Sunday Gratitude – 23.VII.2023 – Outside

This was another week that seemed to fly by, despite the fact that it’s been a tough one mentally. I am hoping that the visit by the plumber fixed the issue, and I’m lined up this next week to have the car looked at, then there’s finding a carpenter or window guy, but I’m trying to avoid getting too bogged down in it all. I’m very, very grateful that it appears this issue was a small one.

We missed church today; for the life of me, I couldn’t sleep, and I didn’t get myself to sleep until about 5am. This is absolutely not conducive to getting up, getting ready, waking kids up, and getting to church by 10am. I always feel bad about these things, but it would have been downright dangerous to try to drive on less than four hours of sleep.

It was warm enough that I put the pools out for the kids to play in on Wednesday or Thursday. I went around and pulled a lot more weeds, especially thistles. Even in the midst of some real difficult things, the sunshine and the improvement in the look of the yard are things I am thankful for, and helped improve how I was feeling a little bit.

This afternoon, a former classmate of one of my kids had a birthday party; it was a fairly low-key thing, but I stuck around since my kids were being kind of shy to begin with. It was absolutely gorgeous; sunny and about 78. The kids ran around and played in the pool or the sprinkler or with the swings and sand. It’s been a tough year for them as well, and to be able to enjoy the day and the camaraderie of time and place was really nice. I am grateful that I got to experience that, and I am thankful to the one child who was there who wasn’t thrilled about it, that he didn’t complain too loudly about the visit taking “too long”.

I am grateful that I’m in contact with a priest who actually sent me a note asking how thing are going. Mind you, I know a lot of priests, and a few are even friends, but I don’t expect that. At some point, some sort of better situation in regard to church must be ironed out, but his note reminded me that it’s possible for things to improve on that front as well.

I am grateful that I got to chat with an old friend for awhile. It’s really been too long! (She had actually tried to text me a few days back, but the text didn’t get through, and somehow I just got the idea on Friday that I ought to call her. Coincidence?)

I am thankful for toddler kisses and silly stories, mispronounced words, and kids who still see the world with wonder. I’m grateful to rejoice in little things with them no matter how crazy the world is all around; the joy of finally climbing up to the top of a slide that was formerly too hard to do alone, “flying” on a zip-line, etc.

I am thankful for each one of you, for reading, for those who share their writing as well, and for those of you who support this blog in whatever capacity, even if it’s with a random “hello!”

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