Day 137 o 365 Days of Being Thankful

        Today I am thankful for the large photos of Amy that our attorney had blown up for the civil trial. I usually don't have anything under my bed except maybe a pair of slippers. Lately, our cat has been going under my bed.  He hides there whenever he is nervous or if we have strangers in the house.   He particularly does not care for male strangers. He has now started going under there for no reason.  I asked Dan and Olya to pull the bed away from the wall so that I could see if he had urinated or defecated under there. He had not done either!  Now I wonder why he goes under there.  During our 7 week trial about Amy's death, our attorney had blown up photos of Amy they were huge.  They were probably 5 or 6 ft by 7 or 8 ft. We took the photos when the trial was over. I stuck them under my bed and sort of forgot they were there. Dan and Olya had put them up against the wall when they moved the bed when I was out at a meeting. My breath caught in my throat when I walked into the bedroom! There was Amy standing and smiling in one photo from a prom. She  had gone to Doug's senior prom at Penncrest high school.  When we dropped Amy off at PSU for her first semester, she was on the same floor as her best friend from kindergarten!  Maureen had left the school and gone to a private school and the girls never saw each other again. When they started chatting, Maureen and Amy went into Maureen's dorm room.  Amy looked at Maureen's photos and said....wait a minute, I'll be right back!  She went and got her prom photo of Doug's senior prom to show Maureen.  Maureen had taken Doug to her senior prom! Amy saw the photo of  Maureen's senior prom with Doug! It really is a small world.  Amy and Maureen became good friends again.  Maureen was away when Amy died so Maureen's father came to pay his respects to us. The other large photo was of Amy sitting on the grass at PSU. She just loved Penn State! She looked so happy in both photos.
         Today Renee graduates from PA school. She had to work hard and study hard for the last two years.  She will miss the friends she made but life is about moving forward and exploring new and different challenges. Olya, Dan, my niece Erica, Adam and I will be attending the white coat ceremony.  Each graduate only got 5 tickets.  Tonight is another ceremony which is a cap and gown ceremony and no one needs ticket to get in.  Olivia wants to go to the evening ceremony so we will go to that too.  Olivia can't take off from cosmetology school so she can't go to the morning ceremony. Last night Renee called us to meet to give us the tickets for her ceremony.  Olivia and her boyfriend had been at Renee's house the night before but I guess she forgot to give her the tickets.  Olivia's boyfriend's sister was in Renee's high school class. Renee remembers her as being a really nice girl, they didn't hang out together but they knew each other.  Anyway, we met Renee at a nail salon and we all got pedicures and Renee and Olya got manicures. I paid for all of the pedicures.  Renee and Olya also got massages for $5 but I didn't offer to pay for that!  $5 for a neck massage? I have never had a massage in my life! Renee and I picked out the exact same color and we weren't near each other while choosing. 

We both picked a soft pink, Olya also picked a soft pink gel color.
       Olya is taking a summer course at a local PSU branch.  She and my niece Natasha signed up for the exact same course on the same day at the same time! That is quite a coincidence since they aren't in the same major! They are both taking an Econ course!

I am thankful that Natasha is in the same course because I only have to drive Olya to my sister's house and then they can go together to class. 
        Olivia is always checking Nittany for ticks, etc.  She is always worried if she thinks he has a tick or a lump, etc.  The other day she said to me, "OMG mom, he has a big lump."  And she brought him over to me.  She was touching his testicles.  I said, Olivia, that lump is one of his balls, she put him down and started laughing!