Thankful Thursday

1. I've wanted to attend a Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas concert for many years. It seems this will be the year it happens! I know families who make it an annual tradition. I highly doubt that will be the case for us given how much it costs to buy 5 tickets, but I am very thankful we'll get to go at least once. We're going to use some free passes for Sky Zone (trampoline park) the same day we're up there for the concert. On Monday I bought ten boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios (on sale at a good price) because that translated to a $50 voucher from Ticketmaster which helped bring down the cost of the tickets some. In a similar vein, someday I want to take the kids to see the Radio City Christmas show in NYC. Paul and I saw it once before we had kids, but that's on my "bucket list" of places I want to take the kids at least once before they leave the nest.

2. I've had a little respiratory bug lately. Thankfully it hasn't morphed into anything too severe, and thus far no one else in the family has caught it. I have to keep popping cough drops when I'm teaching at the

university. I skipped ladies Bible study on Monday night and choir last night because I have been feeling under the weather and was trying not to spread myself too thin.

3. I met with an advisor from TIAA-CREF regarding my retirement accounts last Thursday. I was long overdue in doing that, and it felt great to cross that off my to do list.

4. The van passed the state inspection last Thursday. Paul took care of it while I was at work.

5. Paul ended up not going to work on Friday so he could go to the doctor for his back pain. Because of that I was able to have a more thorough visit with my student teacher because I wasn't trying to get back in time to pick the kids up from their gym/art classes.

6. The kids and I went to some yard sales in our town on Friday and Saturday. We didn't visit as many as we usually do, but we were able to get some of the things we hoped to get (like cowboy boots for the kids for next summer).

7. On Monday the kids and I all wore pink and strolled through our town for a free lunch - soup, sloppy joe's, hot dogs, cupcakes, brownies, chips, apples, etc. We might have been in the newspaper as a reporter took a picture of the four of us.

8. Yesterday was Nadia's 6th spiritual birthday! I took the kids out to dinner on Monday night at Bonanza. It's $2 for kids to have dinner there on Mondays. We hadn't been there since April, and it's their favorite restaurant! Yesterday morning Nadia opened her gift (last two seasons of the Brinkman Adventures CDS and three of Mandisa's CDs) before we ate our traditional birthday breakfast of donuts.

9. Paul is taking the kids to see a show called "We the People" today in Wilkes Barre. The educational shows at this venue are free for students! This means thus far we are 1/1 with field trips for October. Hopefully the track record will be much better this month than it was last month!

10. I am back in the groove of using the elliptical four times per week. Finally!!! I don't do it first thing when I wake up, which is why I am not doing it on Tuesday, Thursday, or Sunday as I am out the door early those three days.