Daily: Reflect on at least 5 things for which I'm grateful (Happiness Manifesto #2)

1. Sexy toes and soft feet.

2. Dinner made when I walked in the door.

3. Baby Girl made it through the day in underwear. One of the many joys of potty training.

4. Neighbors invited D over to play, which made for a quiet, restful evening. Baby Girl and I sat at the table and worked on art projects.

5. I booked the hotel for my trip to San Diego. I can’t wait!

1. Cleaning and dancing with the kids this morning (at the same time).

2. Taking them to go ice skating afterwards. It was their first time and they had a blast. I had fun too, but I’m already sore.

3. Coffee and perfectly poached eggs on toasted ciabatta with crispy pancetta.

4. Getting to know the mom of one of my son’s classmates. She was delightful to talk with and so sweet and helpful with Baby Girl.

5. Making plans to go ice skating again.

1. Getting out of the classroom to go through some training required for my new job. Fridays in spring get a little bit crazier the closer we get to June, so I was glad to leave my little angels in the charge of a sub.

2. Snuggling with my babies.

3. Premade meals in the freezer.

4. Getting home early enough this afternoon to go out for a run. I haven’t been making time for exercise for a few months now, so it felt good to go outside and move.

5. Sun.

I’m gone for a month and y’all totally change! When did this happen? Anyway…

How’s everyone??? I miss checking in here…life has been crazybusy. D is playing T-ball which means multiple practices and games during the week and I just got a new job (yippee!). Even though I’m still teaching for the rest of the year, my new boss is asking me to take part in some trainings, phone conferences, and meetings right away. I’m being paid for all the extra work and we need the money desperately, so I feel like I’m working non-stop.

I guess since I’m here I should list some gratitudes:)

1. My new job. I’m so excited to work with the small group I’ll be with. One of them is someone I totally idolized my first year teaching and my respect and admiration for her has only grown as I’ve gotten to know her better.

2. My husband losing his job. This may sound odd as it has put us in questionable financial status, but I love having him home. He has more time to write, he’s less stressed out, and he gets up early and makes coffee and breakfast before I leave for work. I wish we could really afford for this to continue.

3. Getting crafty with the kids. D and I went to a birthday party today and we had fun making his friend’s present. We had a drawing of a lizard that the birthday boy had made and I carved a rubber stamp of the image. D colored the lizard and some designs around it and then turned them into blank cards to give as a present. The gift also included the stamp I carved, a stamp pad, and a book about reptiles. While D and I did this, Baby Girl had fun cutting pieces of paper and glue-sticking them to her own “card.” A very pleasant way to spend the morning.

4. The birthday party. I had a chance to reconnect with a lot of the parents of D’s friends and the kids had a blast.

5. Summer vacation is just around the corner!

1. My husband’s making dinner, which means I have a little time to do some laundry, referee sibling fights, and post here.

2. Daylight Savings Time made for a calm and quiet day with students. Good thing since I was nearly comatose from sleepiness myself!

3. My prospects for a fabulous job next year are looking great.

4. A wonderful session with our writing coach. I’m going to miss working with her next year, but I hope we can keep in touch.

5. Time spent with neighbors.

1. I’m totally in love with the place that my son is taking his piano classes. They offer incredibly low-cost music classes and they have this great cafe for parents to hang out in while their kids are in the classrooms. The cafe itself is super cool, cheap, and gives kids free popcorn. I wish every neighborhood could have such a fabulous place.

2. Cookbook Club is tonight!

3. Getting to sleep in on the weekend. My husband occupied them until I woke up at (gasp!) 7:45. So rare.

4. The funny little games that my son makes up. Right now he’s completely absorbed with some magnetic letters. Each of them has it’s own personality, I think one may be a rocket, and he’s developed an intricate storyline for all of the pieces to act in.

5. Signing my son up for Little League T-Ball. Stepping into the church basement where they were holding the sign-ups took me right back to my own Little League-filled youth. The mom & dad volunteer coaches, the seasoned kids so excited they showed up with their baseball gloves. I hope D has as much fun playing as I did.

1. That occasionally I can overcome the hurdles and apologize.

2. Kind bus drivers

3. The daylight is sticking around a little longer each day.

4. The green curry with chicken, eggplant, and lemongrass that my husband made for dinner.

5. The kids go to bed so easily. A couple of books, a couple of lullabies, and then lights out. They rarely protest. I know that this is not the case for so many families, so I’m grateful that we’ve found a routine that works for us.

1. My husband has planned a Valentine weekend getaway at the coast for us. 2 nights in Seaside. I can’t wait! And he even called up my mother (I think this is the first time in 7 years he’s called her) to ask if she wanted to watch the kids that weekend (which of course she happily agreed to). Yay!

2. Even the worst of my students worked hard today. I have so many kids who hate school and act up in the classroom. But not today. Maybe it was the phone calls home I made last night.

3. Chocolate Hazelnut Milkshakes from Burgerville.

4. Getting out of bed one minute before the alarm went off this morning.

5. My son’s hilarious plans to start a rock band with his buddies.

I’ve been in a major funk the past several weeks, resulting in me not wanting to reflect on much of anything in my life other than depressing crap. So, I haven’t been around much. This murky fog is beginning to lift and will hopefully continue to do so.

1. Job prospects are looking good for next year. I want to work a little closer to home and I’ve heard through the grapevine that there is a principal who really, really wants me to work for her and my current principal has been talking me up to her.

2. Students who asked if we could continue the activity we were doing about political philosophers because “it was fun.” They were learning about such stodgy old thinkers as Thomas Hobbes, Baron de Montesquieu, and William Laud. And they loved it.

3. D is taking piano classes. We played a duet of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” this evening.

4. Flylady routines. My clothes are set out for tomorrow, the kitchen is clean, and I even have a slow-cooker dinner ready to go in the fridge.

5. My coworkers. I’m going to miss them terribly next year.

Happy New Year!!!

1. Waking up this morning feeling fairly clear-headed and mostly over my bad cold.

2. New Year’s Day Dim Sum. The picture is of my son with our friends at a huge Chinese restaurant. The place was packed today.

3. A windy hike on Mt. Tabor with the kids.

4. Starting off the year with a clean house.

5. For all the wonderful New Year gratitudes posted today.