Gratitude Friday Five

It’s been awhile since I did this.  But here goes.  Five things to be grateful about today.

1. I’m at home with everybody. My son and I have spent a lot of time at the hospital the last couple weeks. He’s home and happy tonight.
2. I put in for family leave and will get to take a semester off from teaching.
3. Despite my many deficits due to ADHD, I’ve managed to keep the same job for almost two decades.  Hence I had more than 1,000 hours of sick pay banked, so my family leave will be paid for.
4. Twitter is a good pastime for all those hours in the hospital.
5. I get my Subarus from a dealer who cares.

I lease our cars because we only have one and I walk to work.  This summer I brought in my car on the very last day of the lease without calling first. I explained what was going on and that I had let the lease slip to the last minute.  They didn’t have a car ready for me, but gave me a brand new loaner for a month for free.  I put 2,200 miles on it with all the extra trips to the clinic and they didn’t even bat an eye.  They gave me a free upgrade on the roof rack because they didn’t have it ready when I picked it up.  They even offered to drive the rack up to me, an hour away, and install it. I’ve worked with the same salesman for eight years now, and he never tries to upsell me and can always arrange what we need.

And a Subaru is the best winter car ever!

O Wind, / If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

Gratitude Friday Five

Well.

With this week’s events, I wasn’t sure I could write this today. But there are still things to be grateful for, even though we’re on a different stage now.

1. We have excellent care for our son.
2. We have excellent insurance.
3. We have more offers to help than we can take on.
4. Cancer care is a community, with lots of support from volunteer organizations and social work.
5. We have social media to keep everyone informed, and get messages of support back.

Gratitude Friday Five

It’s Friday evening, but still Friday enough for a Friday post.

I spent all of Thursday at a hospital with my youngest son who was having a biopsy. In difficult circumstances, I am grateful for bits of humor.  Here goes:

1. When my son woke up from surgery, he said two things: “Mommy?” and when he remembered Daddy took him to the hospital “Toys R Us?”
2. More than one nurse assumed I was a single dad because my wife stayed home to take care of our other son.
3. In the waiting room, I said “I better move this coffee so I don’t spill it.”  In doing so, I made a huge mess by spilling my coffee.
4. The hospital was so new that Google Maps street view showed it as just beams and girders.
5. In the surgical waiting room, someone thought it was a good idea to watch “1,000 Ways to Die” on the television.

Little guy pulled through the surgery well.  Still waiting on test results.

Gratitude Friday

Is it Friday again?  Already?  Seems like I was writing the last post just a few minutes ago.

It’s been a gratitude-challenged week, but here goes.

1. Life and liberty.  Gotta start somewhere.
2. My seven year old son likes to read books to himself to help fall asleep.  And he is adamant that he must be alone.  “Go away Daddy” never sounded so great.
3. I’m listening to the late great SRV as I write this.
4. Writing muse has continued to be generous.  Several lit mag submissions out this week.  Not getting much positive feedback, but that’s part of the grind.
5. As we approach the warmer months, the days are longer.  Daylight is good.  Though it’s hard to tell otherwise this is April.  Snow again today.

 

Stevie Ray and the Austin Skyline; 2011 (Photo credit: Visualist Images)

Gratitude Friday

Things I’m grateful for today:

1. It’s week three for Gratitude Friday.  Two weeks longer than my track record would suggest.
2. I sat working late in my basement office last night and heard my son sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in his room above me as he was settling down to sleep.
3. I got to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese’s this week.  Ritalin made that fun instead of dysphoric. (Not such an easy feat with a child who is allergic to dairy.  The word cheese is on the door, for Chuck sake!)
4. It has only snowed once so far this month.  Yay Michigan.
5. This happened.  Consider me wussified. And entertained.

Gratitude Friday

Five things I’m grateful for:

1. I remembered to post something on Friday.  I started a trend. Two for two.
2. We ran out of chicken-and-waffles flavored potato chips.  Too much of a good thing.
3. Ritalin.
4. The procrastination police have not yet arrested me and sent me to a productivity retraining camp.
5. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  Specifically that thing about speech.