Thankful Mom of Five, Adoptive Mom of Two Ukrainian Beauties and Bereaved Mom

        Today I am thankful for not having a car today! Dan's car is in the shop and he had to take my car to work.  I couldn't go to the gym!! I am so  ecstatic  about that! Hurray!! I meant to say ...."I am so bummed that I couldn't get to the gym to work out even though it is the most boring .....I mean most wonderful thing in the world!" I hope his car isn't ....I mean is finished tomorrow.  Staying home and reading and watching TV is an enjoyable .....I mean mind numbing way to spend the day! Staying home and not being able to run errands is a  relaxing and stressfree.... I mean an  unproductive and stressful way to spend the day! Taking an afternoon nap is an exceptional  way to recharge your energy....I mean is a waste of time and energy!  Lying on the couch and reading is a fun and exciting  way to spend an afternoon!....I mean is an uninteresting and lame way to spend an afternoon!        This morning I carried a bag of trash down from the

            Today I am thankful for the wonderful day I had on Sunday with my best friend Priscilla, and later with Dan.  I got up and went to a flea market in a close by shopping center.   I stopped at a Giant food store to get a flower for Priscilla's daughter's grave. I checked out and the male cashier asked me if I was Olivia's mother. He said and you have another daughter who was a year behind us, right?  He graduated with Olivia.  He asked me if she was still  at Penn State, what she was up to, etc.  I didn't expect that only because I was about 30 minutes away from home.  He told me that he had to drop out of the trade school he was in because he was in a bad motorcycle accident and has a metal rod in his leg and pins and screws in his collar bone and shoulder. I am not a fan of motorcycles!  I think they are so dangerous, especially because riders don't have to wear helmets.  Then I met up with Priscilla. We went to Krissy's grave, I had never been there

        Today I got my hair cut at the salon where Olivia works.  I am thankful that I got to see her at work and meet some of her co-workers. I asked for her as my shampoo girl.  She did a great job!  Everyone there really likes her.  I met the owner and he said he enjoys having he work here  because he feels her enthusiasm  for cosmetology.  The woman who cut my hair said the same thing.  They enjoy listening to the things she tells them she is learning in cosmetology school. It's nice to see your adult kids successful! I got a great haircut, I just love it.  Of course, I almost dropped dead when I was told the price of $80.00! I gave the beautician a tip of $20 and I left a tip of $10 for Olivia. Olivia is really in her element there.  When you check out there, they give you tiny envelopes to put the tips in a basket.  There are names on wooden blocks behind the basket.  The receptionist was writing the name Olvia on the block and as I looked over, I saw the name "Amy"

          Today I am thankful for the library book club. I hadn't planned to attend this month but the librarian asked me to run the meeting because she had a commitment somewhere.  I absolutely agreed to run it.  There are other people who are much more regular attendees than I am but I don't think they want to lead the questions.  The librarian is so nice!  She gets the books for everyone to read.  Every month she says.." I never think anyone is going to show up, but they always do!  I was thinking that last night, that maybe people wouldn't show up because the librarian wasn't going to be there.  We had a huge crowd. There use to be only one male member. A few other women brought their husbands. There were about 12 people there.  The few times I attended, there were about 5 or 6 people there. We read Beartown.   I think the men liked the book because it was about a town obsessed with ice hockey.  It is nice that the library has a book club because it is open to

        Today I am thankful that half of my root canal is over. I had a female endodontist and she was wonderful!  I would highly recommend her if anyone needs a root canal done.  She said to me...."just raise your left hand if you need me to stop for any reason."           It reminded me of Olivia's first dental appointment at age 9 when we first adopted her. I don't think Olivia ever went to a dentist in Ukraine.  In her orphanage they only brushed once a day, in the morning. I don't think she even knew what a dentist was.  Our dentist,  Dr. R,  told her to raise her left hand if she felt any pain.  We had our Russian tutor on the phone and she translated everything for Olivia.  Soon as Dr. R. turned on the drill, she raised her hand, it wasn't even near her mouth yet. He tried again.  Soon as the drill came near her, she raised both hands! Then she clamped her mouth shut.  Our tutor kept telling her to open her mouth and she had to get the exam done. Oli

        Today I am thankful that I got to visit Olya.   Dan and I took a leisurely drive up to her college to pick up some of her things. She is finished  next Thur. and we knew we couldn't fit all her stuff in one trip.  I can't believe she is almost finished her freshman year. The time just flew by. She worked hard and did well. She is taking a math class during summer session at a local campus.  Dan and I left after Olivia went to beauty school.  We took a leisurely route instead of going on the turnpike.  We stopped at a few stores and a few markets along the way.  When we got to Olya's dorm, we packed up the boxes we brought and loaded up the car. Then we went to lunch, she only had an hour before her next class so we went to Hardees, which is right near her campus.  I am so glad that Olya will be home for the summer soon! Tomorrow I have to go to the endodontist  for a root canal, not too happy about that!  

