What I Am Thankful For and What I Plan to do on Thanksgiving Day

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVE! 

November is coming to an end and I cannot believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. We also have about 27 days until Christmas Day. Sometimes I get caught up in all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays and forget to stop and count my blessing so I would like to share some of things that I am truly thankful for in my life in no particular order.

1. I am thankful for my health.  As most of you already know, my Dad is still fighting cancer and going through chemotherapy. His condition has remained stable, meaning that the cancer has not spread but it has not gotten any better either. Even though he is not cancer free, I am thankful that he is still here with us and is still able to work and enjoy his life. He had a scan late last week and we are waiting for his results. Please pray that the results are favorable.

2. I am very thankful to be employed. I know that I have said this a million times but I am truly blessed to have such a great job. I have been unemployed in the past but thankfully not for a long period of time. I know how tough it is when you don't have a job and there are bills to be paid. It is a terrible place to be and I know that there are people out there who are dealing with financial issues. Money isn't everything but in this world we need it to survive.

3. I am thankful for my family and to have two healthy children. They are great people and we support one another no matter what type of situations may arise. They support my running and make it possible for me. I know that I am nothing without them standing by my side. They take care of my son when I need to go for a run or watch him when he doesn't want to go to my races. He says that I take too long to finish marathons! My family is always proud of me no matter what the result may be and for that I am thankful.

4. I am thankful to have a home and food on the table. So many people have lost their homes due to the poor economy and that makes life pretty tough. I am also thankful to have food on the table since so many people are homeless or have been displaced for one reason or another.

5. I am thankful that I have stayed injury free this year and that I can run. I have become good friends with my foam roller and my Stick and I have become much better at listening to my body. There are days when I really want to run but if I am not feeling 100% I know that it is not worth it. The foam roller has saved my life and even though it can be painful I am committed to living with the pain :)
 

My plans for Thanksgiving include running a Turkey Trot (5K) first thing in the morning and then hurrying home to cook the Thanksgiving meal. I usually pop the turkey in the oven the night before and let it cook over night on a really low temperature in a roasting pan. It comes out really tender and juicy. We will be feasting on turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies, rolls and maybe some other goodies. This will be our first Thanksgiving without Grandpa so I know that it is going to be tough for my Grandma. We will be picking her up and spending the day with her even though she said that she was going to just stay home by herself.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving Day?

Tell me one thing that you are thankful for today?

What Are You Thankful For?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Sometimes when you have a lot going on or life seems to be getting the best of you, it is hard to stop and count your blessings, right?  If you are a runner, you will understand the next thing I am about to state. Being injured sucks and when I am unable to run I feel like it is the end of the world! I get into a really depressed state of mind and take for granted the hundreds of things that I am blessed with. I just want to share some of things that I am truly thankful for today:

1. I am thankful for my health.  I have to constantly remind myself of this, especially when I am not able to run. As most of you already know, my Dad is fighting cancer and although he is working and is still doing quite well in spite of the cancer, he is not able to do lots of things that he used to do.  My Dad used to ride his bike as often as he could. The chemo tires him out so much that he is no longer able to ride his bike.  My Dad has opened my eyes so much and has truly made me thankful that I am healthy and that I am able to run even when there are times when I am sidelined.

2. I am thankful that my children are healthy. I have a co-worker who has a very young daughter who has cancer. I believe that she is only 7-8 years old.  My heart breaks for him because it has changed his life. She has a couple weeks left of treatment and things are looking very positive. I cannot even imagine having to watch one of my kids go through something like this.

3. I am thankful to be employed. I have a great job and I work in a great place. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve the job that I have. I have a great boss who is flexible and allows me to work hours that fit with my home life. He understands that my son has things going on at school and never has a problem if I want to take time off to attend those activities or to attend dentist or doctor's appointments. I am truly blessed to have such a great job. In return, I do my best and take care of everything so that my boss never has to ask. I hope that I  can retire from this job. It is just that great!

4. I am thankful for my family. We have our ups and downs but in the end we are family and must love and accept one other. I am very thankful for my grandparents who have always supported me since I was young. My parents divorced when I was five years old and they did their best to help my older sister and I through some rough times at such a young age. I hope that one day I can repay them for everything that they have done for me. I have promised them that when they get old and can no longer take care of themselves that they will not end up in a convalescent home and they will be well taken care of. The reason I purchased a larger home was to make room for them so that when they need me, there have a place to go.

5. I am thankful to have a home and food on the table. So many people have lost their homes due to the poor economy and that makes life pretty tough. I am also thankful to have food on the table since so many people are homeless or have been displaced for one reason or another.

Don't forget to count your blessings each and every day! 

Tell me one thing that you are thankful for today?

Five Things "I am thankful for" Friday

As I was driving into work this morning I started thinking of a few things, in no particular order, that I am really excited about and thankful for so I am going to share them with you now.... so listen up!

1) I am thankful for and feel so very lucky to have a job!  So many people are out of work and losing their homes so whenever I feel ungrateful I have to remind myself of this! I love my job, my boss, my staff and all of the other people that I work with.  My boss is great because he gave me a chance to get into local government when nobody else would!  He doesn't micromanage, he allows me to  have a flexible work schedule and he leaves me alone and lets me get my job done.  I have great benefits and I love the city that I work for!  I could not ask for a better job, a better boss, or a better group of people to work with.  

2) I am also excited that my Dad is responding well to his chemotherapy.  He is getting better and his test results have been coming back really positive.  I have a new respect for my Dad because he fights so hard and wants no sympathy whatsoever!  He goes to work everyday and if you didn't know my Dad, you would never think that he is battling cancer.  I LOVE YOU DADDY!

3) I have working on my MPA (Master of Public Administration) for quite some time now.  I never really had a plan to earn a Master's degree but since my job offers tuition reimbursement I figured I should take full advantage of it. (One more reason why I love my job.)  A few things have occurred in my life that have stopped me from completing the program (running/training being one of them) and honestly, I just really didn't feel like doing a thesis, which is the last thing that I need to earn this darn degree! Let me just toot my own horn real quick here (toot toot) and tell everyone that my GPA is 3.85! I got a B in one really boring Administrative Law course that really screwed up my GPA. Oh well, life goes on and I guess I will never be a lawyer in my next life! Anyway, here is what I am excited about...I just found out that taking an exam will now be an option to earning my MPA!  So heck yeah I will be enrolling in that that class in the winter quarter and will have my degree in March 2012!  HOORAY!!...Finally!!

4) I am also happy to announce that I am back in the 100 Mile Club as of yesterday!  I have 100 miles on the books and I still have a 16-mile run scheduled for tomorrow so I will close out the month of July with 116 miles!  I haven't logged this many miles since January 2011, so I am pretty excited about it! While I am on the topic of running, I also want to toot my own horn one more time (toot toot) and tell everyone that I ran three consecutive days, which is really tough for me.  Here is what I did:

Tuesday: 6 Miles at 8:43

Wednesday: 6 Miles at 8:28

Thursday: 4 Miles at 8:32

Not only is it tough for me to do but my shins don't appreciate it!  My new compression sleeves have been helping me out so much and now I don't feel so bad about spending $80 on them!

5) This last thing I am thankful for sounds a little corny or kind of scripted but it's the truth, so I have to tell everyone about it anyway! I am thankful for being healthy and I am thankful for my family, which includes my two Pomeranians that I love to death! My family always has some kind of drama/chaos going on and somebody is always on the outs with someone, but at the end of the day I love them all and I am happy to be a part of this dysfunctional family.  Hey, no family is perfect and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So what are you thankful for today?  Think about it and share. I am sure you have lots of thankful for!