Thanksgiving...

We have been so blessed these last few months, and I have been so awful at recognizing it and being appreciative. Oh my, long story.

A few months ago Jason's work started laying off a guy or two a week, then a guy or two a day, then the entire night crew. No one was allowed any overtime (which we had been relying on for a while). But looking at the bright side, Jason was sent home early most Friday's because he had his hours in, so we had lots of fun weekends together. However, we were praying pretty hard. We knew with the holidays coming up we would be hit pretty hard if we lost our only source of income.

Ultimately they shut down the entire store. That could have been serious bad news for us, but Jason was transferred to the Salt Lake store along with a few others who weren't let go. So I was thrilled that he simply had his job.

When he started in Salt Lake, even though I was glad he had a job, I had some complaints. For one, they wanted Jason up there at 7 am. We only have the one car and there was no way I could get the kids out of bed before 6 to drive Jason up there and then drive back home whenever I needed the car. And then I would have to drive back up and home in traffic to pick him up. That would be nearly four wasted hours of my day. I didn't want to deal with it and I didn't want to put the kids through that. Luckily, Jason was able to find a coworker who lived nearby to carpool with. So the days I need the car, Jason rides with his friend. Crisis averted.

Complaint number two, they started asking him to stay late every night and weekends. So he would work late and then go to class in the evenings. Needless to say, we are feeling like we haven't seen each other in a while.

Anyway, yesterday Payson was in the mood to pull anything and everything out of its place and throw it where ever she chose its new home to be. And Jack just wanted to be held all day. He wasn't happy for more than five minutes if I laid him down or put him in his bouncy seat. So I was frustrated with only having one arm all day to chase Payson's messes with. And I hadn't seen my husband all week. But he had told his work that he wasn't going to work late Friday because he was coming in Saturday and he wanted a little time with us. So if I could just make it until 4, when Jason came home, I'd be fine.

Then Jason called. It was 3:30 and he should have been on his way home. And he wasn't. There was something that had to be done at work and he was the only one there to do it so he'd be staying late again. I just started to cry. I know it's not even close to the worst situation in the world, but I just felt like it was at that moment. That may sound silly, but it's how I felt at the time.

Jason said he'd call when he was finally on his way home and gave up on chasing Payson around the house. I spent most of the afternoon feeling sorry for myself.

Then it hit me. I was being absolutely ridiculous! First of all, wasn't this the exact thing we had been praying for the last few months? Hadn't we specifically asked our Father in Heaven to help us financially during the holiday season? So what was I whining about? The overtime was a perfect answer to our prayers.

And aside from having to sacrifice a little bit of family time for a short period of time, we are so blessed, it's ridiculous! I felt so ashamed the moment I realized how silly I had been acting. I have the most supportive, hard working, loving, perfect husband. I have two beautiful, fun, happy, healthy, well-behaved (most days) children. I have an absolutely amazing family, both immediate and extended. I have a place to live and food to eat. My family and I are healthy. I have the freedom of this wonderful country. I'm not threatened by fires or other disasters, natural or not (knock on wood). And most importantly I have the blessings of the temple in my family, the gospel in my life, and the knowledge that my Savior loves me and atoned for my sins.

I need to be better about remembering those things on a day to day basis and not just because of a bad day or because Thanksgiving is coming up. So maybe having it written here, I will read it and remind myself often that not much else matters.