Walking Backwards

Okay, tummy has recovered. I can't decide if it was a twenty-four hour bug or food poisoning. Whatever it was, it was nasty. All I wanted to do was lay in bed (or play on the computer) between frequent trips to the bathroom. Nicholas must have also picked up on my mood, because his streak of angelic behavior seems to have hit a snag. Screaming and getting into stuff he knows he isn't supposed to has been the norm today. He, amazingly, learned how to take the keys down from the counter and use them to unlock the file cabinet where we keep his art supplies. I caught him in the act before something unrepairable happened. We originally locked up his art supplies because he was using his markers to color on everything. Despite what I had always assumed about washable markers, that they come off everything, that simply isn't the case. Washable markers do not wash out of grout, corduroy, and whatever my couch is made out of. So they got locked up. I did eventually get him to calm down by laying on his bed with him in his room and listening to him "read" his books. Sadly, it didn't last, he wanted to go run around making loud banging sounds and terrorizing the cat with the broom. I just sat down and made red and green paper chains and talked to him through the insanity. He'll be better by tomorrow, we're going to the pond to feed the ducks. I'm sure they are pissed about the weather, too.


I meant to write the whole "what I am thankful for" entry yesterday, but I totally forgot. I have so much to be thankful for, but it seems I have such an easy time overlooking it, especially in light of my recent streak of not-so-good luck. So here is my list, in no particular order:

- I am thankful for the great take-out Vietnamese restaurant a mile from our house that has very late hours and a gumball machine
- I am thankful for my own walk-in closet with a now working light and high enough ceilings for me to stack my fabric and photo boxes
- I am thankful for my fuel-efficient car that hasn't broken down once (knock on wood)
- I am thankful that people still play Trivial Pursuit with me even though half-way through the game I start answering other people's questions
- I am thankful that my husband makes me a cup of tea every night before I go to bed
- I am thankful that my son loves to snuggle with me and that his hair always smells like lavender shampoo (except when he gets peanut butter in it)
- I am thankful for ibuprofen
- I am thankful that my mother lives a half a continent away, but that we still talk to each other for at least an hour a week
- I am thankful that my dad drives up to visit us every other week, just to get to know his grandson
- I am thankful for my library card
- I am thankful (sometimes)that my brother lives with us, so that I can always know that he is safe
- I am thankful for all of the shoulders I have to cry on and for all of the people who celebrate good news with me
- I am thankful for all of my loving friends and family
- I am thankful for the health and well-being of the people I love
- I am thankful for my new Converse and for the ones that I have had since high school and still wear
- I am thankful that I was able to do almost all of my Christmas shopping on the internet this year
- I am thankful that I know how wonderful my life is and that every moment I have I should be thankful for