My Pants Are Broken And Other Thankfuls

This Season of Large Life Events is about halfway over. Some days I think, it's ONLY halfway over and others, it's ALREADY halfway over. Kind of a glass half full or half empty way to look at it, but since I am forever a half full kind of gal, it makes it so much easier to come up with thankfuls!

We had lovely weather most of the week, and it was even warm enough for my little nugs to be barefoot in the sandbox.

I was gifted a package of Peeps. I had planned to save them but ended up pounding them down in a stress-eating frenzy, but they were delicious while they lasted.

This thankful is for one of my little nugs: all of my denim capris are too big for me (okay, that part is a thankful for me) and also very old and wearing out on the knees (I am down on the floor a lot at school). Two pairs have worn through at the knees and now the knees have ripped out, which is a look people pay A LOT of money for in the stores, and mine are completely natural. ANYWAY, I have continued to wear them, because I only had another couple of pairs with the knees intact; however, one of my little boys has been very concerned about the condition of these capris. When he first saw them, he said, "Dillon! Your pants are broken!" and continued to ask me about them about a thousand times. Last week, I bought not one, not two, but THREE new pairs - no holes! He did not notice when I wore my new "unbroken" pants, by the way, in case you wondered.

My daughter was invited to join Phi Beta Kappa. According to a quick Google search, just over 1% of college seniors are invited to join. She wouldn't have accepted it, had they not also sent a letter to our house that I intercepted, because she thought is was one of the many scam "honor societies" that she has been invited to join since she was in middle school. Two thankfuls right there!

Friday afternoon, my baby girl graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arkansas honors college with a B.A. in Political Science and Journalism and with a 4.0 GPA. She was in a sorority, volunteered, and was involved in several campus activities, including serving as Secretary of the student government this year, and wrote and defended an honors thesis on the Covid vaccine. She rocks.

The University of Arkansas takes their Covid protocol VERY SERIOUSLY. There are 8 colleges within the University. These were divided into TWENTY different graduation ceremonies and held at venues throughout the campus. My daughter's ceremony was held in the Bud Walton Arena, home of Razorbacks basketball, and there were a total of 8 held in that building alone ON FRIDAY. There were 7 held in there the next day. There was much less pomp and circumstance than one would expect at a large college graduation, including the fact that they didn't even PLAY Pomp And Circumstance (my daughter felt a little cheated by that, and I have to concur), but we were in and out in an hour and traffic wasn't bad.

The graduates spread out on the arena floor.

We (meaning my husband and me, as the new graduate had better offers) went to the lake house for the rest of the weekend and spent Saturday afternoon at Silver Dollar City enjoying a bluegrass festival. We sat for three hours in an amphitheater in the blazing sunshine that had shown no signs of appearing when we left the house without putting on sunscreen, and somehow, we came away without getting sunburned. Won't risk THAT again!

These ladies cracked themselves up with
their makeshift sun hats. We weren't the only
ones who weren't expecting to see the sun!

I didn't count closely, but I think that's ten. This week should be fairly quiet, then the next Large Life Event will be looming ahead.....

Join us at the hop, if not this week, then next!

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Busy Little Week Of Thankfuls

When last we were together, I had finished a fun-filled girls weekend at the lake house with two of my friends from work. One of the friends (not naming names, but it rhymes with Vikki) had been suffering from allergies all week. As we were headed to the lake, "Vikki" needed to take her allergy meds, and I was the only one with a drink, but (a) she's already had Covid, (b) we are both fully vaccinated, and (c) she has allergies, so what could possibly go wrong? Sunday afternoon, I became congested. By the time I got home from the weekend trip, I had a little fever. Monday, the headache started, Tuesday, the yellow snot (sorry, that's what it was). Anyone else think "Vikki" had allergies? Yeah, me, either, but they lead me to my Ten Things of Thankful.

