Hey folks. If you’re picky about looking at the time stamp on these things you’ll notice I’m not at church. I called emailed in sick this morning. One of the things for which I’m grateful this week is that I’m not actually in charge of something every Sunday morning. So when a night like last night happens, I can decide, without too much angst, to stay home and sleep for a few more hours. What happened? Top of my grateful list:

• Our first spring rain storm. It was a thunderstorm but it seemed like the rain didn’t pound down harshly. But it did rain quite a bit. Libby the Wonder Poodle has forgotten the sound of rain and thunder (thunder!) and so was up and pacing and panting and generally not feeling well most of the night. Around 2:00 G went into DS1′s bed to get some sleep because at that point, Libby had commandeered his side of the bed. Around 3:00, with another wave of lightening and thunder I was up to try to calm her and at least get her to lay down. No dice. At 4:00 we came downstairs to look at the rain through the back door – but we didn’t go out in it. I gave her a little prednisolone for the stress and tried to lay on the couch with her. She finally settled down as I massaged her belly. I was a little worried that she had bloat or something. I have this reoccurring day-mare (it’s not at night so it’s not a nightmare…what do you call them?) that I’ll come home to find her dead or dying an agonizing death of intestinal twist. JvH’s poodle died that way and it freaks me out any time her stomach isn’t completely soft and squishy and malleable.
  So, to recap – I’m grateful for spring rain, that my dog finally went back to sleep at 5:00am, that she isn’t dying of bloat and that I could skip singing in choir this morning to sleep more to make up for the 2 hours I was up ministering to the dog.
• I’m grateful for the spring clean-up I did (with DS2′s help) in the back yard. We pulled up “winter interest” dead plants from the border gardens and spread out a few bags of new topsoil on parts of it. The asparagus plants survived and came back. The rhubarb also came back. DS2 finished pick up the rest of the dog poop and we uncovered the patio table and chairs. I actually sat out there and drank Saturday morning coffee! Later in the evening, we had the first bonfire of the season and DS2 roasted marshmallows.
• DS2′s baseball season opened on Friday. I’m not grateful for all that surrounded that, but I’m grateful he got to play. I’ve benched him this week due to his mid-term grades. His dad, the coach and several team parents (pre-divorce “friends”) may think I’m over-reacting, but four out of six classes are in jeopardy. And I’m the mom. X at least had the good sense to say “I won’t even ask about the Twin’s game on Tuesday, then.” Working in the backyard yesterday was the “hard labor” part of the consequences. This afternoon starts the homework part. He also knows that unless he can turn these grades around, and get the teachers to send me a note to that effect, he won’t be going to St. Louis with the Robotics team. He just can’t afford the time away from classes.
• I’m grateful that Friday was payday and I have a job that pays bills and keeps us in dog food.
• I’m grateful for the feeling of a spring pedicure. I soaked my feet yesterday after all that hard work and let’s just say I have a few less layers of skin on my feet than I did in the morning. And they feel great.
• I’m grateful for G and his willingness to be honest with me about what he’s feeling. This last week was the 9th anniversary of his wife’s death. This coming Tuesday will be the anniversary of her funeral. It’s a hard time of year for him and while I can see his grief, it’s also mixed with gratitude that his life has gone on and is now tangled up with mine.
• As a symbol of that tangling, I’m grateful that we decided to get rid of both of our sets of everyday dishes and buy something together that was ours. We finally decided on a pattern and ordered 8 place settings. They arrived last Monday. I’m a little surprised by how it really is a reminder every time I use one that this is something new – even as we race toward our first anniversary.