Today I am thankful for... #5

I want to get in the habit of posting more often. I know at the end of last year I was really bad about staying up with it. Dare I call this a resolution? 😂🤨😆 There are SO many people that have been important to me during my life that I want to acknowledge.

Today will be my 5th post listing a friend in my life that I am grateful for. I will continue to do posts periodically thanking the many special friends that God has blessed me with. As I said before, this is in no particular order at all... I love all of my friends and family SO much and I don't want anyone to think that you are not special to me! 🙏

Today I am thankful for... Janet! Or as I like to say in the Pennsylvania Dutch accent, "Chanet"!

I first met Janet in 2012 when I started to work for the same accounting firm that she worked at. I don't think she was super excited to meet me at first... When I got the job, they decided to give me a start date that was the same day Janet just got back from a week long vacation. As they introduced me to her, I could tell that she was annoyed that they were giving her a new employee to train right after she got back (for the record, I would have been super irritated as well if I was in her situation). In my head I was like "oh great, my new co-worker already hates me!". Luckily, that was just a small bump in the road and she has been a great friend ever since. I don't miss working in public accounting and doing tax seasons, but I do miss having Janet just a few feet away from me. In our time working together, we had many, many laughs.... most notably Sweet Brown's "

Aint Nobody Got Time For That

" quote.

When we worked together, I brought with me the tradition of "Fattie Friday" that was started at my last job (Thank you, JEF!). Since Friday was Janet's day to work at home, we made the slight change to "Fattie Thursday". As the name implies, that was the specific day of the week that we would eat a fattie, greasy, unhealthy lunch (as if I needed an excuse to do that). We always had a super hard time deciding where we wanted to eat so we, along with our other coworker, Jessica, would rotate through who had to pick. I went through the calendar and wrote the names on each week so we would know when it was our turn to pick and we'd have time to think about it... Janet, Jessica, Jerilyn, Janet, Jessica, Jerilyn, etc. Now that we don't work together, we will periodically text each other pictures of our food if we happen to be celebrating fattie Thursday or Friday (or Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday🤣😇😲) . One thing Janet and I had in common food-wise is that we both don't like mayo, and everyone seems to think we are weird because of that.

In addition to our laughs together, we have also had many heart to heart conversations. Janet has known me through my relationship struggles, my depression and anxiety, and my dad's death and was a steadfast friend throughout it all. We share the same faith and I always value Janet's knowledge of the Bible and the conversations we have when I'm struggling to figure our or understand the "whys" of life. She doesn't sugar coat things and will give me her honest, straight-up opinion. Even if she says something she knows might not be what I want to hear, she will tell me in a way that is still compassionate and caring. She'll also be one to challenge me to step outside my normal habits or thinking. Oh, and she has no problem picking my ass up and making me interact with the world when I am in the depths of depression and want to stay in bed.

It has been a true joy to get to know Janet, her husband, and her two sweet daughters throughout the years 💗