1. After being in utter misery all week, by Wednesday, friends were telling me I should call a doctor. Light bulb moment: I BIRTHED a doctor! Okay, he's three weeks short of the degree, but close enough. I texted him about it. He told me 90% of upper respiratory infections are viral and if I didn't have a temp anymore, I probably didn't need antibiotics and to take some OTC anti-allergy medication to alleviate symptoms. On Thursday, I got an electric jolt in my upper teeth if I bent over, my face hurt to touch it, and I was having, shall we say, very productive episodes of nose blowing. I didn't want to go to the Urgent Care if I could avoid it, because Covid, but I remembered (another light bulb moment) my insurance company has a Telemed option. Registered on-line, got a phone call within five minutes, had a doctor confirm what I already knew, and got a prescription for an antibiotic for my bouncing baby sinus infection. Boom!

2. This is my antibiotic. I took a picture of it next to my finger to show you how big it is, but without you knowing how long my fingers are, it may not look that big, so I took it with a quarter for size. Then I added its twin, the Mucinex tablet. I'm thankful they have gone down easier than I ever could have imagined they would. Whew!

Big pill. 

See? Even if you don't believe I have long fingers,
you can't argue with a quarter

3. And they don't make my tummy hurt. Bonus!

4. I REALLY needed to get started on an antibiotic as soon as possible, because my husband and I had to go to Fayetteville Friday afternoon to attend the University of Arkansas Seniors of Significance awards presentation. Seventy-one seniors were selected from over 600 nominations by faculty and staff based on academic achievement, leadership skills, and co-curricular activities. Once the ceremony started, we were pleased to find out Emma Kate not only was a Senior of Significance, but she was also honored as a Razorback Classic, which was comprised of the top 20 students in the class.

5. They held five different ceremonies in order to provide for social distancing, but the recipients got to choose their time slot, and Emma was able to get in the same ceremony as several of her friends who were also recipients, including her cousin Will. Look very closely at the photos of Emma and Will (hint: check out the certificates).

Look closely at the certificates....

One of EK's friends walked by and told her 

6. After the ceremony and dinner out at one of our favorite restaurants (okay, it's a bar with food), we went to the dueling piano bar. It was boisterous and loud and sooo much fun! Singing along is encouraged, and no one can hear how bad of a singer you may or may not be!

7. Saturday morning, I woke up at 5:30 am per usual, and when I couldn't entertain myself any longer, I got dressed and walked to a nearby bakery. Made it there and back without getting lost and brought back an assortment of pastries, including THE most amazing cinnamon rolls ever! 

8. We accompanied Emma Kate all over campus as her personal valets as she got senior pictures taken. I can't believe these four years are over already!

Carrying nothing but herself....

We were there to carry her wardrobe and
all the graduation cords, medals, and stolls

At the Zeta house

9. When we left Fayetteville, we took a side trip south to Devil's Den State Park (just my husband and me, as Emma Kate gently hinted that she might have better things to do on her last weekend as a college student than spend the afternoon hiking in the woods - go figure!). We didn't see the entire park, but we got an idea of the scope of it, hiked along a river, and just generally enjoyed a really gorgeous day. The park was built by the CCC in the 1930s and includes a spectacular dam.

So lovely and has withstood the test of time.

10. I need to get some sleep now, because my final thankful is that, starting tomorrow, I will be working full time! I was hired as a part time teacher, and it fit my schedule at the time, but after working there for a few months, I loved it and wanted to be full time. It took another year to happen, but it's now official! 

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Ten Things of Thankful: The Dumbass Edition

Two weeks ago, I took a weekend off from the TToT for my son's wedding. COULD I have written a post that weekend? Well, sure, but I didn't need the pressure to get one written on such a busy weekend.

Fast forward to last weekend. I spent it doing piddly things around the house and running errands, and the next thing I knew, IT WAS TUESDAY AND I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN TO WRITE MY POST. What kind of dumbass forgets to write a post for a weekly blog that has been part of her blog life since the inception of the TToT? THIS GIRL, that's who.

And now it's Monday, nearly 9:30 pm, and the DAMN CLOCK IS TICKING LIKE A BUNNY'S HEARTBEAT, so here's my quickly thrown together but nonetheless heartfelt two weeks' worth of Ten Things of Thankful:

Let's start with the wedding. It was beautiful. Beyond beautiful, actually. It was a pure delight to see the two of them so much in love and ready to start their lifelong journey together. I couldn't be happier.

