Leslie's Litter

Today I am thankful for the libraries and the librarians! When I went in today they had a cart sitting by the check out that had all kinds of holiday books featured.  There were mysteries, giving, crafts, recipe, history, fiction, etc.  It was just what I need on this last day of November, to push me into the December Holiday Season! And... EVERY time I go in there they are always so nice, smiling, laughing, and just all around pleasant people.  How often do you find that any where, let alone a library!?

Free Food!  YUM!  I mean really.... what can be better? Today we have a food show going on and there are stations and more stations with food displayed and samples to try! My favorite so far was the dessert station!  Deep fried cheesecake, chocolate pyramids, and much, MUCH more. The mushroom stuffed ravioli, chicken salad lettuce wraps, and bacon jam dip were all delicious too.  It's too hard to resist good food when it is just looking me in the face! What is your favorite dish?

Today I am thankful for radio stations changing their Holiday Music guidelines.... I cannot handle holiday music more then a few days a year, and it seems like the past few years the stations around my area play it NON-STOP! Luckily this year, it is November 28th and the music has not yet started!!!! Here is to hoping that they hold off a little while longer!!!

Today I am thankful for online banking. Without online banking I would be lost!  I rely so heavily on being able to open up my web page and check my balance, see what I bought, and make sure that I remembered to pay my bills!   There are so many things in life that we didn't have 10 years ago, or even last year, that we all of a sudden take for granted because they are standard to us now... Don't lose site that life will still go on without all of these things, but isn't it great that it doesn't have to!

Pandora is my friend, today and everyday. It is wonderful to listen to at work, in the car, and especially at the gym! It is so nice to be able to tune "the radio" to songs that fit my mood and energy level, and skip past songs that I don't like or have heard to many times. This is a great way to get me through my day, each and every day. What makes your day go faster?

Today I am thankful for one more day off this month... I am going to spend the day getting back on track, making my to-do lists, washing towels, sheets, clothes, dishes, the rugs, and so on. Just one more day to take an afternoon nap, read a few chapters of my book, and snuggle with my kities.... Luckily December is only a few days away and I can have some more days off of work! What do you like to do on your days off?

Today I am thankful for the Fighting Irish and the fact that they are #1!!! How can you not be thankful for an undefeated team that is headed to the BCS Championship Bowl!

Today I am thankful for Black Friday!  It is so much fun to wake up early, grab a cup of hot coffee and head out to the stores.   I am not good at standing in line or fighting with others, but I still love the rush and the fun of going out and spending and getting rock bottom prices! I spent all morning  noon, and night out shopping with my family.  Luckily I was able to get almost all of my shopping done, and I got some great deals along the way.... I may have even bought a thing or two for myself ;) Did you shop for anything you couldn't live without today?

On Thanksgiving I am thankful for so much.  Friends, family, food, fun, pets, and so many other things that can be so easily be taken for granted.  Today, and every day, remember to be thankful for what you have.  It is great to strive for something more in life, but don't forget everything that you already have!

Today I am thankful for visits with friends, no matter how short they are. I got to pick up my friend at the bus station and we were able to spend some time together catching up.  I love times like this when we can just sit and do nothing but talk, and drink Starbucks! I wish that I was able to have time like this every day, but I am sure that I wouldn't be as thankful as I was at the end of today. What makes you thankful for your friends?

Today I am thankful for a decent hair day.  My mom and I had to go have photos taken for our concealed weapon permit and luckily my hair was somewhat cooperating with me today.  Unfortunately, the white background that we had to stand in front of what not so nice.... especially with my pale skin. Oh well, we have to take the good with the bad and focus on the good.

Today is the beginning of a new week, a week that I do not have to work! I get to enjoy the time off, get ready for the Thanksgiving Holiday, and celebrate with my family and friends everything that I love and am proud to call mine. I was able to work on a lot of my to-do list, run errands, and spend some time with my litter, as well as spend time with a beautiful new baby cousin. Today I am thankful for new babies, the way they smell and sound, and their cute little baby toes!  Especially when I get to hold them, feed them, and them pass them off when they cry or need a diaper change!

Today I am thankful for the craftiness that others possess.  I do have to admit that I am a little  jealous of all of the crafty things that others can create, but I do enjoy looking at everything, and just buying the ones that I cannot live without! At a craft show today we saw paintings, handmade journals, jewelry, jewelry, games, jewelry, and so much more!  It was amazing to see how many things people can create, and how much stuff you never realized that you can't live without. Luckily today we only walked away with a warm pretzel and cheese, but so many days I walk out with handfuls or bagfuls of all these fun things, that I forget why I needed them, but I just wanted to show other people that I am thankful that they can do things that I cannot. What kind of fun things can you create?

