Thankful Thursday

So, apparently there wasn't much to share during February and now it's March, lol. 

Let's do some catching up with a list of things I'm thankful for today...

1. Micah's interview. Last weekend, Micah had his Leeds Scholar Program interview at CU Boulder that I mentioned before. He won't hear back on that for another week or so but felt good about the experience and looked good...

(Thankful, too, that Men's Warehouse was able to get his suit tailored in time...which they finished early just for us. Their posted alteration timeline would have been later than his interview. His alterations were simple, though, so the tailor assured us she could finish sooner.)

Yes, he took off the sunglasses for the actual interview. :) Fortunately, he's really comfortable with interviews and does well with talking. While we were there for the afternoon, we also attended some informational sessions and got a tour of the business school, so it was time well spent. 

2. The medical community. Thankful lately, too, for our medical community. Micah's arthritis appears to be spreading unfortunately. Toward the start of February, he started having swelling and pain in areas he hadn't before (not in a joint). He resisted for a week and a half or so before we finally made him get an x-ray to be sure there wasn't an injury. Darn kid was right that he didn't have any injury. We then took advantage of telehealth opportunities and communicated with his rheumatologist a good bit. Given all of that (and some additional swelling and pain in new spots during that), Micah will be getting an MRI tomorrow. We'll take that information, then, the next time we see his rheumatologist in person and hopefully come up with a new plan. Thankful that all of these resources are so readily available to us. (Hopefully, too, we'll eventually get some warmer weather that will help.)

3. Throwback Thursday. I love when Facebook reminds me of memories from years past. Lately, most of my memories have been from last year's trip to Greece...

This was from one year ago today. We were back in Athens, wrapping up a fabulous trip. SO thankful to have these photos and memories to look back on!

4. Watching shows together. We've still been doing our weekly family movie nights mostly. Lately, though, we've also been binging some show series during movie night. In particular, we watched the show Physical 100 on Netflix and rewatched seasons 1 and 2 of Ted Lasso in preparation for season 3 starting on March 15. Fun times! Sometimes I enjoy watching series together more than movies because they often lead to more discussion and debate. :)

5. Spring cleaning. While we continue to wait to hear back from the California colleges (and thus can't really start planning Micah's next steps), we've been tackling a number of small projects around the house...like replacing some door knobs and light fixtures, hanging pictures from our Curacao trip, and purging various hot spots around the house. It's nice to get these things done and works as a bit of a distraction. (But it would be lovely to hear back and be able to start figuring things out...)

And that's what I'm thankful for today. Happy March, everyone!

Thankful Thursday

Last week, the ladies of boot camp gathered for drinks and visiting. We got to talking about the upcoming holiday season and self care and a challenge that Susie'd heard about. Basically, the challenge runs from October 1 to the end of the year and has five parts: 1. drink more water (half your body weight in ounces each day) 2. move for at least 30 minutes a day 3. remove one category of food you know you shouldn't be eating 4. write five things you're grateful for each day and 5. get up an hour earlier and spend that time on yourself.

Well, I already do most of those things and can't really commit to writing five things I'm grateful for each day (I've tried that before and feel like it becomes more of a chore when done daily). So. I've decided I'm going to try for Thankful Thursdays from now till the end of the year. :) Here, then, are five things I'm thankful for this week:

1. These women. We see each other most Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings for boot camp...but we're always sweaty and out of breath and not really able to visit, lol. We haven't done it nearly often enough, but we've been known to gather when not in workout clothes. We clean up pretty well. ;) I'm so thankful for their camaraderie. 

2. Being done with the FAFSA for this year. Dropped by CSU yesterday, and Noah and I got the FAFSA submitted. Not counting on it at all, but it's just nice to have that out of the way. 

3. The fact that Nathan handles the math homework now. So. I have a decent head for math. Completed through Calculus 3 and all that. I was homeschooling math with boys just fine and honestly could have continued through high school. Continuing, though, would have involved prepping the lessons and refreshing myself on the material as we tackled it. Without the refreshers, I'm not as helpful. :) Thank goodness Nathan can tackle it now!

4. Time. Since I'm not homeschooling boys any more, I find myself with somewhat abundant time. I'm still adjusting, lol. I'm taking this semester to work through a number of projects. So far, I've weeded through homeschooling materials we no longer need...made a number of lists...started sorting through all the printed photos in the house...stayed on top of boys' lists...made time to climb still with Micah...helped out my sister in Washington...and shuttled vehicles back and forth for numerous visits to the auto shop (see me putting this on my list of things I'm thankful for?! trying to stay positive about the replaced brake pads on the van, replaced brake pads and rotors on the Pathfinder, new tires for all three vehicles, and miscellaneous little things that Nathan's taken care of at home). So very thankful that I'm able to take this time right now! I truly am blessed and know it.

5. Nieces and nephews. I have six nieces and seven nephews. The newest one is a niece who was born about six weeks ago. I haven't met her yet but I'm assuming she's wonderful. :) One of my sweet nephews turned four yesterday, and one of my beautiful nieces turned 17 last week! (They're the two in the photo below. This was taken this past February.) 

I'm so thankful to know them all...wish I could see them more often...and truly love being a fun aunt. :) 

So. That's my first Thankful Thursday. My life is pretty dang awesome!