Lillian and Kyle

With my boy. He makes me feel short.

My dad and daughter.

With my husband. Kind of wish I 
had noticed I had my mask hanging
around my neck.

With my dad and brother. Why am
I standing so awkwardly?

I have new family members! We so enjoyed getting to know Lillian's family! The combination of Covid and distance had kept us from meeting until wedding weekend, but we are looking forward to family get-togethers in the future.

My sister in law Kristin gave me and my daughter bracelets that she and HER daughter had as well. They say "Badass" in Morse Code and I'm in love.

Could be upside down. What do I know
about Morse Code?

While we were in Oklahoma City for the wedding, we stayed in a lovely Airbnb. I love staying in them! They are so much more comfortable than a hotel room. We had a three bedroom house with plenty of room for the four of us (my husband, me, my dad and my daughter), a fully equipped kitchen, and (most importantly) two bathrooms. 

I took three days off from work for the wedding (haven't taken more than a day at a time, here or there, since I started a year and a half ago). When I returned to work, I was told by every student worker that had been in my room plus my aide that I could never be gone again. I guess my little nugs were quite a handful. Not exactly sure how this is a thankful, because I'm NOT thankful that they can't behave themselves when I'm not there, but I guess I AM thankful to know that I am much needed.

We had a freak snow last week. In the middle of April. When the lilacs and irises were in bloom and the trees were mostly leafed out and the tulips were already fading and the daffodils were long gone. As soon as the snow began to fall, I got coats on my kiddos and out we went! We caught snowflakes on our tongues while singing the Barney song, "If All The Snowflakes Were Candy Bars And Milkshakes." A couple of hours later, when it snowed harder, with giant, wet snowflakes and the ground lightly covered, we went out again for an encore performance. It was fun while it lasted, but this week, we are happily back in our shorts!

We are precious!

It's important as a preschool teacher to remember that you have to be flexible with little humans. When a teachable moment comes up, such as snow falling, or when you have TOTALLY lost their interest in an activity, it's okay to drop what you had planned and change course. I am thankful for not letting opportunities pass for the sake of following a schedule or lesson plan.

"Lesson plan" is kind of a joke. I mostly fly by the seat of my pants, but I teach two and three year olds, after all, and our objectives are painted with a broad brush. Could I make more money if I taught elementary school and had REAL lesson plans? Definitely. Would I be happier? Absolutely not. I love my job and my nugs.

This past weekend, I took two of my work friends to the lake house. I am grateful to my dad for staying at his other house and letting us have our girls weekend. We ate entirely too much and talked and laughed more than I thought possible. We also squeezed in some shopping, plus sat around the table and played games.

I am thankful the Ten Things of Thankful continues in spite of my failings as a hostess (fyi - if you type "hostess" too quickly and too poorly, you can end up with "hottest" and spellcheck won't catch it). Invite a blog friend to join us next week!

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Batter Up!

Rounding the bases, trying to make it home before the ball reaches the plate. Will. I. Make. It?

Here are my Ten Things of Thankful for this week:

Open windows and a light breeze.

NCAA basketball tournament.

Peeps.

That Peep season is now over before I turn into one.

Air fryers (never thought I'd say that).

Automatic ice makers.

Stand-up comedy.

The smell of fresh cut grass.

Pizza bagel day at school.

Flip flops.

Sliding into home plate -- aaaaaaand SAFE!

You've still got four hours to join the Ten Things of Thankful hop! Suit up and get on deck. You're up to bat.

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Saying Farewell To March

In like a lion, out like a lamb? Hah! More like lion day, lion day, lamb day, lamb morning, lion afternoon, REALLY ANGRY lion hanging around for a few days while lamb cries and hides, lamb running very quickly in and out, lamb and lion getting into a GINORMOUS fight, lamb day but lion blowing big puffs of icy cold air, lamb day, lamb day, JUST KIDDING lion day.

As March winds down (and you can read "winds" with a long OR short i and it would still be appropriate) and April begins, I think, THINK that we're done with the worst of the liony stuff. I am hopeful. Now on to the Ten Things of Thankful.

