HOWEVER, on Thursday I was grateful that for the first time in many, many months, the stars aligned for Brandon and I to go to lunch together. We have had some sporadic date nights in the last several months, so catching a mini-date on a Thursday afternoon was very nice. We even scored a second mini-date that night at Osmond Designs with Teresa who is helping us pick out some furniture and accessories for our home. (Not that I dislike having a massive TV on a tiny box in the center of the largest wall in our main living space. It hasn't been bothering me at all!)
I was also grateful on Thursday to spend an hour in Rachael's kindergarten class, which was just about the sweetest hour I've spent in a long time:
I am grateful every day that I still have at least one little munchie. Obviously, I love all of my kids--and every stage has its pro's and its con's--but there is just something about children who are still young enough to be totally devoid of any self-consciousness. That doesn't seem to hit until about age 8, so I am trying to soak up every last little moment with this one in her complete and utter guilelessness. She is constantly pretending to be some type of animal (lately it's either a cheetah or a lemur, and she always says she's half human and half cheetah/lemur/whatever), but I think she gets frustrated by the inability to be all of her favorite things at once so today she made the announcement, "Mom! (very excited), I'm half of everything in the whole wide universe!" She has such a strong imagination. I think more than any of my other kids. If she says/imagines it, it simply IS and she totally believes it. Also, today at church the speaker said something about "playing catch up" which every adult totally understands, but Rachael looked up at me with the cutest face, laughing, and said "playing ketchup . . ." like he was the funniest guy in the world to say something so silly. Anyway, I'm just grateful I still have a little one at home! (Especially when other things that I'm NOT grateful for happen with the older, not so guileless kids . . .)
On Friday, I was grateful to finish my weekly post by noon even though I didn't start it until that morning, and I had many interruptions, and I felt zero inspiration. (Was grateful Rachael had a friend over to keep her company!) I've had a few nice comments posted about it so I (kind of ) feel like the agony was worth it. As Billy Joel said about songwriting, "I love having written, but I hate writing." I really feel that sometimes.
As always on Friday, I was grateful for a few solitary hours of vegetation in the afternoon with my DVR'd friends of Parenthood. (SO surprised to find out via Facebook that the twin babies of one of my friends from L.A. are taking turns playing the part of little Aida Braverman! And did anyone else think when they first announced the name that it sounded like "Ate a Braverman"?) It's the only show I actually sit down to watch outside of psycho news programs and the Food Network (which I just use as background noise). I know it's ridiculous to list my lone hour vegetating with my favorite TV show as something to be grateful for, but I thoroughly enjoy that happy little brainless respite at the end of my week.
And then I was grateful that night that everybody had a friend. Kate went to the movies with one of her good friends, and Will, Elizabeth and Rachael all had one or two friends over at our house. We aren't always the most social people in the world, so it makes me happy to see my kids having fun with good friends. Friday night pizza:
On Saturday I was grateful to be able take care of a ton of bizness in the morning which I've been putting off forever, like ordering Elizabeth's school pictures after failing to turn the paperwork in to the school on time--stuff like that. Doesn't it just feel good to take care of annoying business like that? Nice to have a slow Saturday morning to be able to do it.
I was also grateful to go back to Osmond Designs again that afternoon to make some final decisions. I can't wait to fill some of the empty spaces in our home!
And then that night I was grateful to have a full house AGAIN! Elizabeth had a little party with most of the girls from her class, and Will had the same friend come back over. The dynamics of those two groups got a little interesting at times. Maybe it was all the junk food:
Today I was grateful for the great talks and lessons at church. I always feel better after a day full of Mormony Mormon-ness (otherwise known as CHURCH--I'm serious). And I'm grateful to be the mother of Kate who can make "doodles" like this while sitting in church:
Are you kidding me? This is her DOODLE?
And I can't even say how grateful I am for Brandon who works so many long hours. I felt especially grateful today when he left church right after teaching his lesson to Will's class to go on a 24-hour trip to Maryland to watch some guy do something during some kind of surgery so when he does that same kind of surgery he'll know how to do that same thing. (Like those details?) He really does put in some crazy hours and he has been on the brink of getting majorly sick for the last week or so as a result. I am really, really grateful for my husband who works so hard for our little family.
With Brandon gone and me being a little more tired than usual, the evening got a little out of control as I went into resignation mode and the little girls ended up going wild with hair and make-up. But I'm still grateful to have little girls who like to do hair:
Night, night!
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