Grateful Friday

Long busy week and yet a short one since the kids were out of school Monday for a teacher work day. Lately I've been even more forgetful than "normal" so I'm going to have to look back at this week's calendar to try to remember all the things I'm grateful for that I told myself, "hey don't forget to put this in next week's Grateful Friday post".

This week, I'm grateful for:

• Having a fun day last Saturday at the Fishing and Boat Show with the family. And thankful for the nice lady that chased me out of the restaurant to return my forgotten purse.
• That our 16 boxes from IKEA were delivered on time and were quite easy to assemble and look very nice in my facelifted family room. Only one piece was damaged and the replacement is on the way.
• For my girls morning at my house Tuesday. In homage to the retro vibe hitting FB right now, we brought old pictures and laughed and ate and had a grand time!
• That my roots and my gray are gone and replaced with sparkling blonde tones.
• For the back-up camera on my van or else I think I would have hit 3 people today. I'm in a minivan people!! Even when I turn myself around I can't really see back there. If you see some white lights on the back of a 2500 lb mass of metal, it's getting ready to come towards you...don't step in front of it!!
• That our replacement windows are FINALLY being installed as I type!! The front of the house is done and I swear it feels warmer in those rooms and I can actually SEE OUTSIDE. It's like when I first got glasses and put them on and then you realize how bad it was before. I've been waiting for this for 2 years!! They are white and look so bright and clean, but they make the roof look even uglier than it already was (I hate the brown roof but it's only about 10 yrs old) :(
• For actually remembering to set my alarm a half hour early so I could get the kids to Pappy's house so he could take them to school for "Gabs with Grands", breakfast with grandparents before school. I don't think we did it at all last year. It's Grandy's turn next year!
• And last but not least...for all the snow that's on the way tonight :)))) After it's melted and gone, then BRING on SPRING!!!!

Grateful Friday

Today I am grateful that I know where all of my immediate family members are and they are healthy and alive and that I can pick up the phone and call them and talk to them if I needed to.

I am grateful that if my family or I want something to drink or eat, I can walk in to my kitchen and open the fridge and ample food and clean water is in there.

I am grateful that I had a warm soft bed and a home to sleep in last night.

I am grateful for all the people-military and civilian-around the world who, in the event of a tragedy, have the training and ability to drop what they are doing and immediately organize rescue and aid efforts.

Ugh

I am so NON-confrontational. Really mom, I'm not. But when it comes to my babies I guess I'll just have to make an exception. Among the many reasons I'm glad to have Abbie back at our neighborhood school is that she is keeping an eye on her little brother. In the 6 short days that she has been back, she has come home at least 3 days to tell me about a boy that has been shoving, kicking, and hitting Cooper in the afternoon bus line. It's a boy just down the street that we know. I was in a Bunko group with his mom and the mom I trade morning carpool with is one of her best friends.

Ugh, I don't want to make this phone call.

I waited the first week to get more info from Abbie and from Cooper. Over the weekend we had a "Bully Seminar". It was all about speaking up for yourself and when it's okay to defend yourself and that mommy and daddy would not be mad about that. But today when they came home and told me that Cooper got kicked again, I knew I had to make the call.

She wasn't exactly surprised. Mostly just disappointed that her son would be acting that way towards his friends...we did just go to his birthday party a few weeks ago. Also disappointed that the adults in charge of the bus lines were apparently not doing anything to discourage what was happeneing. Hmm, hadn't thought of that.

The phone just rang. It was her. She talked to her son and he admitted that, yes, he had been hitting and kicking Cooper, and other friends, for no good reason. She had me put Cooper on the phone so her son could apologize. It was a very nice gesture and I am hoping that this won't be a problem in the future.

I'm sure this is only the first time we'll be put in this type of situation. It was resolved in the best way I could have hoped for. And in the future I'm sure I will be longing for the day when we were just worrying about one of the kids getting "socked" in the arm.

Grateful Friday

This first full week of 2010 (do you say "twenty-ten" or "2 thousand ten"? I haven't decided yet) I am grateful for:

• Abbie has had a wonderful first week back at her old school. Feels like we are "back home". The program at the other school was an opportunity that presented itself, we gave it a try for 16 weeks and it wasn't the right place for her. So glad we made the right choice to bring her back to her old school.
• That Tim will finally be back home after a week out of town. That's the longest he's been gone in......well I can't remember. One of the kids actually asked me if he moved!!!
• My shopping trips to Charlotte this weekend. Saturday with Tim and Sunday with the girls.
• That I didn't accidentally schedule my hair appointment and my dentist appointment on the same day.
• For my new washer and dryer.
• That I am finally starting to feel better this week after being sick since the week before Christmas. Some kind of viral sore throat (2 trips to the doctor) then a sinus infection.
• Oh yeah, and Cooper is grateful that the tooth fairy remembered to come the 2nd night since she forgot to come the 1st night ;)