This has been one of those weeks that has moved through the days quickly and so as I get to Friday, I look up and say "Wait...wasn't yesterday Monday?". This leaves me with little time to really reflect on gratitude. I feel like I wasted any free time this week, squandering it all on couch time and TV watching. Which I know is technically not true because dinners were made this week and cleaned up afterward. I was on the treadmill twice a day and my yoga mat and I even renewed my CPR certification. Yet, I still feel like maybe I should have cleaned the bathroom on Tuesday or started a load of laundry on Wednesday. Instead, my Thursday evening was spent trying to get all of these things accomplished before we leave for mom's today. We are spending the weekend in the Tulsa area this because J's oldest, JR, is graduating high school. My great-nephew is graduating high school. Typing that makes me sound like I just turned 108. There are some days where I feel like I must be at least that old or maybe it just seems like I've lived a reeeaaaallllyyyy loooooonnnnngggg time. Any way, I remember this one time when most of the whole family went to Silver Dollar City. Mom, dad, Randy, Katrina, me, Chris and JR. We rode over in Randy and Katrina's van and I sat next to JR who was little bitty and we laughed all the way to Branson. Then we took him into the crooked house where he couldn't stand up because he was so small; the tilted floors threw his center of gravity. He'd stand up and then immediately fall over and it was the most hilarious thing I'd ever seen. We also played the five-more-bites game where he ended up throwing a fit over eating a piece of toast or not eating toast. We had just been trying to get him to eat anything, but NOOOOOOOO!!!!! Forget it. These were the days when he still had a mess of curly blond hair and the two of us shared the exact same giggle. Now he is driving a car, working at Mazzio's, and graduating high school. He is practically a grown up. Where's my shawl and cane?!?

I am thankful for those moments of laughter we have shared. I remember that time both JR and Thomas ended up in the backseat of my car and as Chris and I drove them to Randy and Katrina's house, Chris and the boys managed to change every Star Wars character name to something with "fart" in it. Darth Farter. Fartbacca. Oh how they all thought this was the most hilarious thing. The word "fart" is the funniest word on the planet and I am so thankful for those memories. I am thankful that I have been able to be a witness to this boy's life and I can't wait to see the places he'll go, the path he will take. I am also thankful that we are using this weekend to celebrate Mother's Day and most all of us are getting pedicures. I've been purposefully (not at all) neglecting my toes for this very reason.

What else? I am thankful for cheesy grits with shrimp. I am thankful for things we've eaten straight from the garden. I am super thankful to Shannon for taking time out to renew my CPR certification. And, as always, I am so thankful for you. Here's to a proud graduating weekend and a super Thankful Friday!