Thanksgiving @ MindSay

Mindsay. I am so. tired.


We're scrambling to take care of everything we need to do in order to be ready to move.  Today we met with our new apartment manager, and he seems really great.  The complex is small and I feel like he's invested in the comfort of his tenants.  We got the keys, and the apartment is all ours :) Michael is there right now writing up the things that are wrong with the apartment so we won't get charged for them when we eventually move out.  We also went to the electric company to get our electricity switched over to the new apartment. We still need to get our mail forwarded. 

We're fucking nuts for traveling to Carlsbad for a few days right in the middle of all this, but we haven't seen our families in like 5 months and they were itching for us to come home. It's all kind of stupid because we'll be back in just a few weeks for Christmas, but whatever. We're actually going to celebrate Thanksgiving on Wednesday so we can get back here on Thursday.  Friday morning Michael is going to do a little Black Friday shopping (he's getting a netbook) and then next Friday and Saturday we're officially out of here.  I'm currently working on straightening up the whole apartment and getting everything in its place so that it can all be quickly and easily packed up. Yesterday Michael got his oil changed and his tires rotated in preparation for our drive to C-bad in the morning. We both have all of our clothes/stuff laid out for the trip but I haven't actually packed it yet. 

To top it all off, I have a ton of reading to do for sexualities over the break, and I also have a bunch of online Spanish that's due November 30th, which is pretty much the most inconvenient day ever. Then I have a psych lab report due on Dec. 4th, which is the last day of class *pulls out hair*  Finals are from December 7th- 11th. I need to study my ass off for statistics and for sexualities. And of course I need to study to a degree for everything else.  But I really just can't even think about finals yet...there's just so much that needs to be done between now and then. 

All of that being said, I am excited to see my mom, sister, dad, and step-mom.  It has been quite awhile since I've seen them, and I'm missing them all.  Plus Thanksgiving food is going to be delicious. 

• I'm actually excited about Thanksgiving this year because it will just be me, the kiddo and the husband.  My sister has to work on Thursday, but she and her husband will have Thanksgiving dinner with us on Friday.  Then, we might go to the movies to see 2012.  I usually hate Thanksgivings because in the past we had most of my paternal side of the family coming to visit. Let's just say that my Big Mama had 12 children and 10 of them had children and some of those children have children.  Add the spouses of those children and grandchildren and we are talking about at least 40 to 50 people.  As a child it was my job (all by myself) to wash dishes as my mother was cooking AND after the meal was served.  At least my aunts would help me when they got there.  I could never really tolerate crowds and noise after a few hours so you can imagine what it was like for me as a kid during Thanksgiving. Most of the time my relatives wouldn't go home until Saturday!

• Today on the View, Elizabeth Hasselback had a breakthrough when she said she was upset with some people because they were giving her and her daughter strange looks because her white daughter was carrying around the new Tiana doll from Disney's "The Princess and the Frog".  She said that her daughter loves that doll and she didn't think twice about buying it for her.  She also said that she now understands that twinge of "weirdness" or "discomfort" some of her black friends talk about when they are feeling they possibly being judged based on race. I thought it was kind of neat that she was able to empathize with her friends in that situation. I think it's silly that people gave her dirty looks because her daughter was playing with that doll.  It's a pretty doll! My daughter had a couple of Ariel dolls from The Little Mermaid and nobody said a mumbling thing about it.

• Speaking of children, do any of you who have children -- especially those of you who have children who are over the age of three, have those days where you swear you don't like children? LOL! Don't get me wrong, I love and brag on the Kiddo on a daily basis, but let's face it 8 year olds can be ANNOYING! One of the things that drives me crazy is when she wants to tell me about an episode of a show that she likes. She'll forget to mention the name of the show and just launch into what the characters were saying and doing.  She also doesn't describe the characters to me so I have no idea why what they did or said was so funny or out of character.  Not to mention she has the tendency to give too much detail! I tell her for crying out loud, summarize this story!

• I don't care how musically pretentious you are, that damn "Party in the USA" song by Miley Cyrus is catchy.  I admit it. I LOVE it! It's one of the songs the Kiddo and I blast in the car.

• I swear to the Almighty, if my husband wants any more children we're going to have to either adopt or get a surrogate! Have I said how much I hate being pregnant??? Ugh!

