a Thankful day

 
Thankful Tuesday is a tradition over at Micha Boyett's Mama:Monk blog; in keeping with that, I'm very thankful for a number of things:

- That Jonathan is finally well enough to go back to school after his bout with The Crusty Nose of Death.  He was away from school for ten days:  longer than March Break!

- That I found my Canadian Tire MasterCard.  I was there last Tuesday night to buy some milk but didn't realize until Thursday that my card was missing.  When I went back to the store, there was the card, safe and sound at the customer service desk -- to my great relief.

- That Allison's parent-teacher interviews last week were so positive.  Not that I actually expected bad news, but it's just so great (as I've said before) that she has supportive and encouraging teachers.  I've already mentioned her music teacher here.  At the interview he praised her for working so hard and for doing well in her two theory tests, and said, "Allison, I wasn't concerned that you couldn't do the work; I was just concerned that you were comfortable in the class.  You've shown that you are comfortable in the class, and that you can do the work."  And her phys-ed teacher said, "Allison, the one thing you could work on is to be kinder to yourself.  You're kind to other people; be sure to be kind to yourself, too."

- For opportunities to show kindness to my students.  One student in my course was extremely panicky and stressed about a low mark one of the tutors had given her on an essay.  I emailed her and told her she could rewrite the paper if she wanted and could also have a few extra days on her final essay to ease the pressure.  She wrote back, "I feel better already!  Thank you for being so understanding!"  I find it heartwarming to see how such a small gesture can mean so much to a person -- but isn't that so often the case?

- For things that are just really funny about being married to someone for nearly 23 years.  On Sunday Rich and I exchanged Easter cards as usual.  The one he gave me had a duck splashing in a puddle and carrying 4 balloons on which was written, "Jesus loves me!  This I know.  For the Bible tells me so.  Little ones to Him belong.  They are weak but He is strong."  The pre-printed message in the card was "On this Easter day, we want you to know that Jesus loves you and we do too."  Rich had crossed out each "we" and replaced it with "I" and then wrote the following message:

Childlike statements but profound truths.  Happy joyful Easter!

Love, Richard

P.S.  Not many cards available. :-)

Actually he is totally right about the profound truths.  But I still think it was hilarious.  (Do you have to be married for a certain number of years to find that funny?  I don't know .... )