Another beautiful wedding on this gorgeous Saturday evening. Today I am thankful for each bride being able to make the day her own.  Down to every last detail.  And details are what filled up tonight. Each table was set just so, the "keys" to life were displayed around the room, on place cards, in shadow boxes, and on the memory table, and the bride even painted a special design to be hung over the fireplace and the bridal table so that the day really was all about her and her groom. My favorite detail was the fact that they hung pictures in our front hallway, over the every day pictures that are there.  This way the guests saw that this was all about them from the moment they came in.  They were tasteful, elegant, and just added so much character to the lobby and tied everything into one beautiful event. What special details do you like to have surrounding you!?

Today I am thankful for GPS, and I realize how important it is in my life. My mom and I went to a sale at the Libbey Glass Factory, and of course we got lost, and of course we were not in a safe neighborhood by anyone's standards.... We even ended up on a bike trail for a few minutes, just thinking that maybe we would just find what we were looking for!  Luckily we were able to get turned around, get on the correct street, make it to the sale, and buy all kinds of goodies, for pennies on the dollar!!! Thank you GPS for making life easier, now if you could just make sure my phone got a signal 100% of the time life would be grand!

Cupcakes!!! Cupcakes made from Scratch!  Delicious flavors, yummy frosting, and they look pretty too! How can I not be thankful for these today?  Sugar Plum Sweets right here in Sylvania made 440 of these beauties for a luncheon at work today.  Of course I had to try one of every flavor, just to make sure they all lived up to my standards! All I can say is.... YUM!  Go check them out, and ask for the peanut butter & chocolate cupcake.... by far my favorite!

On this lovely Wednesday I am thankful that I am able to make my own hours at work, around the events that we have going on. I was able to go to work (at 6 a.m. again :/....) and then go home for a little while before heading back in to finish off the day, and night. I am lucky that I was able to work around what is going on, and not have to fulfill the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours that so many people have to. Today and every day I work around what needs to be done, and not just sitting at a desk staring at the computer waiting for the clock to turn!

Today I am thankful for trade shows and all of the fun stuff that vendors hand out to everyone for free! We had a trade show today for 55 companies in the area.  It was amazing all of the things that were handed out; movie passes, note pads, pens, hand sanitizer, etc.  The things that you can always use, but usually don't want to pay for. My favorite is always note pads.  I love all the different shapes and sizes, and it helps to give me the motivation to start new lists and gives me the goal to work all the way through the stack of paper, before getting bored or moving on to a new idea or set of projects. What kinds of things do you like to get for free?!

Today I am thankful for leftovers. I came home to 9 loads of laundry, dishes, cleaning, working on my "mega project" and I have a long week ahead at work.  I LOVE the fact that I could reach in the fridge and pull out leftovers today. I was able to heat them up, eat between laundry, and get back to my to-do list. Now I am comfortable and in bed at a decent hour while I prepare for my alarm clock to go off, just when my dreams start to get good! I hope everyone else enjoys their dinner, made from scratch, out of the freezer, or restaurant leftovers, just as much as I did!

Today I am thankful that my husband and I can drive around in the car for hours together, and still have something to say to each other. We drove up to Grand Blanc for our nephew's birthday party, and made the long drive home, and decided that we didn't know what we wanted for dinner so we drove around the city just talking and debating, telling each other random stories, and laughing at ourselves and each other. A drive is just a drive to some people, but to us it is where we can actually take time to focus on one another without distractions like dirty dishes, making the bed, laundry, or other people wanting to be part of our conversation.  It is just about us, and being together.

Thankful for beautiful weddings and nice bridal parties.  There are so many days that people just think you are below them because you are working at their event.  It is so wonderful when people actually realize that you are a person, working, but still a person, and that you have feelings, emotions, and take better to kindness then to rudeness. Tonight was a gorgeous wedding, with an amazing bride, groom, and wedding party.  They were all fun-loving, happy, and ready to party!  They had common sense and were as polite as could be. Even their centerpieces had a fun flair to them! Remember, it's the small things that count.  A smile given to someone walking down the road can brighten their day, and yours. Take a chance, Smile at the next person you see!

Coupons!  Sales!  City Cash! Today after work I went with my mom to New York & Co. to use some City Cash that we had.  We also got lucky and had coupons that they let us use as well! Amazing deals were had when we mixed and matched with the sales!  As much as I didn't NEED anything, I really did want a few things, so it was wonderful to get them for 1/2 price or lower! So.... what do you think of my new coat?! Be thankful for retail sales! And coupons to lower the price even more!

