Wheel of Thankfulness

I feel like a hamster on an exercise wheel, running and running and never getting anywhere!   My to-do list seems to grow longer and longer as the end of the school year looms.

But the truth is, I have accomplished a lot in the last few weeks.  It's time to look back and be thankful!

Over the past month...in addition to the usual round of driving to and from school, piano lessons, cornet lessons, tap/jazz/guitar lessons, and gym class...

I attended several soccer games and watched Blondechick17 make a goal!  It was a beautiful penalty kick, right over the goalie's head.  (Must post some of Papa Rooster's soccer pics.)

I spent nearly a whole day shopping with Blondechick for a full-length formal dress, and bought bracelet, earrings and shoes to go with it.  We had a lovely time, we didn't argue, we found a beautiful dress and the price was right (at the most unlikely store--we were pointed to Sears and they had a great selection of tasteful dresses!).

I made phone calls to locate and get directions to a dress shop (straight out of West Side Story, I swear) on the other side of town.  I took the dress in to be altered, I went back to pick it up, and I hope to post pictures of her in it very soon.  The Formal is tonight!

I set up and began a series of orthodontist appointments for Bantam11.  He's getting braces in a couple of weeks!  I set up a series of dental checkups for us all too, beginning next week.  (You don't think they take us all at once, do you? :)

I dealt with a lot of medical bills and insurance questions. :(

I helped others from church clean out a grimy storage room we've started using for Sunday School.  I swept, sponged, organized and labeled drawers with our supplies, while others built shelves, cleaned, sorted and rearranged.  As I described to a friend how our old church has to store everything in wooden carts that can be wheeled onto a truck, which has to be driven back and forth from the church office to the high school each week, we realized how blessed we are to HAVE this cruddy delightful old room!

I registered B15 for summer camp, made sure Blondechick registered for the ACT, looked into swimming lessons and when/how to register for those, and started to research some vacation plans. I registered us for field trips to see the Dead Sea Scrolls next week in Milwaukee and The Lion King next fall in Chicago.  B15, B11 and I attended the Stomp! show in Chicago, as a field trip with other families from our theater group's Stomp class this session.  (It was awesome!)

I sold 20 tickets to see our theater group's spring show, Snow White, even though none of my kids are in it. ;)  I've been supervising the class program one night a week, wrapping up the session (soon), and doing the planning for next year, so that my replacement, whoever that is, will be in good shape!

I helped Papa Rooster find an hour to sit down and fill out the FAFSA online (that's the federal financial aid form for college).  I've been chipping away at the other pieces needed for B19's admission to college, while B19 writes and edits his essays under Papa Rooster's eye.  We're getting closer....

I attended Blondechick and B15's choir concert and got to hear her solo at the beginning of the Celtic Woman's "The Voice."  It was remarkably beautiful.  (I know, because everyone remarked on it! :)

I visited three colleges with BC17 and B19, as my readers know.  I made a road trip to attend a wake and a funeral.  I made a meal for a family whose mom has cancer, and I've been driving her kids to school one day a week.  I visited a friend with a new baby!  (And held and held her...yum.)

I took B19 to the DMV to get his permit renewed.  Can't believe he's had it a year already!  Still having him practice behind the wheel and praying he can pass his test in June.

I helped B19 fill out and submit numerous job applications...but so far, no interviews.  I took Blondechick in to one place several times; she had an encouraging interview and thought she had a job, but hasn't received that final word yet.  The last we heard, they were still interviewing.  (sigh)  So we may be starting over again soon. 

I hosted B15's friends after they went and saw Iron Man 2 for his birthday.  It was not a party.  (No one else got a party this year.)  But I drove them both ways to the movie and served a lot of pizza, brownies and ice cream!

And I still owe my blog a birthday post for him.  And updated pictures in the sidebar...been thinking about that for ages...but I have my priorities straight! :)

Thank you, Lord, for the many blessings in the busy-ness:  the hugs and kisses, the sunny days, the smiles, the strength and support of my husband, my gas-sipping Prius to do all this running around in.  Thank you for the fruits that will come of my labors: straight teeth, a useful storage/Sunday School room, knowledge, experience, fun and lots of memories.  I pray for these fruits to come to harvest: driver's licenses, college, jobs.  Thank you, Lord, for health, strength and endurance for the race you've set before me.

May the favor of the Lord, our God, be upon us;

Let the work of our hands prosper,

O prosper the work of our hands.

Psalm 90:17