In the interest of keeping it real, I have to say that writing this list – this week – was hard. At the end of each day, it wasn’t always easy to think of three things to be thankful for.
My husband had the flu. Before he was over that, he left for work. For 6 days!! He’s working out of town for the next five weeks which means I am with my kids 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, every. waking. minute. With no break. The hubby does come home one day a week, but that ain’t nearly enough down time for this Mommy.
On top of that, during this first week that Richy was away… five of the six kids were also sick. Along with me. Fevers, coughing, crying, crankiness…. SICK. And that’s not counting how the kids were acting ;) Ugh!
Yeah, this week was hard. But I stuck to my plan, dug deep, and found things in each day to be thankful for. Because the truth is, no matter how hard it is – or how bad my days just plain suck – I am blessed.
God has given me gifts. Every day. Without fail.
So here are my gifts for this past week…
If you missed my first post, I’m taking the Joy Dare and writing a list of 1000 Gifts for 2013. You can read more about it here.
Oh… and can you ignore the fact that there’s food involved almost every day? What can I say? I eat when I’m stressed, I love food and I’m very thankful for it!! ;)
February 3, 2013
99. A Sandwich Party to watch the Super Bowl – with just me and my sick family. Literally… not sarcastically!
100. Working from home at a job that I love.
101. Chips Ahoy!
February 4, 2013
102. Waking up early and having some alone quiet time…. even if it was for only 10 minutes before one of the munchkins joined me in my bed.
103. Nacho Cheese Bugels
104. Empty Boxes – the best FREE toys you’ll ever get your hands on!
February 5, 2013
105. Advil Congestion. Good stuff.
106. Amazon Prime & Gilligan’s Island. My sick kids have loved sitting around, cozied up under blankets watching this show all day. I must add though… they watched so many episodes that I couldn’t get that dumb theme song out of my head… I didn’t want to hear about it anymore… I actually wished I could get stranded on a lonely island for a “three hour tour”!! Sorry… I digress from thankfulness to complaining.
107. Canned Spaghetti Sauce & Boxed Noodles. An easy meal after a day with lots of crying, coughing and general yuckiness.
February 6, 2013 (today has been a really good day in a very bad week… so my list is a little longer today!)
108. An encouraging article that I think any mom would appreciate – I know I did! (Dear Mom Who Feels Like She Wants to Quit over at Finding Joy)
109. Paper Plates. Oh the dishes I don’t have to wash. A gift!
110. The Prettiest Valentines Cake I’ve Ever Received and a priceless memory.
111. A surprise mid-week visit from my husband! I’ll get to see him twice this week… whoo-hoo!!
112. Homemade Chocolate Milkshakes with fresh-made real whipped cream!
February 7, 2013
113. Frozen Pizza for Supper. A gift from my Mama… it was as valuable as gold to me after the day I had.
114. Finished Cookies. I got up at 4 AM, started working on them at 4:30 AM and finished them at 4:55 PM. Yikes.
115. Helpful kids.
February 8, 2013
116. Sushi Socks. They make me smile!! Now if I only had some sushi…. (note – that link doesn’t lead to these exact sushi socks, but those are cute and pink… I might have to get those too!)
117. Homemade Sloppy Joes. Soooo good, good, good. And easy and fast to throw together and did I mention good?
118. An extra day off from work for my hubby!
February 9, 2013
119. A finished 5K with my friend Ashley and our daughters! What a blessing to have someone who lives nearby to walk with… and we always have fun! A gift!!
120. Powdered Donuts. Yes… right after my 5K. :-/
121. Marked down hamburger meat… I got close to 12 pounds of 80/20 meat for under $2 a pound! Score!!
What have you been thankful for today, or this week or this month? What are your gifts? One or more links in this post are referral and/or affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
One or more links in this post may be referral and/or affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
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I sincerely hope next week is better and everyone feels better. So great that you’re able to find blessings in each day, even when you’re feeling crummy.
Thank you Susan!