...TTP-176 through 170 days to go...

As is true, I should think, for most all of us who labor to blog, there are stretches of time where sitting down to the keyboard takes on a chore-like feel.  As though someone else must be holding our feet to the flames...forcing us to update.  For the most part, I write what I want...when I want...and how I want...sometimes quite literally as my wishlists!   But then there are those times where life gets in the way...in ways good or bad or in-between...and the computer sits in the corner, ignored and dismissed.  A sort of time-out.  Whether it's that I've to many other things to attend to....or that at midnight Mister Man is still wide awake...or that I'm away from home...or that I simply have no desire to open up and share...I'm left with immense feelings of guilt when I finally come back.  As though this blog has become an entity in need of care. 

Of course, having challenged myself with TTP, I quite deserve to feel guilty when the closest I come to updating is writing down what I'm thankful for on the various scraps of papers you're sure to find hidden round the house, if ever you come to visit. 

...a smattering of scrapped thanks...

~Thanks to Mister Man, I now have homemade bookmarks in every single book in the livingroom

~Thankfully, I remembered not only a blanket to sit on, but also my sunglasses, for soccer practice

~I'm grateful to the library for holding fun craft times for kids throughout the year

~Thanks to the social skills therapy group he's participate in for the past two year, Mister Man is growing a brand-new friendship

~How could I not be thankful for every single moment of the Teddy Bear Picnic Mister Man's 1st grade class hosted?  So much fun!

~A day spent outside in this heat reminds me that I'm thankful for my olive complexion's resistance to sunburn!

~Thanks Thanks Thanks to Mister Man for making my birthday such a celebration!

~I'm ever so grateful for all the calls, message, emails, etc...heralding my birthday!

~Mister Man and I are equally thankful for Tante B., and for the effort she always goes to in helping our little family celebrate special days.

~Time and time again, I have to remind myself to be thankful for conflict, disappointment and all the other negatives that help to bring on growth and inner strength.

~A HUGE thank-you to Mister Man's teacher for sharing some amazing noteworthy news with me!

~I'm thanking myself...and that's totally normal!  After all, the birthday shoes I bought myself are sparkly and fabulous...and definitely deserving of a thank-you note! :)

~I'm so thankful that this lovely warm (though sometimes hot as hades) weather allows for long walks to playgrounds...which means I'm likewise so thankful for cold water bottles as well!

~Gratitude is surely due, when years of hard work and hands-on effort finally begin to pay off.