1. The daffodils and paperwhites are blooming.

2. Tulips have popped up and the buds are just about to burst open.

3. The birds are clearly happy that spring is here, and they are telling the world about it through their chirps and songs.

4. Our tail-less squirrel has survived the winter! We don't know what happened to the tail, and I have worried about him all winter, since he doesn't have that built-in blanky to keep him warm when he sleeps. I wish I had video or a picture of him, but alas, I don't. Imagine, though, a bunny with short, round ears hopping along a tree branch, and that would be what Mr. No Tail looks like when he's in a tree.

5. My daughter came home for an abbreviated spring break (the University of Arkansas thought if they only gave them two days off, they wouldn't go to the beach in big, rowdy groups and spread Covid amongst them, but they thought wrong, at least about going to the beach in big groups. Time will tell if they were super spreader events or not.). Instead of a fun trip to the beach with friends (and two of her roommates did just that), she went to the lake house with us. I'll take every moment like this I can get; she's going to be graduating and moving away to law school, and I won't get to see her nearly as often.

6. Hot dogs and roasted marshmallows for supper while sitting around the fire pit. Daughter's idea, and an excellent one it was!

7. We went to Silver Dollar City this morning for an hour or two. We have been season pass holders for years, but we let ours from last year roll over to this year, as we weren't willing to risk exposure to Covid last year. It was a lion day pretending to be a lamb day, in that it was beautiful and sunny and 60 degrees, but there was a strong wind out of the north that cut right through you. We walked through the entire park to see what had changed since we were last there in 2019, then enjoyed listening to the Homestead Pickers, my very favorite thing to do there. 

8. The doctors are getting married two weeks from today!

9. We have no location for a rehearsal dinner yet. I am doing my level best not to panic about this. I think I'm faking it really well....

10. Today marks the 9th anniversary of my bilateral mastectomy and free-tram reconstruction. Self-examinations are key to early detection of breast cancer! Remind someone you love!

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Thankful For Matching!

This weekend's Ten Things of Thankful is brought to you by a fabulous weekend filled with wondrous events.

Friday, March 19, was Match Day 2021. This is the day that fourth year medical students find out where they are going to do their residencies. Of course, due to Covid, the past year's rotations and classes were interrupted, and the interview process for residencies was completely on-line. The only good news about this is the playing field was level, because it was the same for every 4th year student, no matter where they were attending medical school, not that that makes it any easier for anyone.

My son's school, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, held a Covid-friendly (that seems like a contradiction in terms) celebration on Friday at a park near downtown. They did a lovely job of making it be as normal as possible: there were round tables set up and decorated with swag (more on that later), balloons (including an arch that was, quite honestly, a little underwhelming but nice in theory) and a few speakers. The tables were spaced out, seating was reserved, and masks were mandatory, even though it was outside, but it was terribly exciting to be there and see the students open their envelopes just before 11 a.m. to find out where they were going.

My son and almost daughter in law (as in 3 weeks away from the wedding) were matching together, or hopefully so, since there was a remote possibility that wouldn't happen. BIG THANKFUL that they did, indeed, match in the same city - yay!

The swag on the tables made it real that after all these many years of work, our son is a doctor! He's only been working towards this end since 6th grade.

The weather was beautiful. It could have been raining. It could have been snowing. There could have been a tornado. But instead, although it was a little cool, it was gloriously sunny, with very little wind (a big deal, because, you know, "Ooooooooklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain" is a very real thing).

We were stand-ins for Lillian's parents, who were unable to be there, but they joined her via Facetime to see the Big Reveal.

This is a pretty big deal, but I didn't fall down OR tip over in my chair during the celebration. Both were distinct possibilities, as my chair was not on level ground AND one time that I got up, I caught my foot in the excessively long tablecloth and tripped and stumbled but remained upright. Had I fallen, I should have been well cared for, since I was surrounded by approximately 120 4th year students plus several faculty members.

Envelopes were passed out to each student just before 11:00, at which time they all counted down from ten, and the envelopes were torn open. The verdict? Kyle and Lillian are going to Little Rock! 

We were so honored to get to experience Match Day with our doctors! What a treat!

