Day 249 of 365 Days of Being Thankful

         Today I am thankful that so many people have given me encouragement to continue writing my blog!

I really appreciate all the comments, messages, and emails.  The simple things in life are the things that mean the most and touch someone's heart.  My friend Carol, who runs the Bereaved Parents Evening Group, asked me if I would talk about writing/blogging at one of our meetings.  It has helped me a great deal to change my attitude about life in general. I didn't think there would be enough things to be thankful for to write about everyday.  The truth is that I could write more everyday but I don't want to bore people! My friends have told me that they see a change in my attitude in general. My attitude about life has changed for the better.  When you lose a child, it is very difficult to find any joy in life. I think that bereaved parents have to actively look for and find things to be thankful for. The first five years are such a grief fog that it would be close to impossible to be thankful for anything.  I was NOT thankful for much of anything then. My best  friends Jackie, Nancy, Linda and Carol helped me get through the first horrendous years.
         I am also so thankful that my friend Priscilla gave me a gift of a new stainless steel water bottle.

 It keeps the water cold so that it is refreshing all day long!  Priscilla lost 20 pounds in one month and part of the reason was all the water she drank. I took the bottle with me today while I was running errands.  I was in Acme at least an hour and the water in the bottle was still cold when I got back to the car!! Of course I am NOT going to lose any pounds if I don't stop eating M&Ms.  Olivia found a big bag of M&Ms from Christmas and put them up on the counter.   They still taste great!! Every time I walk by, I take a handful!
         I am also thankful that Renee sent me a bunch of articles about sciatica.  I am sick and tired of being sick and tired and in pain!  I'll read the articles and see if there is any new treatment. Priscilla told me about a Facebook group called Sciatica Sucks so I joined that. It really does suck!
         Last night Olivia went to Frankie's Trade School to visit him. He isn't permitted to leave the campus during the school week.  The school is very strict! He gave Olivia a tour.  Olivia ran into two ex-boyfriends at the school.  A random student came up to Olivia and asked her if she had any sisters and if they were as pretty as she is. She showed the guy a picture of Olya but told him that Olya has a boyfriend!
         When Olivia started Cosmetology school, my high school friend Diane R told me her daughter had also attended Cosmetology school. She said to get ready for Olivia to come home with her hair EVERY color of the rainbow.  Well, it's happening! Olivia has the most beautiful thick, brown Ukrainian hair. Her hair has natural light brown highlights in it. People would pay big bucks to have her hair!! First, Olivia came home with  blond balayage hair.  Today she came home with RED hair!!!  My bereaved mom friend Debbie L is a licensed cosmetologist but gave it up when she was pregnant because the chemicals were really harsh years ago.  Debbie told me about the first permanent she gave to a client, it did not go well! Debbie said it was a disaster! ( "As I was rinsing off the rods, a few of them fell out with the hair still attached. I sure did scoop them up quickly...LOL")