Thankful for rain

Thankful for the rain God has sent. While I HATE being cold and wet out in the rain, it is much needed. Nothing better than listening to the rain hitting the windows, creating a great sleeping environment and taking care of the drought.

Now, off to sleep to enjoy the gentle rain!

Thankful for my dogs

I know it sounds silly, and that there are more important things to be thankful for, but hey, I still have 24 more days!

Kobe is our sweet black lab we got in April 2000, before we had kids. So she's coming up on 12 years...and it's showing. She's losing weight, her spine is sticking out, her legs aren't sturdy, she has sores and bumps on her body. We've started calling her "old lady." Yesterday she slipped on the hard wood floor and couldn't get her footing. She sleeps a lot. But I'm very thankful for her...she was the first dog I ever had. I taught her all sorts of tricks when she was a puppy, and she will still (begrudgingly) do them. When I was put on bed rest with Macy (for a MONTH) I laid in bed and read, and she would lay next to me. I talked to her, and she kept sane while I was slowly going crazy from laying on my left side for a MONTH. She's a sweet, sweet dog and I'm thankful for her company.

Gabe is our hyper American Eskimo we got a few years ago. It was just after Bobby had started at the fire station, and him being gone at night was causing me stress. I couldn't sleep. Enter Gabe: the barking dog. I knew if anyone tried to get in our house, that dog would bark his head and let me know. He brought me piece of mind, and I'm thankful for that. He follows me around, and is never far from me. One of my favorite things to do is leave a room and go downstairs with Gabe following, then go right back in that room, just to make him follow me. I'm thankful for the piece of mind he has given me.

I'm also thankful for the joy these two dogs have brought the girls. Watching the girls interact with my two other babies is a joy. 

You non-dog people won't understand the above post, and that's okay. You dog-people will. And I have 24 more thankful days to talk about the deep stuff.

Thankful for extra sleep

Tonight I'm thankful for the extra hour of sleep I will get. Seems like I can't get caught up on sleep, can't take naps during the middle of the day, so I'm looking forward to this extra hour. The girls had friends over last night, so they stayed up late and woke up early.

Good night! Enjoy your extra hour of sleep!

Thankful for health

Tonight, as I listen to the girls and their friends run, scream, jump, laugh, fake barf and fake seizures, I am so thankful they are healthy. They rarely get sick (I just tempted fate, didn't I?) and if they do, rebound quickly. I believe very strongly this because we are not germaphobes. They are healthy, strong, well-cared for and I'm thankful for that.

Thankful for my sweet Macy

As Macy gets older, her bedtime is getting later. Gone are the days when I could send them to bed at 8 and watch TV/grade papers/have computer time. Kaylin will fall asleep relatively quickly, but Macy struggles. On the nights Bobby is at the fire station, she will sometimes stay up with me until 10 or 11. I'll take my computer or papers upstairs, and she'll lay in bed with me and read.

I'm so thankful for the special time I have with her--sometimes I have to remind myself not to get antsy and get mad at her for staying up late, but to be thankful that she wants to be with me and wants to talk. She can be snotty all.the.blessed.day.long, but those tender moments at night when it's just me and her, with her feet pushed up against mine, she'll let me know what is bothering her, what happened at school, what she's looking forward to, or just read to me funny parts from her book.Not a snotty word out of her mouth when it's just me and her like this.  One of these days she won't want to do that anymore, so I'm relishing the time I have with her, and am thankful for those precious stolen moments.

Thankful for caring students

In addition to blogging every day to get myself out of this blogging rut, I'll be posting something I am thankful for. It's killing two birds with one stone, and I'm all about doing two things at one time to save time. And I'm all about old vague aphorisms like "killing two birds with one stone" and "the early bird gets the worm" and such.

Today was my birthday, It was nice day. Bobby sent me roses, several co-workers gave me treats, and we had dinner together as a family. I'm thankful for that.  I'm also thankful for the wonderful students I have. One reason I enjoy teaching is the close connection I get with the students. While most people can't stand teenagers, I (for the most part) get along really well with them and have a lot of fun together. Today they really made my day special.

A student texted me at 6:01 am to say she was going to QT before school and would bring me a Coke for my birthday.

My newspaper kids had a surprise party for me, complete with cookies, brownies, a chocolate sheet cake, a homemade card they all signed, and a gift certificate for $70 to Dick's Sporting Goods.

I received tons of emails, cards, and tweets from them, and all day anytime a current or former student saw me, they told me happy birthday, complete with yelling it down the hallway in front of everyone.

7th hour sang to me about 4 times, loudly, off key, and more of a round than a normal song.

I'm thankful for such wonderful, caring students who care about an old teacher like me.

Trick or Treat!

Here's my Black-Eyed Pea and Hermonine, Halloween 2011.

And here's the crew that went trick or treating together. It was awesome having such a big group--kids got to be with their friends, it was easier to keep track of the kids, and parents had someone to talk to. I LOVE that we have so many kids in our neighborhood about the same age--there were many that weren't in this picture.

Happy Halloween!