• Oh yeah, I am  so sick of reality t.v. shows with slutty, bimbos on them.  Why is it that in order to be popular on television, young women have to dumb as dirt and as fake as a three dollar bill.  Oxygen, which is supposed to be a network for women has a reality show out called "Bad Girls" where six or seven of the most shallow, ridiculous women are featured doing God knows what.  Thanks for setting the women's movement back a hundred years Oxygen! Shame on you!
  

well, its been awhile again...I haven't been myself since July-August probably and I didn't feel like writing any.
The Dixie Classic Fair was fun though,but I got very tired that day.. That it how its been . I get so tired doing anything and stomach problems too. I was glad when my Doctor appointment finally arrived over a week ago now. All my blood work came back with great results. No thyroid problems or Liver problems and I'm not perimenopausal either... Cholesterol levels were great as were blood count, etc.. so, Dr. said it sounded like depression. All the stress from this year...Yes, worry is a sin..I don't handle it very well and I give it to God, but I always manage to pull it back..Not what you're supposed to do...so now I'm back on my Zoloft after being off it for well over two years..Starting to feel like me again. Last friday at the West/Reynolds game I had the best time. My friend I haven't seen in a long while, Trace' Cave Cunduff came. and wonders of all we saw John Sherrill too! We haven't seen him in years! Long years! LOL He has not changed a bit! He's still John! haha.. we had a great time picking and carrying on..just like the old days again! I knew I was gonna be okay then..
I can almost pinpoint a time when I really felt lowest...The day we got that Certified letter from our mortgage co..I had to sign for it and my heart sank...I prayed so hard while opening that letter, and called James crying my eyes out...That was hard, as I have written before. I just kept praying though, and I knew God would answer in His time, but I was being honest with Him and asking Him to hurry up. :)  Not what you're supposed to do either, but He knows me and we are all human and live in this imperfect world.
Meanwhile its been getting cooler and having crisp nights. There have been some Indian Summer days though. I was able to not turn our heat on for almost 2 whole weeks.
Then Monday came. I was working at home on Quickbooks trying to get it straight for Biogreen. I get a call and answer it. It's Lynn. She's been helping us deal with our mortgage co..She said"They are sending you a package out Fed Ex and you should get it tomorrow.. Your interest rate dropped to 6.375% and your new payments are like $848.00"... My skin started prickling and I cried... I felt relief wash over me.. She didnt know the rest of the details..we'd find out from the letter.. I stayed home again on Tuesday and worked on Quickbooks again,finishing it....James came home for lunch like he always does...I see the Fed Ex truck back into the driveway... James goes to meet him and signs for the letter... we sit together and open it. I read it...
"James, it says that this is for the next 365 months!"  Oh my! Here come the pricklings again!!! We look at each other.. "So this is the new payment for the rest of the loan?" "Yes!!" Hallaluha!!  after trying 3 times with them to get this Loan Mod, we get it and it's great! we didnt know if it would be just 6 months as most are or a year, but the life of the Loan!! That was such a blessing !!! A burden lifted!! I thanked God all the rest of that day and still am....
another prayer was answered too on Tuesday. Ariana was able to trade her Jeep and her $2500 for a 2002 Saturn! It only had about 75000 miles on it. Her jeep broke down over a week ago and it was a pain trying to get her to College and picked up and to work and me to work.... it was a mess but we did it.. and she had to buy the $84 dollar part and Jeff fixed the jeep for her, but it still needed a battery...she'd go somewhere and have to get a jump to start it... Not good..plus it was eating gas and ate oil like crazy too. She had to put 3 quarts in every two weeks or so.. she did cry though...The jeep was her first car... She didn't really want to give it up, but she knew it was for the best. Now she 'll have a good car when she goes to UNCC in a year or so..
and Morgan. He had to buy a new car too. Late September his old car starting acting up and stalling out on him, so James looked around here and found him a "97 Grand Am with only about 65000 miles on it.. and Morgan could afford it. he just had to borrow $1300 from Grandma to do it and he'll pay her back in Jan. when he gets his financial aid $ again. It cost him $2800.00. Both of the kids cars are white now! That is odd! I wont know who is who until I can see the whole car coming in!! LOL
So many blessings this week..... I am feeling better on my medicine and getting things done now that got neglected over the summer...Whew..now on to the next problem..figuring out how to pay our taxes of $1800.00!!! since we inherited that 7 acres of land, our property taxes went up...big time!! 
We signed the papers from the Mortgage co. and Fed ex'd them back all on the same day...we should hear soon about when payment is due and all that... 
There's still the matter of Christmas too. I told James we could not afford to buy for everyone this year... We will get the small ones something, and try to figure out how and what to do for Morgan and Ariana... I just want us to be together...I don't need one thing! After all what is Christmas all about anyway? -The Birth of our Lord and Saviour!!!! When you realize that, nothing else matters. Enjoy the season of Love!
Thanksgiving coming soon! Time to Thank the Lord for all our blessings! But we should thank Him on a daily basis... He does so much for us..look for the small things and the big things..There's always something! I remind myself of that daily...

We are now thatmuch closer to my favorite holiday.

Thanksgiving :]:]:]:]:]:]:]