So the last couple of weeks we have had a lot of ups and downs with our youngest. This week has been thankfully uneventful, but still exhausting. It would be easy to get defeated by the annoying things, but this week I have just felt really thankful in spite of it all. It would be easy to be ticked off at the realization that Dean and I will probably not be able to go away by ourselves this year for more than 2 nights. It would be easy to get ticked off that our insurance coverage is changing again and it will cost us even more to keep the 'better' plan which covers less than our current one. It could send me over the top that when I did our taxes this year, I realized Dean's income has gone down the last several years and our expenses have gone thru the roof. It would be easy to fall apart when we looked at our 'Budget' last night and realized that there is very little wiggle room.
Nope, I've resigned myself to not get upset and it feels really good. Sure these things suck, but there isn't anything we can do about them except ACCEPT these circumstances and keep moving on. So, I've decided to view each of these things as a positive. Here goes.
1) Dean and I won't be able to go away for a week alone this year. Nope, that means even if we could get together a team to go to Mexico, we both can't go. BUT, I am thankful that we have a gift certificate to a local boutique hotel that will allow us to go away for two nights for our anniversary. Something to look forward to.
2) Our insurance is changing, again. This usually throws me into complete hysterics and Dean has to listen to me rant while staying out of the way in case I throw something. Don't get me wrong, I am always thankful that we have coverage and that most of the cost for our family is covered by his employer, a huge blessing. BUT I have learned that unless you have been in our family's situation where we have had tens of thousands of uncovered medical expenses, you are not going to be able to understand why little changes in our insurance coverage are a big deal to me. That's ok. I'm thankful that I have resigned myself to accept that no matter how hard I try to explain how we feel about this issue, some are never going to be able to understand. I understand, and that is all that matters. I am thankful that I no longer feel the need to use the energy to try to make others understand.
3) Our income went down, again. I'm thankful that no matter what, we always seem to be able to cover our expenses and pay our bills, on time. Sometimes the budget doesn't look so pretty, but there is always enough and then some. We have been able to continue to do some pretty special things, travel, a nice home, eating out once a week. Yup, it will probably take us 5 more years to pay off the debt that we incurred for Annika's care, but we are making headway so that is a good thing.
I'm also thankful for these ding dongs and the laughter that is more and more a part of their time together. After five years of emotional strain, it is great to have ALL of them laughing together.
And dear, sweet Evy. I don't think she quite knew what she was getting into when she fell in love with Joshua. He comes with two loopy sisters. They are a bit of a package deal. It is a joy to watch her join in and see how much they all enjoy each other, and having fun with each other:
Yup, IT'S ALL GOOD. That pretty much sums it up.
Thankful.
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