Life has been more than a little hectic lately. I haven't been able to post anything for a while because we've had so much going on. Let me catch up.
My work life has been a wreck recently. Our proprietary education sector is under a great deal of scrutiny these days because a large number of issues have happened over the last couple of years. We've suffered the consequences of many other people's poor and unethical decisions. This has caused very strict rules and restrictions on our corporation as a whole. Also, with the struggling economy, our enrollments have plummeted over that period of time. Because of all of these issues, our schools are teetering on the edge of being closed down across our corporation. Last week many of my coworkers were laid off due to the lacking performance of our business side of our corporation. Obviously, this was a big blow. It hurt to see the struggles they faced as well as to not have them around anymore. I have been in a whole other world in my mind this past month dealing with these issues. I'm finally starting to come out of my funk and realize there are happy things to look forward to with the holidays, etc around the corner. I am hopeful that things will start to look up for us here, but I have faith that no matter what happens it's in God's plan and I will ultimately be ok. I keep having to remember that because my selfish human side always panics when things look grim. I forget HE's in control of all of it! So, I might as well wait and see what He has in store for me.
In my personal life I've gotten to see a lot of my girlfriends lately which has been so nice. We were so wrapped up in wedding chaos the first part of this year that it seemed we had very little time to just hang out with each other. I'm grateful that I've had some good chat time, play time, and serious talk time lately. I needed that! I keep hoping that we'll remember each other even though we're all starting to get married and start families, etc. It's important to still keep your girlfriends close. Sometimes they are you only sanity! I have some pretty awesome ones, so I hope they stick around for a little while!
Since I'm finally pulling out of my daze, Dave and I decided to really tackle the house for this week. It had gotten really bad with the accumulation of junk from my moving in, going through every room in the house and getting rid of stuff, the changing of the wardrobes for the cold season, and just general house cleaning and laundry. We hit it so hard the other night it was crazy! It's wonderful that everything is clean and we can see our floors again!
We are hosting our first Thanksgiving as husband and wife this week. I'm excited to have everyone over because there's nothing I love more than to host a party. We're cheating a bit since my father-in-law is cooking all the hard stuff, but I am still contributing bits and pieces to the meal and am grateful to have the special time with my family. We are so blessed and sometimes we take it for granted. I for one know how amazing it is that we have the life we have. So many people don't have a family to celebrate with or have to take turns at one parent's house and another because they can't be together or get along, etc. Some people don't even have homes or a dollar to their names to cook a good meal. This time of year I'm in such a donating craze it's a mess. I am adding a dollar here and there and everywhere at stores and in buckets or with fundraisers to help any way I can. If I have it to give, it's going to happen.
I'm really looking forward to Christmas, too. I can't wait to decorate the house and start making crafts and goodies. Dave is a real tree lover, so we'll have to go pick one out soon and try to keep it alive all month. It smells so good to have a real one in the house. We always had real trees as a kid, so I'm very much a fan. I can't wait to get back to the office after Thanksgiving and put up my adorable cubicle tree, too! Gotta love Christmas!!!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Eat way too much and take time to thank God for everything you have and the special people you get to spend that time with. Now for the food!!!
