I have gratitude today for...
* Steve saying I could work from home. This winter has been crazy! It has snowed almost every weeks since Thanksgiving! I was thankful I didn't have to drive in the mess only to have to drive home in it several hours later. 
* spending some time on my blog this morning since I was up early enough that my work day hadn't started yet. I worked some more on the layout and read about a few more things I can do. 
* talking with Cat today. She had called a few times and I was unable to take her calls each time. It was great catching up and filling her in on what's been going on. She had lots of encouraging words for me. 
* having a beautiful view of the snow falling from my desk in the office. 

Loved watching the snow fall while I did my work today.

* finally ordering Jeffrey's birthday present from Amazon. I got him the game TROUBLE (one of my favorites as a kid) and a skateboarding "learn to read" book. 
* the letter Seane Corne shared written by a friend of hers who knew Phillip Seymour Hoffman. His death is so sad and such a wake up call to everyone about how destructive addiction can be. He was sober for over 20 years before falling apart about 2 years ago---such a heartbreaking story. I've shared it below...

It was 1992 and I was back in NY for Christmas to be with family and friends after recently moving to LA. Looking to maintain some level of sanity while hanging on to this relatively new thing called "sobriety," I had gotten my butt to an AA meeting in the village. It was nice to be home. NYC, but also NY's rooms of NA and AA. They had become a kind of "home" for me I had never really experienced before. Already 6 years clean and sober, every Holiday season still smacked me in the head like a 2 by 4. They kinda still do. 

Meetings let me know I wasn’t alone, and that I could help others to not feel alone. This teddy bear of guy with golden reddish blond hair and a slovenly Buddha belly shared he was moving to LA and a tad nervous about the whole thing. We spoke at the break. I told him I lived there and we swapped numbers. 

We had dinner that night with a bunch of other sober folks and for 22 years remained friends. I'd give anything right now to have another 22 with him, but last night he died of our disease.

Phil knew all my shit, and I knew his. The last 2 years he shared less and hid more, the way we can at times. I know that kind of shame all too well. It’s one fucking hard rock to get out from under. The thought of him leaving us that way brings it all back. 

Today I told my kids a little more about addiction and a little more of where I’ve come from. I told them I love them and they don’t need to worry. I’m their father first and their friend second. That I’m 28 years clean and sober and in a new place. I held them and they held me. It rips me to pieces that Phil won’t be able to do this with his. 

Yes, his creative genius was an inspiration to us all. But his struggle to be fiercely truthful in matters of the heart was what pulled me to him and still does. I guess they go hand in hand.

I love you brother… you’ll be missed by so many.

* sending Dad a message with links to some great articles I read today. I thanked him for having the strength to tackle each day and for keeping his sobriety his #1 priority. We wouldn't have the relationship we have today if he didn't. You can find those articles here and here.
* being able to get a refund for my ID Life membership. It may be a good opportunity but I just can't focus on it right now. 
* continuing to talk to people in my network who might be able to make connections for me. 
* hearing back from Robin M. She gave me lots of great info and I'm excited to see what happens. 
* chatting with Ed F. a little bit today on Facebook. We're going to get together sometime this week. 

I have gratitude today for...
* waking up without a hangover. After drinking beers and sweet tea vodka drinks last night, that's a win in my book!
* lounging around this morning- I woke up early so then I fell back to sleep and watched TV for most of the morning. 
* making potato soup for later at Mom & Dad's. It came out a little sweeter than last time. I'm not sure if it was the potatoes or adding the carrots. I think I liked it better last time but it still tastes good this way!
* Andy picking up a pizza for lunch. I think we've had a Rocco's pizza 3 or 4 weekends in a row. 
* DMB confirmations being posted! I don't get as excited finding out if we were declined or not because it's so easy to get tickets, BUT, I do get excited thinking about warm weather, seeing all of our friends and of course seeing the band! 
* Ian helping me out by sending me some info about our position at Global. 
* going to Mom & Dad's to watch the Superbowl. We had the potato soup as an app and then Mom made chicken quesadillas and fresh guac & salsa. Everything was very good! Andy won some money on a block pool that he joined last minute so that was exciting! The Superbowl itself was not exciting at all, I felt bad for Peyton and his teammates. What a bummer to make it to the big game and then to come out so flat. Bruno Mars put on a great performance, I seem to be liking him more and more. We ended up leaving midway through the 3rd quarter since the game was a blowout. We were both tired from being up so late last night. It was hard staying awake driving home. 
* getting the rest of the customers moved for work. I was very frustrated because the system was being very slow. What should have taken me 10 minutes took me about 50 minutes, but I did it. Although I don't feel any of my extra work, time or effort is being appreciated, at least I know I'm doing the right thing. 