It's Thursday, and I am thankful for getting my second wind, just in the nick of time. It was a long day at work.... Going on hour 11, I started getting really tired, thinking about how much longer I needed to be there, and how early (6 a.m. = waaay to early for me) I have to be at work tomorrow.... then I sat down, took a few deep breaths, and drank a cup of coffee, and started my second wind. It got me through the night, and I am now home sweet home, and ready for bed. I hope that tomorrow morning I wake up nice and refreshed, and make it through the day! What are you thankful for today?

Today, I am thankful for lists.  I love lists.  I like to make lists of my goals, books to read, things to do, anything, just like to make the lists. My litter is so used to my lists that they just sleep thru it now ;-) Today I made my lists for habits that I want to work on, updates on my goals for myself, and people that I need to holiday shop for. What do you make lists for?  Are you thankful you can get it all out of your head and on to paper?

Today I am thankful for our right to vote.  It is not a great system, not even good all the time, but we still have the right to walk into our precinct and vote for who we believe in.  Truth being we never know who is the right person until it's too late, but at least we are free to make our choices. We are not threatened or chased away from voting and we are not forced into doing something that we do not believe in (or at least the majority of us don't believe in). On this day remember to take a few minutes and go place your vote.  Don't worry about voting for everything, especially things you don't understand, but at least place a vote - because you can!

Today, as I sit and order my holiday cards, I am thankful for my annual family photo, and the fact that my husband doesn't complain (too much, anymore) that I make him dress in Christmas colors in the middle of fall.   Every year I take a family photo for my holiday cards.   We gather our litter together, set up a tripod, and hope for the best!   I usually take this at the end of October or early November so that I can use the best of the best deals as they come through for free or discounted cards.  I have even been known to pull down a few decor items to spruce up the pictures!   This year we took our picture on October 30th, on our way out the door to the airport.  I finally just sat down to download it to my computer, and good thing I did.... a FREE coupon for 20 photo cards, expiring tomorrow! What is better then free, especially for something that I know that I am going to be buying anyway.  A little planning ahead can save a few bucks in t...

Hot tea. Yes, a random thing to be thankful for, but it is something that gets me through many days, nights, and trying times. I love hot tea of most flavors, not all, but too many to list.   I am thankful that I can drink hot tea throughout the day without getting coffee mouth, or over caffeinated, or too many extra calories from drinking things with sugar. I can wake up with tea, I can go to bed with tea, I can warm up with tea, and I can drink tea while trying to clean the house.  Today has been one of those days where I just wanted to cuddle up, relax, play on the computer, and read a book.... so I did, along with multiple cups of hot tea! What is your go-to drink that makes you feel better, no matter what your mood?

On day 3 I focused my thanks on my yard full of creatures. No matter how many times I look out the window, I am always bound to see something of beauty.  I have squirrels running around and burying nuts.  The rabbits are creating homes under my shed.  The birds are building nests in my porch posts.  The leaves are falling. All of this is taken for granted so many times, until I saw how excited my nephew was each time he saw something.  I realized that my backyard is an amazing one, and I am grateful that it is mine each and every day. I have a quaint little pond that my husband put in for "our" animals, and I have a creek that houses dozens of baby ducks in the summer.  I have baby trees, and a hundred year old ash tree, along with just about everything in between. I couldn't have asked for a better view then the bay window looking out from my kitchen, except for maybe the sliding glass doors looking out my living room :) What do you look at every...

On the 2nd day of thanks I have found that I am grateful for memories, and the ability to help others create memories. Today we went to tour the Hoover Dam, just outside of Las Vegas.  While we were walking around I noticed that so many couples were trying to take pictures of each other, or take pictures of themselves while holding the camera backwards.  While this works great in a lot of cases, it is not the best way to get a good picture of you WITH the scenery that you are trying to include. I watched as people passed each other by, trying to do take the pictures themselves, but never once offering to help each other, or ask someone for a few seconds to take a picture for them. Knowing how important memories are to me I offered numerous times to many different couples and families to take pictures for them.  I want them to be able to look back in a few days, months, years, and have a really wonderful picture to tell the story of their day.  No, they are not g...

As Thanksgiving draws closer, the spirit of giving is in the air. As many others are giving thanks for something each day, I have decided to do the same.  While I am VERY thankful for many of the things that I see people starting with (husbands, family, friends, pets, etc.) I am going to mention the things that I often forget about, or take for granted.  As I go through each day I plan to find something that I appreciate that I don't usually notice or give credit to. So, for Day 1 of November I am thankful for Breakfast at Tiffany's.   As Sean and I walked around Las Vegas today we decided to go into Tiffany's  to get some of my jewelry cleaned.  While we were in there Sean asked if they carried a telephone dialer, as he does every single time we go into a Tiffany's store.  To me it never gets old, it makes me laugh, as well as appreciate a Classic. Later on we went out to the casino and came across a slot machine themed after Breakfast at Tiffany...