Thanksgiving in Oklahoma

We had a great trip to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun to catch up with everyone and introduce Samantha to the entire family. We had two different Thanksgivings (one on Wednesday at my Grandma's and the other on Thursday at my Papa's house) with over 30 people at each.

Samantha loved meeting everyone but seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by all the kids and activity. At multiple times throughout the trip, she would point at her crib asking to be put in there. Then she would sit quietly playing, happy to have some alone time. She sure is my daughter.

My husband had the best time. As we were driving to the airport he sighed and said "I wish we had a few more days here". By the end of the week I started to worry as he began using his new found Southern accent. Every time I turned around he was fixin' to do things and saying y'all.

We got my Grandma a Thanksgiving plate with all of her 14 girls listed. You can see a photo of her with the new plate and then one with all of those girls together. The complete album of our trip can be seen here.

Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright

Thank you to everyone who helped me put things in perspective this past week. After my blog post I had great talks with my parents, my husband, my mother in law, and many good friends. Anyway, everything is just fine and I'm feeling much better. I also received a gratitude journal in the mail from a dear friend. I may have cried a little bit and it has been a good way to get ready for Thanksgiving and focus on how fortunate I am.

Through the week I also decided that I am going to begin working full time again. For a variety of reasons, going back to work on Fridays is the best choice for me and my family right now. Plus, my mom is such a trooper and is willing to take on Samantha all five days of the week. Talk about blessings!

We are off to Oklahoma on Sunday for a visit with my extended family. Many have not met Samantha yet so I'm excited to introduce everyone to my sweet girl.

Debbie Downer

I have had a rough couple of weeks. I'm in a funk that I can't quite shake and generally feeling sorry for myself about a wide range of things that I don't need to get into here. Just yesterday I was driving out of Boulder...heading to the dentist and feeling grouchy about that when I got pulled over for speeding and was given a $100 ticket. Talk about the law of attraction.

I know, I know, there are a lot of wonderful things around me to be grateful for. I need to work on my gratitude. I think I'll buy a journal and start writing down things I am thankful for. The first thing I will write is that during the past few weeks, as I have felt down in the dumps, Samantha has become incredibly comforting and has taken to snuggling up close. When I leave for work she gives me long hugs and pats my back. I think she knows I need a little extra love lately.

Halloween

I survived my work trip and was dying to see Samantha. She, however, did not give me the same warm welcome as Javier the pug did. Samantha gave me a look like "And, just where do you think you have been for the past four days?".

I think she forgave me later that evening and we had a fun Halloween weekend. We don't even get a single trick or treater in our neighborhood so most of our neighbors were thrown off when Samantha hit the streets in her Unicorn costume. The first didn't have candy, the next two weren't home but finally she hit the jackpot. She loves being outside so she didn't seem to mind the costume as long as she got to tromp around outside.

The latest pics can be seen here.