Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday again! Going a little "deeper" this week in the things I'm thankful for...

1. The privilege of getting older. I'm not sure if it's movies I've watched lately or the news or just life in general, but I need to note that I am truly thankful for the privilege of being alive and getting older. It's a privilege denied to many. So, I'll take my white hairs and poor eyesight and easily bruised limbs...and be grateful. I'm sure I'll complain along the way, lol, but I'm trying to remember this. And, honestly, I'm kinda digging my white hairs right now. :) 

2. The time to sift through my thoughts. Amid all the ups and downs of this year...all the craziness and uncertainties, the anger and resignation, I'm thankful for the time. I'm thankful for the time distanced from others where I've been able to really sit and process the overwhelming barrage of information and opinion. I feel like I've been somewhat forced to really figure out where I stand on things, and that's not been easy. But it has been good. 

3. Retrospection. I initially thought I wanted to say that I'm thankful for a carpe diem mindset but I think "retrospection" is maybe more accurate. Mostly, I'm just very thankful for opportunities taken...and am finding that I appreciate those more these days as this pandemic reminds us that you never know what the coming week will bring and whether an opportunity will still be there. 

Specifically, I'm so thankful...

• that we managed our family trip to Europe a couple summers ago, before all the shutdowns and the burning of Notre Dame and the flooding in Venice...
• that Asher took his school trip to Costa Rica last summer (we'd debated whether sophomore year was the right year for that but ultimately decided that we should take advantage of his interest so went for it) and was able to get a summer job and earn his 2nd degree black belt then (it made for an incredibly busy summer for him but he's extra appreciative of the not busy summer now, lol)...
• that we took our trip to Belize last Thanksgiving (financially it wasn't necessarily the smartest choice, but we intentionally opted to make memories while we still had boys' schedules that worked)...
• that I was able to see so many friends and family at my mom's 70th birthday party in January...
• that we opted to go to two of the earlier sport climbing competitions instead of waiting till later in the season (which ended up being cancelled) so that Micah got to enjoy at least those...
• and just for so many choices along the way. Retrospectively, so thankful that we did what we did when we did it. :) 

4. The moment. Relatedly, I'm so thankful for the moments along the way...for playing at the park on Asher's birthday a couple weeks ago...

...for watching Micah climb ropes for the first time in about four months. (Team Ascent resumed practices last week...never with more than 10 climbers...practicing social distancing...wearing masks.) It's been nice watching them enjoy climbing "together" again and being able to cheer each other on. (Micah's in the top middle.)

...and, for enjoying Asher's loopiness after getting his wisdom teeth out on Monday. We decided it was a good time for having those extracted, as we don't have to work around a summer job schedule and we're all home to help him recuperate and we currently have dental insurance, lol. We knew he was definitely going to need them out at some point and figured now might be better than waiting till winter break when places may be closed again...who knows?! (Apparently, we're not alone in this thinking. The oral surgeon said their office has been quite busy.) For the record, he was quite entertaining on the car ride home. Noah has a video (too long to post) and Asher does a remarkably good job of singing a "Hamilton" song with his mouth full of gauze, lol. He's still a bit swollen but recovering well. This was us trying to get him safely into the house and him trying to prove that he was perfectly steady...

And that's my list for this week. Been getting lots of little things checked off the to do list. :)