GRATITUDES:
1. My hard-working kids
2. Another good day
3. Good Texas BBQ. (Okay, this is only an occasional thing, but it’s nice to know that we have TWO good BBQ places in our town.😍)

As mentioned above, I’m extremely proud of my two bobbleheads. One (Basil) has managed to squirrel away over $6k from their job earlier in the year and they plan on going back to work either over the next school year or next summer. Meanwhile, they’ve set a goal of one painting per day for the summer and they’re also planning on learning French through an app called DuoLingo. This is in preparation for their trip to Europe next year. They’ll only be in France for two days and change but they don’t want to be a typical Obnoxious American while there. God bless them.❤️ Meanwhile, Lauren just started her new job last night and even though the first day was a challenge, it’ll get easier with practice. She’s also planning on tucking away her wages, which will amount to a considerable chunk of change by the end of the summer. I’m proud of her for just getting out there and applying herself. She’s my shyest one, loads of social anxiety, and working with the public is a challenge even for more outgoing kids. For her it’s a major undertaking but I think she’ll develop better coping skills, especially during awkward situations or confrontations with more belligerent folks. (Let’s just hope that she doesn’t have to experience much of the latter!🙏🏻)

After four weeks of being home, I finally got tired of tripping over the hospital bags that were taking up space on the floor next to my side of the bed. I’ve put almost everything away except for the suitcase, which I’ll have to drag up the rickety stairs into the crawl space above the garage. I was reluctant to unpack because I know that at some point I’ll have to go back but I’m sick of waiting around, living partially out of suitcases and duffels. It makes me feel like I’m homeless.

It’s coming up on 10pm and it’s almost time to go pick up Lauren. Poor kid – her feet were really hurting this morning but she texted us a couple of hours ago and said that she had been given a 20 minute break. She’ll get used to the new normal, it’ll just take some time. Meanwhile, there’s always Epsom salts.😊