Days 11-18 of 30 Days of Thankful

Day 11 -- I'm thankful for my church family.  I've grown up in that church.  They've watched me go through the different phases of my life and they have been so supportive and encouraging.  I'm really thankful that my children can grow up in that church, too.

 

Day 12 -- I'm thankful for music.  It speaks to me in a way nothing else does. It's not the lyrics of a song that does it, though I do enjoy the words of most songs.  It's the harmony.  It's the arrangement.  It's the instruments.  It's the fullness of the sounds.  It's the beat, the rhythm, the phrasing, the complexity.  It cheers me up.  It calms me down.  It helps me cry when I didn't know I needed to.  It gives me chills.  It helps me concentrate.  I am so thankful for music.

 

Day 13 -- I'm thankful for the church choir.  I didn't know I could ever successfully direct or lead anything.  The people in that group are so much fun and they are so talented and make a wonderful choir.  I think what we present is God-pleasing and most of the time there is a moment in whatever song we're sharing that I'm moved to tears.  I've done things I never thought I could do, and several times the group as a whole didn't think we could accomplish a rather daunting idea I had, but we did and we did it pretty well.  Working with that group is very uplifting and we have a good time together.

 

Day 14 -- I'm thankful for our Pastor.  He's been with us for about 2 years now, I think, and while I loved our old Pastor, I think the new one has caused some necessary changes and he keeps us all in check.  I think he has facilitated a new life of the church and God is going to do great things with him.

Day 15 -- I'm thankful for the interim Pastor who stepped in while the search was going on for the new pastor and I was in the middle of one of the most difficult times of my life.  He wasn't around long, but every sermon he presented was something that applied to my life at the time.  I even asked my mother if she had talked to him about me because it felt like what he had prepared was specifically for me.  God worked wonders through him because when I was at my lowest, his sermons were exactly what I needed to feel convicted and start heading on the right path.

Day 16 -- I'm thankful for financial stability.  Hubby and I have both come from relationships that destroyed our credit and it's exciting to know watch things improve and help each other make it even better.  It's wonderful not to be stressed about money all the time.  We're not monetarily wealthy by any means, but we are comfortable with where we are and for that I am thankful.

Day 17 -- I'm thankful to be able to buy groceries and cook.  I'm thankful to give my family healthy meals that they enjoy...most of the time.

Day 18 -- This day of thankful falls on our 1/2 year anniversary.  I'm thankful to have a Christ-centered marriage.  It's difficult to maintain because I end up going to church alone nearly 100% of the time, but Hubby is open to discuss God's place in our marriage at any time and we hold each other accountable.  It's refreshing and encouraging and it makes me love H/him even more.

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it

I've been struggling to stay awake at my desk.  I don't know if it's because of stress, but I've been absolutely exhausted.

Hubby has been off work since Tuesday due to being on furlough. Actually, he had to drive all the way to work early Tuesday morning just to pick up a furlough letter and then drive back home. I think he spent as much time driving, if not more, as he did at work.

It's kind of scary and frustrating to not know how long this is going to last. It's also frustrating to see the comments from people on social networks.  Two people in my family were commenting on how it's taken over f@ceb00k and blah blah blah, but they're going to just go on living life as usual.  I think I wrote out a spiel 4 or 5 times and then deleted it before I could post it talking about how they forget that there are people who are affected by it, even in their own family.

 

We are doing okay right now.  I believe this is a 3 paycheck month.  Hubby got his paycheck this week and the mortgage is paid until the first of November.  I get paid this week, too, and then again in two weeks and the 3rd check should clear the day our mortgage is due.  After that, though, it will be really tough...if this shut-down lasts that long.

Hubby seems to think this is a vacation of sorts and I keep feeling like I need to remind him that it's indefinite UNPAID "vacation" and once he exhausts his supplies for his hobbies, he can't just run out and restock everything whenever he wants to. Not to mention, he can reduce daycare costs by keeping DS home with him and being DD's transportation to and from school.

He has been telling me since we were dating that I'm a good worker and should get a job with the government because of job security and he thought I would succeed.  I bet right now he's glad I didn't because then we'd really be up the creek without a paddle!  (I've always wanted to use that phrase...haha)

In other news, the church choir has a really cool opportunity coming up in December.  The town where I went to school has a winter/holiday festival of sorts toward the end of the year. I don't know exactly what it is.  I don't know if they've been doing this all along and I just never heard about it or if it's something relatively new.  Anyway, there is a hotel in that town that is owned by a famous and my favorite author (this is the hotel that burned down, I don't know, 2+ years ago). Somehow...and I don't know if we were asked or if someone from my church thought of it...a choir that I am organizing and directing is going to be caroling on the front steps of that hotel! Apparently the innkeeper and owner are really excited about it.

