I've been thinking...

The past couple of days I've kept thinking of how blessed I am. My brother lost his job at USU on Friday and I can't help but wonder what I can do to help. He's got a little girl about 7 months older than Pearl and both him and his wife are trying to finish up school. I worry about my dad's job at USU and my in-laws financial situation (my grandma told me that you marry rich or stupid and well...neither one of us married into $$$). Stupid economy, stupid greed in our country that created this whole mess. It makes me sick to my stomach if I dwell on all the negative you hear on the news everyday. I tend to worry, a lot, about everything, especially about what would happen to me or my family members if they lost their jobs and now it's happened. I complain way too much about everything but having this happen to my little bro has really stopped me in my tracks and helped me realize how truly blessed I am. Jeff and I both finished school without too much debt and in a few months I'll get my masters degree. We found good jobs and as of now, aren't too worried about losing them anytime soon. We have a beautiful house that keeps us warm and safe - cracks, air leaks, and all. We work with really wonderful people who care about what they do and have made lifelong friends there. I get to work part-time with fabulous benefits and better pay than I had in my previous job. I can go to school, play with Pearl more, and still pay our bills (ok so Jeff pays most of the bills but hey he makes more than me). We don't go without anything necessary in life. Sure we have our list of things we want to have but have learned to be careful with our money and try to save for a rainy day, as small as our savings account seems to be nowadays. We always seem to find that extra money for the many car repairs, new set of tires, broken furnace, and clothes for our growing pip-squeak. I take for granted so many things...my freedom, a computer, the ability to get an education, warm slippers, food in the cupboards, a stroller to go on walks with Pearl, and much more. But the best part of this whole economic mess we're in? I have a bigger desire to help my family than ever before. I'm not sure what they need or how we'll get through this but somehow we will.