I have gratitude today for...
* making fresh waffles for breakfast this morning. 
* thinking back to the day Jeffrey was born. It's so hard to believe he's 6 already. I miss them so much. 
* getting the house cleaned up---kitchen, floors, vacuuming, clothes put away. It felt good to get all of that done. 
* having a few orders come in for the TS Phi Sig fundraiser. 
* going to the mall this afternoon. I made a deal with myself that I'd only buy things with store credit or gift cards. I've been dying to go shopping but shouldn't be spending the money. I enjoyed getting out of the house and browsing all of the stores. I bought a cute sweater from Macy's, a tank top and work top from NY&Company, another work top from H&M and a beautiful dress from White House/Black Market. I wish I could afford/was willing to spend the money on clothes from there all the time. I absolutely love their clothing and it always fits perfectly!
* being able to return the two Yankee candles that had no wick with no problem. They have me a gift card for them so I wouldn't have to carry around two large candles while I shopped. 
* Kerry texting me and asking what we were doing tonight. We had made tentative plans to stop by their house tomorrow on our way to Mom & Dad's. She said they weren't doing anything and invited us over. I had already started making dinner so we wouldn't have gotten there until late---they ended up coming here. We had the best time!! Jim got to see the house, we had drinks and I made guac and salsa, and we played this really fun game called "Dicecapades". We were up playing until 3am! Oh my God anytime I'm with Kerry we stay up all night. So much fun but makes for a rough following day. We had many great laughs and good talks. Love them and hope we hang out with them more often!

Good times with great friends!

I have gratitude today for...
* Glennon's post on Momastery about teachers and bullies. I thought it was one of her best yet and important to share. If you'd like to read it, click here.
* ordering Yang Ming for lunch today with the girls. 
* having another good talk with Andy about everything that's going on at work when I got home. He made me feel better and reminded me it's the weekend and to not let things bother me during my days/nights off. He even had a beer ready for me when I walked in the door.
* leftover Carrabba's for dinner. 

I have gratitude today for...
* learning more about blog layouts and how to add the menus at the top of my blog. 
* ordering Primos for lunch. I'm obsessed with their chicken cutlet sandwich with roasted red peppers and broccoli rabe. Unfortunatly they left off the broccoli rabe (second time this has happened.) I sent a really nice email letting them know that I love their sandwiches and order pretty regularly, but I've been disappointed that this mistake has now happened twice. I received an email back from the franchise owner and it was one of the most impressive responses, customer service wise, I've ever seen. He was very apologetic, thanked me for my business and referrals, and offered to not only refund my money, but deliver a min-tray to the office one day next week. Now I want to give him even more business---what a way to treat your customers! There are many businesses out there who could learn from this example. I will be writing a seperate post about the experience. 
* Mia backing me up today---apparently we're not permitted to leave the office during the day. The fact that I left to pick up sandwiches (for everyone in the office) was made into a big deal. I can't even explain how stunned I am that things have ended up like this. 
* Andy ordering Carrabba's takeout for dinner tonight. It's been a while since we went there last and it was a nice treat. I didn't get home from work until after 7 so it worked out great not to have to make dinner. 
* watching American Idol tonight--I'm loving this season!