Thankful For The Little Things...

I started the day with making an omelet. 

For the dog.

I ate half, but the other half became the super sneaky way to get her to take her newest run of antibiotics. Excessive?  Yes. But she's crazy smart that one, and you can't even fool her with the same food each time, and it has to be time of day appropriate.  Like I can't hide it in a hot dog at 8 am. 

So I made an omelet. 

The girl has been having accidents every night at midnight. Coupled with excessive thirst, we took her to the vet as both are unheard of for her.  After chasing her through the neighborhood with a clean, fettuccini alfredo take out container, strategically catching pee, analysis shows bacteria galore.  But of course, she didn't respond to the easy to give one tablet a day antibiotic.  Nope.  Now she needs the huge one that smells funny so it's virtually impossible to hide.  Good times. Still, I am thankful we were able to get her to the vet and had the money to get her what she needs.

Thanksgiving was quiet, uneventful, and honestly, awesome.  I miss my parents but we can see them in a less chaotic setting later this month. I made two pies, turkey, potatoes, carrots, you know the basics. The kids were home for the most part, and Youngest made some attempts of being part of the festivities.  He's having a tough week.

We met with the lawyer on Monday as he a poor choice he has to account for from the summer.  For now we are hoping his character before the whole world unraveled will work in his favor and he can get a probation of sorts. It sucks, but accountability is a  huge part of being an adult, and hopefully this can be a catalyst for the change he needs. 

Last Saturday we spent the night on the side of the highway offramp waiting for the tow truck driver.  He was overzealous with his "new" car and the engine blew a head gasket.  Not much you can do to come back from that, so I spent Wednesday arranging to scrap it. Sucks that he's only had it a month, and he's put so much time and work into it, but it happens.  In the past I would have directed him on what to do, but instead I asked him if he wanted to handle it as an "I" thing or a "we" thing.  He asked me to handle the salvage and he'd look for a new car.  He hasn't looked at all yet, and I'm not looking for him.  If I don't push him, it puts him in control, which is something he says he wants, and I know he needs. 

He broke up with his girlfriend yesterday. I liked her, but he says he's just not ready for forever right now.  Which is a huge forward step. He's bummed about it, second guessing himself, but he's talking to me which is hard for him. I'm trying to listen and not judge, which is hard for me.

The core friends are all home for break, most until January.  The neighbor comes over everyday.  She's encouraging him to get clean. He's been out several times with his mentor, which he really needs.  He's filling out an application or having an interview daily, which is key for him moving forward, he's processed all his Amazon returns, and seems to have stopped most of his impulsive shopping.

I know better than to be excited, or even hopeful, but for today, I am thankful for the tiny steps he's taking. 

Bonus son stopped by for turkey.  It's the first time we've seen him in a month. Despite the 17 hour work day yesterday he's doing okay, which is something we are very thankful for.  We swung over to his condo the other night to drop off a Christmas gift we had picked up for him while he was at work, so today we had the "you can't live like that" talk. Pizza boxes, half eaten food, bags of recycling cans in the kitchen, etc. The hubs took the trash out for him, I knew better than to go in. My OCD would have kicked in and we'd have been there all night. We're getting him a new toilet (and likely tiling the floor) for Christmas.  Because nothing says Happy Holidays like a brand new potty. 

Oldest is trudging through his last few weeks of school.  He quit one of his jobs and is looking for something he can work through January when he goes back to the city. We are 80% sure he'll be returning to the dorms in January.  He needs the break from the chaos here and he needs the support of the study groups and his friends. While I'm not loving the price tag of in city living, it's his choice. 

The decorations went on the tree today. The boys unpacked the box of ornaments collected from every trip we've taken and photo ornaments of moments throughout the years.  It was nice seeing the memories get sparked as they were placed on the tree. Which makes me the most thankful of all, that we have had all those moments together. And that for now, we are still able to make more. 

The struggles have been very real lately. 

But our survival rate so far is 100%. 

And that is something to be very thankful for.