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We’re winding down to the last days of school, and with it, just a ton of things that have to get done. I got sunburned last week, and it was the worst sunburn that I’ve had since I was 12 years old. I hope I never again get sunburned as bad as I did that time – I was so sick that I was throwing up – but this time I was in pain for about 24 hours, and it now seems as though I’ve almost had an allergic reaction to the sunburn, because I have something that looks an awful lot like this – https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sun-allergy/symptoms-causes/syc-20378077 – in areas of my skin just past the sunburned skin. It’s not necessarily painful, but it’s annoying. Yet, there’s something to be said about being grateful for weather nice enough to be able to enjoy outside.

Speaking of weather, we had a couple of days of storms. I actually didn’t think we’d fared that badly, it seemed very ominous, including a yellowish sky, but we didn’t get any hail or tornadoes, and even the thunder and lightning was minimal. There was some rain, but the bulk of it was over in about 30 minutes. It was only the next day when I heard a lady who lives nearby say her power was out for seven hours that I understood that this was worse than what I thought. Driving around the neighborhood, there actually were a lot of broken and uprooted trees, and we had a second round of this on Friday night, causing more power outages, even on my street, but right here, the power stayed on the whole time and all the trees are good, so I’m thankful for that.

(It’s almost 10pm as I write this, and it’s 42℉ here. Yes, it got up to 80℉ one day last week, and was in the 70s a couple more days, but it’s been a really slow spring! I am thankful that it’s not blazing hot, but this is a little ridiculous!)

I met up with a friend last week whom I hadn’t seen since last summer. We didn’t go more than three miles from my house, but we had a blast. I even found a couple of torenia at the local nursery, and it’s one of the plants that if I see it, I will buy it if it’s not ridiculously expensive. Once, I even managed to get a bunch of seeds from my plants and got a batch the next year, but it’s been awhile since I’ve had them. I’m so behind on the yard that it isn’t even funny, but even having a few things to plant seems to be a beautiful thing. I’m grateful for the visit and the fun and the flowers of the whole day.

I’m grateful, too, for being able to get some sleep this weekend. Even apart from the sunburn (which doesn’t help), I’ve really been tired and dragging. I had plans to get a whole lot done this weekend, and it’s frustrating that I didn’t, but I’ve gotten a lot of sleep, and sometimes catching up on that is at least as important, I’d wager.

I’m very grateful that the school year for two of my kids is nearly over. So much of my time just gets eaten up in the car. I’m thankful I’ve got the radio and the Beatles to listen to, but not having to drive for hours every day in the summer will feel like such a relief!

In any case, I pretty much finished last week’s “Sunday Gratitude”, albeit late on Tuesday night, having worked on it both Sunday and Tuesday, and then I fell asleep on the keyboard again, and got frustrated enough that I never posted… The following is the post for last week:

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I am trying to rebuild the habit of writing, especially the gratitude posts, because if I don’t do these, I feel something in my soul become brittle. I’ve been struggling with prayer and such for awhile now, and I think I’m slowly coming out of it. I think simply being tired is a large factor; even with longer days and bright mornings, it’s so hard to get out of bed.

I was planning on mowing the grass last weekend (on the 2nd or the 3rd) and while cleaning in my bedroom, I stepped over a basket and then slipped putting my foot down on the other side. I wasn’t seriously hurt, but I did pull a muscle at the top of my leg that made both my knee and ankle swell up. It was kind of sore, but I was going to mow the grass anyway until I stood doing dishes the next day and realized that if it hurt that much just to stand for half and hour or so, mowing the grass probably wasn’t a great idea. “That’s okay, I thought, I’ll just mow on Tuesday afternoon.” Well, older son had a sports practice not at his school, and so I got to be the one to pick him up there, so there went the afternoon. On Wednesday or Thursday, I was out weeding with my youngest, and my one neighbor walked over and asked if I’d like him to cut the grass. I said yes. 🙂 The dandelions are having a field day, and it all needs mowed again already, but the help was much appreciated – especially since I ended up being busy pretty much all day Saturday as well.

I’m thankful for the little moments with my youngest, who is still convinced she can decide not to grow up and she can simply stay with me forever.

I’m thankful for free Culver’s custard scoops and a bike ride to get there.

I am grateful that despite Saturday kind of getting unexpectedly hijacked, the day wasn’t completely ruined. I am thankful for the love and kindness others show to my kids.

I’m grateful that I actually have some tulips this year!

Thank you all for reading, praying, and all that you do!

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