Day Four

Whelp, it was bound to happen. The honeymoon is over. Only four days in. Today was a struggle finding ANYTHING to be grateful about. Which is quite sad really.

New school is in an old factory that is being redone bit by bit to create a very different type of learning environment. One in which the kids call their teacher Mr/Ms. Their First Name. It's not all spic and span and shiny new. It takes imagination and belief to get projects like this off the ground. My kids and their American eyes are a bit freaked out by this. It reminds me of my 2 grade year in Germany when I went to school in a renovated factory. The classrooms are shared with 2 grades in one room with one teacher. This also reminds me of my third and fourth grade years in Germany after the new school was build and we had LESS room. It worked out quite well. But change is hard...I'm not very good and giving grace for all the changes we've gone through in the past year. Must try to do better at that.

After enrolling them at the new place, unenrolling them at the old place, saying goodbyes to the staff at Paramount, and dropping the kids back home I had precisely one hour to grocery shop for my family of five and dash off to school. Lily was to accompany me tonight to get her hare did before school went back in session. I called and found I had another appointment on the books, so Lily was put of til tomorrow (side blessing: since she had to wait til Thursday and I'm logging extra hours to graduate on time this week I'm saving 50% on her total bill as that's our January promo! Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 9-12 all tickets are half price!!!).

I played Supermarket Sweep dashing about here and there not reading all the labels of the desired contents that made their way into our cart. Miraculously (and with the fairy dust of 7 year old wings) I made it! Coming home the teenagers of course didn't offer to help unload the car. And then we had an ugly roe centered around a champagne flute and a silly lie. I was a screeching harpy. They were blowing me off which in turn lead to a Chernobyl like meltdown on my part. Aaaaand B walks in the door to sheer madness. Welcome to a house with four girls :) Oh and did I mention that somehow I'm gaining weight hand over fist?!?!

Work was not the creatively fulfilling experience it is usually. I'd cried all the way in, so I spent the evening with zero makeup and swollen puffy eyes. My hair looked like I had tried to pull it out. So needless to say, I completely looked like someone you'd trust with your hair. But then I had a pedicure. I put a new color on my toes. I'm not really thrilled with it, but it's good to try new things. Maybe after a day or two it will have grown on me. I came home and had good talks with my daughters about trust and respecting other peoples property. I have groceries that are overflowing my kitchen table where I ran out of time putting them away. My home is warm and there are people here who love each other. Even when we don't behave in lovable ways. So why was it that today the honeymoon on The Gratitude Project seemed to come to a close? Isn't that the point really? To force myself to see what is good in my life?

Now I have an overabundance of things to choose from....

Spinning the Wheel of Fortune, I choose The Gratitude Project itself as it took a crap day and made me search for joy. Followed closely by the fact that in this family we don't hold grudges. We may fight hard, but we love strongly with the sun not going down on our anger.

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world. ~Terri Guillemets