Two Hours Ago I Sat Down to Write a "Quick" List of Thankfuls, TToT Week 120

I've been sitting here for 30 minutes trying to come up with some way to intro this week's TToT. I've got nothin'. Soooooo...we're going straight to the thankfuls.

1. I think I can finally say I'm used to being at home by myself all day. While I would still prefer to have a young one with me during the day, I am not on the verge of tears anymore. I am seeing some benefit to this new lifestyle.

2. My parents, last time I checked, were both safe. My mom was on a cruise in the Bahamas this week. I normally don't call her when she's on vacation, but on Thursday, with no word or photos posted on FB since Monday, I was getting nervous. I had to text to make sure she wasn't being tossed around by Joaquin. She's not. They rerouted their return and managed to avoid any rough seas. My dad has been in Myrtle Beach all week. He's been posting regularly and should be able to fly out without a problem. I'll keep praying for everyone who is still on the coast and in the danger zone, though.

3. I actually had time to write two posts this week! It was good to get back to writing something besides the thankful posts.

4. In Thursday's post, I mentioned that we were able to see the eclipse. The best part was not the eclipse itself, but the time spent with Turken curled up on my lap to watch it. He was ridiculously excited to see it. His class had been talking about the moon for an entire month, even keeping a journal to watch it wax and wane. We had put the boys to bed with the promise of waking them up to see the eclipse, but Turken could not fall asleep. Finally, at about 9:45 I let him come outside with me. For almost an hour, the two of us sat outside watching the moon, listening to nature all around us, and talking about Neil Armstrong and all other things moon related. It was marvelous.

5. Monday was my last of three days working in the kindergarten room. It was a really good three days, but I'm glad it was only three days. I was exhausted at the end of the school day. I actually came home and told my kids to give me 10 minutes to myself. I was conked out on the couch within seconds.

6. Hey, did you hear that the pope was in the US last week? While I was basically glued to the Catholic channel on XM when I was in the car and on the computer at home, trying to soak up all that he was doing and saying, two teachers at our school (They're married.) and our parish's deacon were in Philadelphia. I am having so much fun living vicariously through them. They took lots of photos and even wrote a blog on the school's teacher webpage. To top it off, they brought back rosaries blessed by Pope Francis. One for each of their students. Lucky for us, Mrs. is Cuckoo's teacher and Mr. is Giant's. We are so fortunate to have these faithful, generous folks working with our children each day.

7. We are in the middle of soccerpalooza here at the coop. The high school teams have their county tournament, and with three kids playing on three teams (who keep winning), that has meant at least one game each and every night except today. When we add Turken and Giant into the mix, it means that we have had/will have 19 games, with the possibility of 3 more if the teams do well, in 9 days (last Saturday through this coming Sunday). Written down, it sounds like I'd be a crazy busy lunatic, but thankfully, it really hasn't been bad. The varsity teams play at the same place, back to back, during the tournament, so we haven't had to run all over the city. Each night, either Bryan or I went to the games, while the other took the home front, which ended up with half the practices cancelled anyway.

8. The end of the first quarter was this week. (Can you even believe how fast time is going??!?!) I am thrilled to say that all 6 of the kids are doing well. Long-time readers know how Phoenix was kicked in the behind by high school those first two years. This year, he is a different kid. He has not missed a single homework assignment this year, and it's not because we've been on his case the whole time. It has been a great year so far.

9. I managed to get Bryan's favorite red cake done today. With all of the soccer games, this was the first night we were all going to be home together for dinner and birthday cake all week. There was a bit of a major snafu when I made the icing, so I had to throw it all away and start over, but by golly I got it DONE! I won't have to make another one for a whole nother year.

10. As always (even though I don't always write it in my thankfuls), I am overwhelmed with how wonderful Bryan is. For the last many months, we have been letting the kids' schedules wear us down and had gotten into a horrible pattern of not taking time to pay attention to each other. On Sunday, we had a nice chat and recommitted ourselves to keeping the marriage first in the chaos. We've spent time alone each night this week, whether it's just 15 minutes in the kitchen while we clean up or a whole game of Scrabble while the boys watch football. We're being more attentive and less perfunctory in our hellos and goodbyes and discussions of how our time will be spent. It's been a great week.

I think it's only fitting to end a post without an intro without a closing, don't you? :)

Link up or leave a comment letting me know what has you saying thank you this week!

Have a lovely day!

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