Thankful Things

A baby up too early, drifting off again in my arms, smiling silly, sleepy smiles at me.

Just a few more lessons to put in my planner and a whole block of 45 minutes unscheduled, right in the middle of the morning, three days a week.  It is obviously meant for Penny.

A school room nearly clean, nearly clutter-free.  It’s nice out there.

The freedom (!) of a plan, a concrete, written-in-ink plan, and the hopefulness – the confidence – that it will all work in practice as well as it does on paper.  (Setting aside the schedule shifting knee surgery my husband scheduled for a Wednesday morning, of course.)

Having the option to say, “No!” to outside activities this weekend.  I just can’t afford to give up my fight for order now, in the end-game.

The piano my beloved husband is going to pick up this afternoon, in trade for an organ.  And the fact that he is going with good will and without me because I wanted to call the whole deal off due to the travel time.  I hope it’s worth the trip.

And last, but definitely not least: frank conversation that lets two lost lovers take just one more step back toward real love.