 

We had our first rehearsal last night with 4 new people in addition to the usual choir members...so not including me, there 14 singers: 4 soprano, 4 alto, 3 tenor, 3 bass.  It's a nice even spread and I really like being able to hear the women more.  We normally only have 2 or 3 sopranos and only 1 (2 on a good month) alto.  The group we had sounded amazing.  Everything will have to be a capella because it is caroling outside, after all.  I think it's easier to stay on key when more people participate.

 

Last night we went over the parts of Silent Night and sang it a couple of times with the piano, then for the last 2 verses the piano dropped out and they were spot on!  There was some kind of innocence and purity in how it sounded and it gave me goosebumps.  We also went over O Come O Come Emmanuel.  That one didn't go so smoothly.  I mean, they were able to pick up their parts just fine, but not everyone is so familiar with it and it's in a minor key and 2 of the parts don't make any sense whatsoever when they're played by themselves. So throw all the parts together with a group of singers who lack confidence and it creates something a little rough.

 

I am absolutely stoked about it and after hearing the group I am even more excited.  I think it will be God-pleasing and great for the church and good for someone who hears us, I hope.

 

Well, I suppose that's it for now.

 

So until next time...

The weekend and the unforeseeable future

We had a rather nice weekend.

I had horrible cramps and back pain all day Friday, so by the time I got home from work I was in a horrendous mood and exhausted by the time the kids were in bed.  Friday nights are "us" nights and we usually end up watching a movie and sharing popcorn and an adult beverage or two, but this time we couldn't decide what to do and just lounged around and ended up going to bed a little earlier.

Saturday I was gifted with sleeping in until about 9 a.m.. I haven't done that in years! SS didn't have a football game, so we were just putzing around all morning. After lunch we headed out for some fun at Chuck-3-Ch33s3's and then stopped for gelatis on the way home. I had dinner cooking the crockpot, so we had an early dinner of italian crockpot chicken with fun spiraly pasta at 4 p.m., then went to a music fest at my church. Then SS had to be taken to his mom's house and we came back home and did our normal Saturday night routine.

Yesterday was choir Sunday at church, so I had to get DD and DS and myself ready for early rehearsal.  My parents surprised me with a conductor's baton before practice started.

Coolest thing ever!

I'm a such a nerd.  I got so excited about that little plastic stick.  I had been using an ink pen or a pencil.  I don't know why but the singers pay attention to those better than my hands, but I think the novelty of the baton made them pay even better attention.  It probably helps that I got carried away playing around with it: pointing it at people like a magic wand, swinging it through the air and making swooshing sword noises, pretending like it would fly out of my hand and whack someone if they weren't watching me, tapping it on my music stand and clearing my throat like I'm important or something, etc.

No one can say choir practice isn't fun.

Anyway, I thought they did a really good job.  It's pretty neat to think about how far we've come in the last year and a half.

SS was brought to church by his mother, which was good, and there was a lunch after service. Hubby had asked me to keep it a secret to SS, and I tried to do that, but I guess in Sunday School it was mentioned and SS was begging me to call his mom to see if he could stay.

Awkward...

After finding out that Hubby had already gotten a no from her (hence the secrecy), he did end up being able to stay and eat a plate a food really fast while she waited outside and I fixed a plate of dessert that he could take home and share with his mom.

I know this is weird, but I've encouraged Hubby and SS to invite her into the church.  I don't care if SS sits with me.  It's not a competition to see who is a better mother. She talks about how she gives up her time to let him attend.  What better way to get that time back than to attend with him? She can even bring her boyfriend with her.  She won't do it, though. I'm convinced it will change her entire life she'd just take the chance.

Anyway, I got a nice nap in the afternoon and we went out for my dad's birthday dinner later.  Mmm...chinese food.  Unfortunately, I was still full from lunch. Fortunately, it was a buffet, so I could pick little bits of a different stuff without overeating.

On the way home I brought up the subject of babies. I've been thinking a lot about it since Friday due to the last two weeks of whatever that was. I'm not convinced it was just in my head or wacky hormones because I still don't feel normal (though I'm gradually getting there) and this visit from AF doesn't seem normal either.  He told me he was just thinking about it that afternoon, so it's pretty coincidental that I brought it up.  We talked about fears and concerns and how we could go about it.  We would be affected by this government shut-down, if it happens.  Our plan for now is for me to call the doctor and get a new prescripition for my pills, since it expired, and I may or may not take it on Thursday.  I guess we'll see what happens.

 

No breath-holding here.