What I'm Thankful For - #24-28

Yes, I took the weekend off. Whoops!!

And here goes:

24. I'm SO glad that the pies all turned out FINE ... though, the apple was REALLY lemony (since I had not only lemon juice, but lemon ZEST in there as well. Still, the caramel topping was sweet enough, regardless.
And both Michael's brother, C, AND Mom C made sure to compliment me on my pecan pie (It's all from PioneerWomanCooks.com ... just make sure to cook it fully. It can take a while. 80 minutes in my case.)

25. Michael and I took the kids out rather late (after 9 AM) on Black Friday to drive up to the next big town and pick up a Shop-Vac.
We wanted the one on special -- $29 instead of $79.99. ... But, by the time we got up there, that model had sold out. :(
But Lowe's was really awesome and substituted another model ... one that regularly would cost $99.99 ... and they sold it to us for the same Black Friday price!!
So ... I'm very thankful to have saved $70 (instead of $50) by sleeping in! ^_^

26. I'm thankful for GPS on my phone, since we didn't really know how to get to all the stores in that town. :P
Which also implies that I'm VERY THANKFUL for my husband for getting me an unlimited data plan back when they were still available. ^_^ (Seriously, this last billing period? I've used over 100 MB of data. That could have been REALLY EXPENSIVE!!)

27. I'm grateful for naps. I was so tired on Sunday. Exhausted.
And Michael drove me home after we took the kids to Primary, dropped me off so I could crawl into bed (where I was dead to the world for nearly two hours), and he went back to church (in case he had to teach the lesson ... but, thankfully, the teacher DID have a substitute lined up), and brought the kids home ... AND he let me have quiet time while he fed the kids and kept them entertained.
(Which means that I'm THISCLOSE to finishing a book. Which I will do after the kids go to school.)

28. I'm grateful that we have our Christmas tree up and decorated. And that we've started listening to Christmas music (Michael's a purist who wants to wait until AFTER Thanksgiving to start the Christmas season. And I understand that. Even though sometimes I get antsy and all "We Need a Little Christmas" before Thanksgiving Day.) ... Even though I'm all hormonal and started CRYING while singing Christmas carols Friday morning. No, really.
And Michael had to explain to the kiddos that "Mommy just really loves Christmas" as I surreptitiously wipe my eyes and grab Kleenex to blow my dripping nose. ... Yay, pregnancy hormones ... you make it THAT much harder to get through the holidays without being all blotchy and moist.

28.1 - BONUS: I'm grateful that, although it's gotten pretty cold outside, I was able to listen to birdsong on my (short) walk back from taking the kids to the bus. It made me happy.
And it was cute to see Freyja-cat observing the birds flittering about as she peeked through the curtains.