cats and appreciation

this pic of jasper (aka lil jasper, raspy, tubby, jazzy) kills me. the cats, especially him, love to sit on any homework/paperwork that is being done, as cats are wont to do. he was helping the girl w/ her math homework and had to text his peeps for some help.

last october when the hubs and kids picked me up from work with this scrawny (then) kitten in the car i was a tad bit miffed because we already had two cats and two dogs and i really wasn't trying to start a menagerie. he was a bit skittish as a kitten, rescued as he was from being stuck underneath a fence. a year later he's packed on a few pounds and he's quite a character. he makes funny noises. he's curious and adventurous. until a few months ago he really wasn't a people cat in that he didn't want to be held or come and sit on your lap. the girl is making it her mission to change this by cuddling him every chance she gets. he now sleeps w/ her, much to her cat's chagrin (princess meow meow). since the girl has devoted most of her attention/affection to jasper, meow has become my cat and sits w/ me quite a bit in the evenings. last year when the hubs brought him home he had an idea that my cat wouldn't be around much longer, and he was right. it's been a year this month that rebel died. though i still miss him, i'm glad we have jasper.

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sometimes, when schedules get busy and life seems like there's always one more worry or one more thing to be done, you forget to be appreciative. i'm not just talking about being grateful for your circumstances, because they could always be worse, or grateful for your children or friends, but i'm talking about the hubs. while my day is filled w/ mostly mundane endeavors he's going through a pretty busy/rough time at work lately plus he's doing a lot of the shuttling the boy to karate. it used to be rare for us to have one on one time w/ our kids, but the hubs taking the boy to karate gives the girl and i time together and vice versa when i take the boy. however, this leaves little time for us, as a couple. sometime next week he's going to take a day off and hang out w/ me before the kids get out for christmas break, although the girl gets home at 2pm so we'll have to pack our fun into 6 hours : ) i think this is incredibly sweet because, with the way work is going right now, he really can't take off a lot of days for christmas, when the kids and i will be home together.

and, i really don't think i show it enough or tell him enough, how much i'm grateful for all that he does. it's stressful enough being the only breadwinner right now, but he juggles the finances with incredible skill. he's the one who stresses over the money, he makes it all work. and, when he sees me stressing out about it he totally takes one for the team and finds something positive to cling to. he finds hope and has a plan when it seems like there's no way either could exist.