Ten Things of Thankful: Week 18

So…this week-end I am completely unavailable (try not to cry too much when you don't see any comments from me until next week...I promise I'll get to it, but not as quickly as usual!) I am serving at a Women’s Retreat (The Great Banquet…have you heard of it?); I actually left on Thursday afternoon and will return home Sunday night.

I hope Christine remembers to link me up, but if not and you notice that I’m not linked, please feel free to help a girl out.

And with that, I quickly (well, I wrote it kind of quickly…time being a precious commodity this week and all) but it may not read quickly.

With that, we are off:

1. I am thankful (again) for my steam mop. I’ve written about it at least once, if not more than once. Who wouldn’t be thankful for a steam mop? I guess someone who doesn’t have floors…so I’m thankful for the floors too.

2. I am thankful for Saturday morning cleaning times when everyone pitches in to help…and I am so glad that I am not in a marriage in which my husband expects me to do all the cooking and cleaning and everything around the house, plus shuttle the kids to and fro their activities. And also homeschool the PBA. That arrangement works for some couples and that is fantastic…but it wouldn’t work for this one. Just sayin’.

3. I am thankful that the boys are learning how to clean and be self-sufficient. (They’re not quite ready to be launched, but we are creeping toward the finish line; I know it will be here before I am ready!)

4. I am thankful that I can go away for a week-end and know that all my “boys” will be ok…although it does make me feel like I’m not needed. But I did leave an itinerary for them, as well as a fridge stocked with food and a schedule for each day. (Maybe they are not as self-sufficient as I thought and do kind of need me.)

5. Shock of all shocks…last Saturday night we stopped on the way home from my 12yo's soccer game and picked up some donuts for the next morning. We bought ½ dozen donuts, as did my dad…but my dad’s total was about $1 more than ours. But the men didn’t discover this fact until we were back on the road.

And then to make matters worse, when we got home and opened the bag to put the donuts in a more air-tight container than the wax-paper bag provided by the donut shop, we discovered why our total was less: we only had 5 donuts. And the donut we were missing was one of the two which the 10yo had chosen. We went ahead and told him that night so as to avoid the weeping and gnashing of teeth on Sunday morning, as we were preparing to go to church.

And here’s the thankfulness part: on Sunday morning, my 12yo offered to split one of his two donuts so that each of them would have 1 ½ donuts. WOW! Growth! Maturity! Thoughtfulness! And from my child toward his brother. All kinds of thankful.

6. I am thankful that when I have conversations in my head (or I replay conversations in my head) that Mr. Always Random doesn’t even pay attention and makes no comment. How would he know what’s going on in my head and thus be able to comment? Because sometimes I actually speak out loud or my facial expressions show what I’m thinking. Yes, I will make facial expressions to go along with thoughts I’m having. Apparently I wouldn’t be very good at Poker (or any card game for that matter).

7.  I am thankful for the rainy & overcast day last Sunday, which allowed the slacker in me to kind of laze around and not feel too guilty about it.

8. I am thankful that one day this week, I asked my 12yo to fold some laundry while he was waiting for his brother and I to finish science so that we could all move on together with another subject. He obliged without even so much as an eye-roll. And THEN he proceeded to deliver all the folded laundry to the respective owners and/or locations (napkins to the kitchen, etc…and yes, we use cloth napkins. We are so high-brow.)

 9. I am thankful that my 12yo is at least considering playing basketball. For the past two winters, he has been on the fence and never got off it in time to get signed up. This year, again, he’s on the fence. But here’s the thankfulness part: his brother (you know…the 10yo) has been telling him what a great player he is and how all these other people think he’s great and that he should “totally play”. Wow…it’s kind of like he’s encouraging him…who knew that could happen?

 10. I am thankful that I am finished with this list…I haven’t missed a hop yet and I wasn’t going to let being completely unavailable for 4 days keep me out of the loop.

Have a glorious week-end!

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