Thanksgiving Insomnia

Well, I did not complete the kids rooms as of yet. The task is just so daunting I'm taking it bits at a time. As I go through all of the toys/clothes/papers/crayons/etc I just can't figure out how it builds up like this. I think the stuff is multiplying in there. I literally have filled up 5 thirty gallon trash bags out of Munchkin's room alone and I'm not done. Now, when did we actually bring 5 thirty gallon trash bags of junk into Munchkin's room? How on earth does this happen?

Granted, I'm really cleaning house here. Things she hasn't played with in the last six months are out. All Happy Meal/Kids Meal/Wacky Pack type of toys are out. All stray crayons I find lying on the ground are out. Christmas is coming and it's time to make way for the new... because no matter how I throw the dice, there will be an onslaught of new toys this Christmas for my children. There are just plain too many relatives to expect anything different.

It's nearly 6 AM and I'm still awake. I attempted to get some sleep around 2 AM but my mind wouldn't stop working so I went ahead and got up, doing some more work in Munchkin's room before trying to lay down again. At 5 AM I finally just got up again and did a little organizing of my eBay inventory.

My brain absolutely refuses to shut down tonight/this morning so I guess I'll just have to post my Thanksgiving post early. :)

1. We have a house. It's not the cleanest house and it's not the best house in the world, but it's really a pretty nice house and it's where my kids have grown up thus far and a whole heck of a lot of memories have been made here. Even when it seems like every thing is breaking and there's no end in sight to all the problems we have to deal with in our house, every once in a while I take a moment and just realize how thankful I am that we have this home.

2. Peace and quiet. I miss my kids... I've never spent a holiday away from them before and it's strange to have them away from me this Thanksgiving. However, I'm enjoying the peace and quiet around the house so far. I haven't been called "Mommy" in over 36 hours and I'm sort of liking that. Check back with me on Saturday, though, and I'll be frantically missing them.

3. Tiny marshmallows. I love them. I love to snack on them. I love to put them in my hot cocoa and lap at them with my tongue when they get all gooey. I love to put them on top of yams and eat them when they get all gooey and crunchy. There's just nothing not to love about those little marshmallows and I am truly thankful for them.

4. Internet access. I only appreciate Internet access when it's gone it seems. So I'm taking a moment to reflect on how much I am thankful for it on this day of gratitude. I've become so accustomed to having all information at my fingertips from how to bake vegan bread to how to get a pee odor out of a mattress. When the Internet access goes out I inevitably freak out because I can't get some piece of vital information immediately like I've become accustomed to. Remember the days when you had to ask someone how to do stuff? When you had to call your mom or your friend to find out how long it takes to bake a potato in the microwave? Remember when you wanted to go see a movie and you had to call the theater to see what was playing and you had to redial like fifteen times before you didn't get a busy signal and then you had to wait forever while the recording read off each and every movie and time? Yeah, I'm so thankful for Internet access.

5. Ricola cough drops. They don't taste bad, they're natural, and they actually work. On top of all that they're inexpensive! Every winter I typically get several little sore throat/cough type of colds and Ricola gets me through each one. I have those little yellow bags stashed all over the house. Thank you Ricola.

6. Bookshelves. I haven't had bookshelves in our house since we moved in over 5 years ago. I know, ridiculous, isn't it? It's just something we never got around to getting. But I got some just the other day and I'm thrilled with them. Not only are they beautiful, but there was practically no assembly required. Seriously, the only tool I needed was a knife to open up the box. Sweet, eh?

7. Our family. All of them. The Man, the kids, my parents, my sisters, my nieces, and The Man's family, too. Every member of my family has some amazing quality that makes them unique and wonderful and makes me proud to know them. From The Man's ability to make me laugh at the silliest things to Bug's ability to make me think about things that haven't ever occurred to me in my whole life. From the newspaper clippings that my mom relentlessly clips for me to read to the comfortable two hour phone calls I have with my sister about every other month. From the old solid friendships I can always fall back on with my own sisters to the new "call me at any hour of the night" bond I've made with The Man's cousin, I can't imagine a better group of people to be so close to. How lucky we are to know them.

There's so much more I'm thankful for, but right now I'm hoping I'll be thankful for a few hours of sleep before we're off to The Man's aunt's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone reading, I hope you find yourself blessed with so much to be grateful for this year.