Tears & Sadness

On a day where my child spent Mother's Day with another woman and quite possibly the meanest man to ever live, I am hard pressed to find something amusing to be thankful for.

I am thankful for tears and how sometimes they are the only way to express just how sad you feel. When you can't possibly find the words to express yourself, they seem to say it all.

At the end of today, just like the end of every day, I am so incredibly thankful that I no longer live with a man who is the embodiment of evil. I am grateful that I am not a woman who is so insecure and weak in spirit that I fail to see what is wrong with a man who tells a woman she deserves a miscarriage and who makes sure that a child does not spend Mother's Day with his own mother...

Because, today, I realize that it is okay to be sad and I am thankful for that. And I am so incredibly grateful to know that it will pass quickly because having known true evil makes me appreciate the goodness and lightness that has become a part of my daily life.

Smurf Bath Rings & Punctuation

Before I begin my evening, a quick note of thanks for things that made me happy today.

I am so thankful that I found a purple Smurfette shirt for under $15. I love that the Smurfs are French and am seriously considering basing my entire French 8 curriculum on them. Surely the 40 kids (plus 5 special needs students who will be in the class but not actually taking the course) I will have in each section next year will love it.

I give thanks for the relaxing powers of a bubble bath. Yippee for a house with a deep bath tub.

And thank you to the paramedic for letting me wear my wedding ring around the house... and not laughing at me... well, to my face anyway.

Finally, I am thankful for punctuation because without it it would look like I was talking bath rings in the shape of Smurfs. Good punctuation is an important skill but probably something that the 45 plus kids in my Language Arts 8 class can do without - I mean, we have spell & grammar check, write?

Foot Rubs, Fancy Feet and Family Time

Yay! and Thanks! to anyone who rubs my feet - whether that be the funny little lady who does my pedicures or the guy who loves me so much he (seemingly) is not bothered by my smelly feet.

I am thankful today for foot rubs and fancy feet after a great afternoon of family time with my mum and aunt. So much fun to wedding and trip plan over pedicures and lunch... and I love the little coincidences in life... like talking about hop on/hop off tours of cities and then not even two days later discovering a Groupon offer for one! Woohoo! A little mini holiday in my own hometown.

I also end the day giving thanks for family time... pedicures and lunch, an afternoon visit and cuddling on the couch to watch, boo and cheer as part of our Survivor night and ending the evening watching the second best Modern Family in the world take their own hilarious trip to the Happiest Place on Earth... what a wonderful way to end another sunny day.

And, thank you, my beautiful female canine companion for recovering from your own 80 year old man stomach episodes in the middle of the night four nights in a row. I am sure the only one more relieved than me that your multiple trips outside and taking short naps on the back deck in the middle of the night are finally over is you! Be well, my beautiful girl or we will be forced to share my fancy new peppermint mixture pills.

Heaven Help Me... Despite Everything, I Love Him

Anyone who knows our family knows that I frequently whine and complain that I need rescued from my rescue dog. Never before have I had such a needy, stubborn, downright disobedient and permanent puppy for a canine companion. I was actually shocked the other day to realize that he is now five years old... and I am still waiting for the adult dog behaviour to kick in. Such a change from my beautiful old soul canine companion.

Despite my best efforts to "give" him to the paramedic, regift him to my parents or trade him for a passport eating, jumps so high she licks my sunglasses puppy... it seems he and I are stuck with each other.

As I tried to have a relaxing bubble bath yesterday but was thwarted from all the canine whining and crying on the other side of the door, it dawned on me that despite everything I love him. Who else in our lives loves us so much that our being on the other side of a closed door is so traumatic that it elicits tears of sadness? Who else will continue to love us despite being called "retard" or worse? Who else will cuddle with us when we are sad despite being routinely told to "take a hike" or shoved away with expletives? Who else will lick our smelly feet and gaze upon us adoringly?

In a world where our friends can punish us for speaking the truth and drop us at the drop of a hat, how can I not be thankful to have the unconditional love of my canine Mama's boy?

So today, even though as I write this I can hear him from drinking out of the toilet before heading upstairs to lie on my freshly laundered bed, I am thankful for my Mama's boy dog.

And, as an aside, I am also grateful that the paramedic continues to retrieve the dog when he makes his grand getaways... and I am also thankful that I have someone in my life who is so incredibly special that my canine Mama's boy now cries when he lives for work... in the afternoon... the mornings are too early for the dog to apparently care.

I did it all by myself!

Today, it seems, I graduated to big girl status... going for another round of blood tests all by myself and NOT passing out. I am thankful that, although my 80 year old man stomach continues to cause me grief and I am headed to another round of testing with a new specialist, I seem to be developing some sort of stamina for this sort of thing... I just wonder what will keep the paramedic entertained now.
I am also thankful that the rain held off today allowing me to go for a long awaited walk with my puppies on the dyke. Yesterday, after watching my beloved dog lie down on the grass in the park after a walk up the hill, I was so relieved to see her (sort of) run free on the path. I think I need to remind myself that the only one who has her with one foot in the grave is me... just because she is nine doesn't mean she is about to keel over and die. But I also think that she needs to appreciate the fact that because I do seem to worry about her age, she now gets specially made homemade chicken stew and evenings in front of the fire... which will probably expedite her departure from this world but at least she will be happy.

And, my gratitude to my friend who allows me to snoop her online dating account and say things like "we like him for you" and to go with it. Boy! do I love it when people take my "advice." And this process helps me appreciate that my journey to find love has had a happy ending... even if that someone is rather sniffly and whiny today.

Grandmas on Kardashian Sex, Farewell Feta and Kids who Eat

Thank you to people who post stupid stuff on the Internet. Sometimes it is truly funny. I don't even care if it is staged; Jewish grandmas talking about sex is always going to be funny.

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/05/grandma-kim-kardashian-sex-tape

I am also thankful to my 80 year old man stomach; that bastard only knocked me out for 2 days this time. Okay! Okay! Okay! I get it. Feta is not my friend - from any source. I wonder if it would be too weird to have a memorial service for cheese. I could invite my former friends milk and ice cream.

My gratitude to friends with kids who happily eat all my cooking. Such a refreshing change from my anoerxic in training kidlet who starts each meal with: "Do I have to eat this?" and who believes that flushing a granola bar down the toilet won't cause plumbing issues. Thank you, in advance, to the counsellor who will help him get over his picky eating habits and help him come to terms with being the first person in Canada in about 150 years to get scurvy.

And, finally, because I have been neglectful in giving public thanks to the paramedic, my deep gratitude to have someone in my life who will stand up for us and go a couple rounds with the grouchy neighbourhood bully, charm the pants off (not literally, thank God) the neighbourhood moms and always, always ensure that my needs are being met.