        Today I am thankful that my friend, the blue bird,  is still hanging around.  He pecks at the window and tries to fly into the glass patio doors.  He walks along the brick edge of the patio door outside and looks in. I zoomed in because it is difficult to see him. He walks back and forth along the edge for hours and looks in. He is such a cute bird! He hangs around most of the day.  When I go into the kitchen, he comes to the window and the patio doors in that room. Whenever I go outside, he still stays around, not in touching position but close by.         I am also thankful that Olivia enjoyed her first day of beauty school.  There are only 5 young women in her class.  She knew one girl from her high school, that girl started in Jan. One young women is graduating college in two weeks with a degree in Communications but decided she didn't want to do that.  When Olivia got home, she wanted to go to Ulta and the dollar store for supplies she needed us to b

        Today I am thankful that Olivia started Beauty School!  She was really excited last night and this morning.  Everyone should go with their passion! There are many, many years of working so it is good to choose something that you have a desire to do.   I loved being a reading specialist and couldn't have imagined doing anything else! Every student deserves an appropriate education to meet their needs. Think how awful it would be to be illiterate. Years ago I worked for another school district.  A former student of that district, before I was hired there, was arrested for petty burglary.  When he was at the police station, he confessed and told them what he had done.  He was about 21 years old. The police wrote up his confession, and he signed it. When he got to court, the judge asked him if the signature on the confession was his and if he understood what he signed.  He said the signature on the confession was definitely his but he had no idea what he signed because he

       Today I am thankful that we all went to the PSU Blue and White Game and tailgated.  We were about an hour and a half away from PSU.  We got up and left by 10.  We were going to have pancakes but Dan forgot them so the kids had to suffer with toast, bacon, fruit and cereal.  We stopped and bought eggs and pancakes for the Sunday breakfast.  Olya made the eggs.  We brought all disposable pans, plates, cups and silverware. We were sitting in the sun, Dan and Olivia really got burned.  It is surprising because it wasn't hot, probably in the low sixties so I didn't even think to bring sunscreen. Later that evening, Dan went and got Benadryl for Olivia because she was itchy and a little swollen from her sunburn. It was so much fun! We brought our 6 people carload, Dan's brother brought a carload of 4, Krista, Dan's niece and her husband came with their three kids and Dan's other niece, Jill,  came with her son, Parker.  I think there were 18 of us Fledderma

      Today I am thankful for spending time with my family at the rented house in the park. Every Spring we rent a house/cabin for the PSU Blue and White game. Olya's boyfriend Matt and her best friend Elise also came.  it was so nice to hear the laughter of young adults. Olya and her group got there before us.  The house is really nice, it sleeps 14. We had to wait until we picked up Olivia at work, she wasn't done at the salon until 5:30.  She made $25 in tips on Fri afternoon. The house is really huge.  When we got there, Dan grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. Later the kids went out and made smores.   I loved listening to their laughter! Elise and Matt are also great friends so it was comfortable for everyone.

        Today I am thankful for the kindness of a complete stranger. I went to the gym this morning.  On the way home, I stopped at a church thrift shop.  I hadn't been there in years, I had sort of forgotten it was even there. I saw the thrift shop sign and it lured me in.  I thought there might be some things for the GLAM ROOM.  I walked around for a few minutes, it is a very small shop.  I saw a Kate Spade purse that looked almost new, I thought it was new! It was only $20.00 so I thought I would get it for Renee for her birthday and I'll put some money in it! I went up to the cashier and gave her my credit card but she said they only take cash.  I looked in my purse and had $18.00 and a dollar in change. I told her to hold it while I went to look for money in my car. I thought I had another $20 but then I remembered that I had given it to the single mom who drew my blood the other day.  I am rarely a cash user, I almost always use my credit card so that we get airplane m