THANKFUL FRIDAY

I am forcing myself to take a moment to show gratitude for the good things that happened this week. It kind of feels like all those times Jessica's mom made us sit down at her kitchen table and write Thank You notes for 4-H stuff. During the summer. When there was outside and Popsicles. Cue the slumping of shoulders and "gah" sound coming from my open mouth. My vacation starts NOW! Talaura will be here TOMORROW! There is a very neatly placed sheet of plastic and Duct tape covering the hole in our shower wall. Michael has done an excellent job of cleaning up the piles of clutter that had accumulated around the house. He even made veggie stock. While I've been at work every day fretting about how I was going to get all the things done, he's been at home doing all of the things. This is where I slap myself and say "Oh yeah...I don't have to do all of the things all by myself any more". Golly is that a hard one to let go of. Teachers tend to not work in the summer. I can ask Michael to do chores. Dur. It's easy to be thankful for that whole having a person to help me out with chores and life and what not. I am thankful for that, but what I'm really thankful for is his willingness to do these things. In fact he insists. Every day he asks me "what can I do today?" and more often than not he gets that task accomplished. I am also mindful that he has things that he wants and needs to do for himself. So when I give him a chore, I give him one chore. Like just clean the bathroom today or run the vacuum. I don't want to take away from the things he wants to do, but I also have a hard time giving up tasks that I think I have to do because I'm the only one that can do it. We're both learning. I am thankful that he insists. I am thankful that he is so willing.

What else? That spider bite is no longer spreading across my entire arm thanks to the doxycycline (you know they give that to people they think have Lyme disease?!?). I'm thankful that my arm is not going to rot off. Since I'm usually in the doctor's office this time of year for poison ivy, I'm thankful I don't have poison ivy. I am thankful for scooter rides and outside yoga practices. I am thankful for the texts sent back and forth between me and Katrina. I'm thankful for avocados (I feel I've eaten several this week). I am super thankful for this vacation and this time we'll have with Talaura. I am thankful for Turayis turning 40! She may not be as thankful about that, but I think 40 is awesome. I'm thankful for pictures of babies that make me laugh and laugh. And I'm thankful for you.

Things will be light around here next week. I might get a video post in, but mostly I'm going to be spending a lot of time being a tourist in my own country. Have a great weekend and a truly Thankful Friday.