the mornings... and I think about those who don't have a home... and it's hard to complain. It will come when it's supposed to.

There were more questions... I'll answer them as I think about them. I'm loving your comments and will try to comment back more often... just not tonight.

I had an unexpected reimbursement from the insurance company in the mail today. That was nice. And helpful. Child support has still not come... this is pretty typical... he'll promise and promise and it doesn't happen. I have my application for child support recovery ALL filled out and I just have to pay the $25 service fee to submit it. God keeps providing...

One of my co-workers is a single dad of FIVE. I don't know what the story is there... I knew he had five kids but today was the first day he mentioned being a single dad. I didn't probe... I didn't really have time but I'm interested in seeing how that came about. The oldest child is 13. It made me realize how easy I have it now... there was a time when I was a single mom of three, plus Josh (the boys' best friend) and other assorted strays... and now there's just Austin.... and although Austin is a pig and has to be reminded to brush his teeth and wear a belt and take a shower and so forth... he's relatively low maintenance.

I made some really nice NY strip steaks for dinner. I never buy expensive cuts of meat but I decided to splurge a bit on these two little steaks and I panfried them with onions. It was better than going out to dinner and it was quick! I also made one of those microwave baked potatoes. It was a rather satisfying dinner! Now that I'm off some of the hardcore mind altering drugs that I was on all summer (like xanax) my appetite is much more normal... I don't have the crazy cravings I was having before.... so I can afford a little red meat here and there.

So much more to say but I'm falling asleep on my keyboard.
Oh! And the title of my post is because I now have 107 friends on facebook and 61 followers here and I just feel so blessed to have such a great online community.

The following is from the blog Diary of a Dying Mom... and it says exactly how I feel about the friends in my life... *hugs*

from "Diary of a Dying Mom"
I once heard that character is what you do when nobody is looking, and I now think that friendship is what you do when nobody asks you. True friends just know, they just understand. Friends don’t have to be told, they sense it. They fill you up when you are empty, and they pick you up when you have fallen.