I was having a rough week last week and during the beginning of my week before I started to call it “hell week” I stopped myself and told myself that I was going to stay positive and not let things upset me.  I tried very hard to keep that positive attitude.  I also told myself that I have it VERY good.  Compared to others, my life couldn’t be better!   I have a beautiful family, I have a beautiful home, I have a job, a car, my kids are doing well in school and sports, I have a loving husband, I have my health, we are all healthy (well the children are at least).

As the week went on, I tackled my challenges as they came my way.  One of the things that I was dreading was my trip to New Jersey.  I had to teach a virtual class all day on Wednesday in East Hartford and then I had to drive back home from work; pack up, have dinner with my family, and then drive to New Jersey.  I was dreading the drive because it was going to be after 7:00 at night and lately when I was travelling while tired I was having difficulty driving.  I was anxious about that.  I don’t mind driving places.  I enjoy listening to my podcasts and having time to myself.  But I was scared to make the drive at night.  Especially in an unfamiliar area.

The positive thought I had was that while in New Jersey, I was going to have the chance to visit my friends Joe and Melissa Pardo.  So again, I kept trying to make the best of the situation.  I drove to NJ, missed an exit and drove around Newark airport and then arrived to my hotel around 10:30 p.m.  At that point I was so wired up from the drive that I didn’t get to sleep until close to 1 a.m.

The next day, I arrived to the facility where I was doing the training.  The beginning of class was bumpy with technical difficulties and was getting off to a very rough start.  I took a deep breath and told myself I was going to get through it.  I thought I was teaching 6 people online and 6 people in the class.  When I arrived to the small conference room I was annoyed when I learned that there were no students in the class.  Then two people arrived, I had at least two people in the room.  Ok then it wasn’t so bad.  I pulled out some magic and had a good class for the day with a decent class review.  Then it was off to dinner with Melissa and Joe.

I had a great night with Melissa and Joe at the Cheesecake factory in Cherry Hill, NJ.  We talked and had dinner and spent over 3 hours visiting with each other.  I am so grateful for the friends I have gained from runDisney events to be able to hook up with a friend in just about any state to share a meal with someone.

On my way home from dinner I called my family and was told that my husband’s uncle passed away.  We knew he was sick and didn’t have much time left; but he passed much faster than expected.  I was also told that my mother-in-law was suffering from dementia even worse in the past weeks and my father-in-law was under a lot of stress with her health and the loss of his brother.

The next day during a break from class I took a walk outside and saw a beautiful pond with geese on a sunny, beautiful day and took a few minutes to myself to enjoy the view and to feel grateful.  Sure, I wished I was home with my family but I was making the best of the situation.

The drive home was going to take a long time.  It was a Friday night driving north through NJ, NY and CT and the GPS was right.  It was over a 4 hour drive home.  But when I arrived home, I was thankful.  I enjoyed some time on the couch with the kids and watched the America’s Got Talent Final episode and we all climbed into bed happy.

This weekend we had the pleasure of attending our nephew Stephen’s wedding to his beautiful wife Shirlie.

We also had the joy of watching our baby girl Adrienne have another win with her softball team.  The weather was perfect for both events this weekend.

Then we attended our town’s fundraiser for my son’s good friend Lyla who is battling cancer yet again.  It makes me grateful that I have many things to be grateful for and I am more than happy to help out this wonderful family and little girl who has spent time playing with my son since they were in kindergarten.

Suck it up buttercup, Many others don’t have it as good as you, so be grateful for what you have and think twice about complaining about things.  It’s something I have been chewing on for a few days now.