I am thankful for….
• My family by marriage. I have the greatest in-laws in the world. My sister-in-laws are my friends. We don’t do things together because we have to, we do it because we want to. Beth has been a lifesaver with me when it comes to babysitting. Y and G love to go to Mimi’s! Tammy is my confidante. We had some intense conversations/counseling sessions when we were walking at sunrise every morning. I miss those days, Tammy! Nett practically raised me. When me and Willard starting dating, we spent nearly every weekend at Mike and Nett’s… eating their food and playing cards half the night. Some of my best memories are vacation time with them. I can’t forget to mention the nieces, Danna and Lacy. Danna is one of my favorite people in the whole world. She’s probably the one person that I can totally be myself and say whatever I want to without worrying about what she thinks. It’s really odd, but we think A LOT alike. Joseph says we feed off each other… somehow I think he means that in a negative way, but whatever! Lacy was my first baby. I met Willard when Lacy was just a baby and I fell madly in love. She used to spend the night with me all the time when I still lived at home with my mom and dad. She was the first person to ever call me “Mamie” and she was flower girl in my wedding. I am also thankful for the wonderful girls who married into the family like me - Keightley and the two Emily’s. I don’t see Keightley much because they live in Auburn, but I follow her blog. She is like a mini-Martha Stewart, I swear! Emily G is mom to Maggie and soon-to-be born, Mabry. I love conversations with Emily because she makes me feel like she values my opinion, especially on raising kids. Emily A is family, as well as my neighbor. I I love all the Garnett women.
• My parents. I hope they know how thankful I am for the way they raised me. We’re not a very openly affectionate family, but I love them very much. They probably should have told me no a few more times in my life, but I think I turned out okay.
• My babysitter network. I have a handful of go-to people that help me soooo much with Yuri and Gigi. It’s hard to take babies or pre-schoolers to all day volleyball tournaments or softball games when it’s 30 degrees outside. In addition to Beth, I rely on Haley Hensley, Ginny Shaneyfelt, Marla, and Lacey James for times like this. Haley (oops… her last name is Terry now… I keep forgetting) is very maternal with my kids and I don’t worry at all when she has them. I know they’re having fun, but being disciplined too. Haley and Dustin will be staying at my house in January for several days when me and Willard to go Jamaica. Poor girl is excited even. She has no clue what she’s in for. Ginny has really been a big help in the last several months. She always makes things fun for the girls. She brings silly string or brownies or sidewalk chalk when she comes, and they love it. Lacey James is awesome. I have no idea what kind of spell she has cast over Y and G, but she’s probably their favorite person in the whole world. Anytime they get in trouble, they start crying for her. “I want Laaaaaaccccey Jamessssss”. For the longest, they couldn’t say her name and they called her “Stacey Jane”. Bahaha. We love us some Lacey James! Marla, aka Rah-Rah, is the second mommy. The word no isn’t in her vocabulary so I know anytime I need her, she’s available. Even if she isn’t available, she’s available. Does that make sense? She’s the kind of person that will sacrifice whatever she’s doing to accommodate what someone else needs.
• My oldest friend, Pam Shelton. And by oldest, I don’t mean she’s old. I’ve just been friends with her longer than anyone else. We met in Mrs. Livingston’s first grade class and we’ve been friends ever since. We have months where we talk/text several times every day and then we go a few weeks and barely talk at all. It’s not because we are mad at each other or anything like. We are close enough friends that we don’t HAVE to be joined at the hip all the time. If I need her, I know where to find her. And vice versa. She knows all my deepest secrets and my most embarrassing moments, and she’s STILL my friend!
• My Louisiana family. I’ve got aunts and uncles and cousins in Louisiana that I see once a year, if I’m lucky. I always look forward for to the weekend of the Cantley reunion. If we all lived closer together, I know we’d all be friends and our kids would be friends. The #1 reason I love Facebook is because it allows me to stay in close touch with my LA family. Other than being obnoxious LSU fans, I can’t think of anything negative to say about them. (But I predict they’ll settle down around January 10th)
As I’m writing this, I can think of so many more things/people that I didn’t mention in the November blogs. I’ve got so much to be thankful for that I couldn’t possibly fit it all into 30 days. Look for me to sneak in a thankful blog every few weeks from here on out.
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