Had to stop ... and just be thankful today ... thankful for the little things ... thankful for taking the time to do the little things ... thankful that I'm "able" ... thankful that "I can" ...
thankful that I took a few minutes extra to make lunch a little more special ... just because I need her to know that I care and not everything is "in a rush" or "in a hurry"

(mini peanut butter sandwiches)
Thankful that I didn't say "no" when she asked if she could PLEASE help me make the cake ... knowing it would have been much easier for me to just rush and do it myself ... I'm thankful I said yes and "took the time" to have "a moment" ...

This week, at a glance, I noticed LeAnna moving her shoulders and face around some - so I looked again (just enough to constitute more than a glance) and noticed her eyebrows moving up and down, her face contorting somewhat and eyes darting back and forth, and every once in a while I would hear an "sss" sound or "puh" sound... which caused me to STARE ... she NEVER noticed me staring ... for a second I thought "what in the world?" ... then noticed she was reading a book, I realized she was "using expression" ... ha! Too cute ... but VERY noticeable ... using expression in her reading is one thing she's noted on while reading to us and then we turn in a weekly report of "how she's doing" ... we've been doing this all year ... cool to see her develop a love for reading ...
it was just fun to watch her doing this ... totally lost in her book ... but instead of keeping the excitement of the book on the inside - she brought it to life on the outside ...
- very thankful for her love of reading and "just because she wants to" responses instead of "do I have to?"
My word-of-the-month "volunteer" has definitely been put into action ... NOT in all the ways I had originally imagined or thought I might "try" and volunteer ... oh well ... it was funny to see how it all turned out this month with that word being the focus ... "volunteer" found its way to me without me going out and looking! ha! That really happens alot - I guess I just gave my tasks a name this month ...
anyhoo ... there were days this month (including today - while I was sitting at school for 2 hours AGAIN this morning) that I thought I just can't be doing this ... however, my "word" over-powered me and I had to stop and be thankful that I'm able to volunteer ... I have a job that is flexible, I have the resources and so ... I can't complain ... even though I might have to stay up late tonight, just to get my list checked off ... I just had to stop today and be thankful that I could act on my word ... which in turn - made me realize - I'm fulfilling my 2009 goals to focus on working on me this year ...
I did several things this month that was a sacrifice, but it was mainly just my "time" ... and the reward? The satisfaction of knowing that I helped someone and expected nothing in return (and knowing, and fully aware that it would have been easier to gripe about it at times - focusing on the "thought" of what I'm actually doing this year ... helped me to enjoy it and smile (most of the time) - ha! (still working on me =0) ... )
Very cool ...
So far ... I've Created, looked for Happy, Reflected and Volunteered ... I'm anxious to see what May's word is ...
happy day ... and WASH YOUR HANDS!!! The Piggy Flu is in Nashville! Harding Academy found 1 case and shut down for 1 week! So ... wash the piggy away!
tammy