Besides the official Match Day festivities, we also finally got to have Christmas with our doctors, as we hadn't been able to be with them since Thanksgiving. 

I managed not to eat all the candy for their stockings, and I think that shows a great deal of restraint on my part, since it was in my basement for three months. 

We stayed in a cute Airbnb in an old historic building. I love Airbnbs!

We ate entirely too much while in Oklahoma City, but it was goooood.

Now the countdown is on for the wedding, which is in three weeks and graduation six weeks later. Whew!

That's one pretty darn thankful weekend!

One final thankful goes out to my co-host Pat Brockett. She has some pretty terrific intuition, and I am grateful for it.

Now how about you? Ready to join the Ten Things of Thankful? Sure you are! Write yours down and link them up! 

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I'm A Cheese Sandwich, What Are You?

I am a member of a computer sandwich generation. Is that a thing? I am the cheese (I like cheese sandwiches). I can use computers and certain programs, but I can't tell you how or why any of it works. I can't fix anything if it goes terribly wrong. I'm afraid of accidentally losing Important Things (and it has happened).

My dad is one slice of bread. He regularly screws the crap out of his laptop. He thinks everything he reads on Facebook is news (99% of the time, it's click bait). He also thinks gmail and Google are interchangeable. He also believes every email he receives that says he is getting a package delivered. Thankfully, he is getting better at asking me and not answering everything he gets.... Oh, and this is just the tip of the iceberg with him.

My kids are the other slice of bread. They are not afraid to click and push buttons. My daughter learned how to create Power Points in kindergarten gifted class. I wouldn't be able to do it with a gun held to my head.

Currently, Google is giving me grief. My account is 96% full, and I keep getting warning messages about how I'm no longer going to be able to upload files or photos or send or receive emails. I'm deleting photos, but it's like Sophie's Choice trying to decide what to part with. I was too exasperated to write a TToT last weekend and was nearly so this weekend, but that's not the attitude I need, now is it, so here's my list:

1. Spring is coming in like a lamb for a couple of days at a time before being chased off by a lion for a few before he runs off and the lamb tiptoes back in. Would I prefer every day to be a lamb day? Absolutely! Is that going to happen? Not for several weeks. Be patient, Grasshopper!

2. I lost and found a checkbook this week. This would be the second time this has happened in the past year or so. I'd like to say it will be the LAST time it will happen, but history says it's pretty unlikely.

3. I finally found a pair of shoes to wear to my son's wedding! I got them from Poshmark, they are snakey, and I think they will negate me wearing Chuck Taylors as previously threatened.

4. I have also booked an Airbnb for the wedding. One month to go!

5. My friend Jennifer hooked me up with some awesome fabric! I haven't had time to make any new masks with it yet, but I'm excited for the unveiling when I do so!

6. The fleece sheets were removed from the bed during some lamb days this last week, but they are back on now that the lion has strolled back in. They are so comfy!

7. This past weekend was Mom's Weekend at my daughter's sorority. It wasn't much of an event (thanks, Covid), but it was a terrific opportunity to spend time with my daughter in Fayetteville. She will be graduating in May and moving to...?

8. My daughter got her second Covid shot on Friday afternoon. Arm was a little sore, but that was it, or so we thought. In the middle of the night, she woke up aching all over and said all her organs felt as though they were on fire. She didn't have a fever, though. By morning, she was a little woozy but otherwise better. Saturday evening, she woke up from a nap (okay, WE woke up from a nap) and had a pretty good fever but no organ fires. She also had hives on her elbow (she always gets hives when she gets stressed). The fever was gone in a couple of hours, and she has had no more reactions since. Covid vaccine reactions are weird.

9. Daylight savings time! A lot of people bitch and moan about the time changes, but I love them! I love it in the fall, when it gets dark earlier and the house is all warm and cozy. And I love it in the spring when we get more daylight in the evenings,

10. My preschoolers are going to be grumps tomorrow because of the time change, but the upside is they should go down for their naps a little easier and stay asleep a little longer!

There! I did it! You can do it, too. The Ten Things of Thankful link is open until Monday night at 11:30 pm CDT.

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