One Lucky Girl

[cfred]

Maybe it's the sunshine that's finally come in our direction, maybe not. I feel in a very good, possibly even outstanding, mood today. The past couple of years have been horrendous.....bad breakup, broken finger, broken tooth, body covering poison oak, a couple good legal scuffles with litigious exhusband, lost a friend or two, screwed over, business shutting down, buying my new house, leaving my beloved rural home, putting my cat to sleep, daughter moving out of province, then daughter moving back, the move, losing clients, interviewing, cancelling my long awaited trip, screwed over again, 2 rounds of strep throat, uncle died, put my dog to sleep, worries about filling up and meeting mortgage payments....oh, and I can't forget the yellow jacket attack that landed me in hospital. All told, I feel that I've paid my dues and it's been a rough haul for many months now. One thing after another after another after another. It's funny how things just turn around.

Now I've got all but one space filled with 3 interviews this week alone. I'm signing a temporary family that will cover the time until whatever new client I snag can come in. My families are all wonderful. They were all from 'golden interviews' who I knew right in the first 10 minutes were mine. One client from my old location drives a substantial distance to keep her daughter with me as I'm the only one she wants taking care of her baby girl. When I had to call in for a third day with strep throat (previous 2 were for strep throat and a funeral) in the past 3 months, not one single person complained. Not one! They all wished me well and told me to get some rest. When I booked my vacation, no one wanted to know how I could make it easier for them. They all sent emails saying 'hurray', 'yippee' and 'have a blast!'. When I had to put my dog to sleep last month, they all sent their condolences and allowed me to leave their children (although sleeping) with my daughter while I walked him to the vet. They even offered me the day off, if I needed it to recover. One of my families is flying out to Cuba for their wedding on the same day and same time I'm flying to Puerto Rico in 2 weeks. They've offered to stuff me into their van at 3am with their 4 children and luggage so I don't have to pay for a limo. They've even asked for my flight details as they have family flying back in the evening when I come back and they may be able to hook me up with a ride home. No one ever complains about my supervision of the children, my policies, menu or anything really. In fact, they ask my advice frequently and actually use it. All I ever hear about is what a blessing I am to their families

Despite the crappy year I've just had, today I feel like one very lucky girl! It seems that Murphy and his stupid law has left my immediate vicinity