Employed once again

I start teaching my first student for harp lessons on Tuesday! Wish me luck :) Oh, and if you know anyone in Tallahassee who wants to learn, send them my way!

Hidden Blessings

Today didn't have the best start. First of all, my back has been KILLING me! I wake up every single morning about 5 o'clock because my back is so tense and painful that I just can't sleep. I can't seem to get comfortable enough to stay asleep for more than 20-30 minutes at a time after that. But, that's not what this post is about. This is about the unusual things of today. I don't generally post anything too personal, but after telling Preston about my morning I just felt like I should post it too.

This is what I wrote Preston in an e-mail when I got on to find a sweet message he had written me.

Thanks babe. Today's been interesting. I got out of bed to get Brayden at 7:30 which was fine. But Sadie was super crazy because I had just let her inside. She was jumping all over me with dirty paws, licking Brayden all over and just being annoying. Then we got breakfast and I made Brayden some yummy wheat cereal that he usually likes, but he didn't each much of. At least he did eat some banana, graham cracker, a few multi-grain cheerios and a little of the cereal. He seemed pretty happy, so I went to the bedroom to get dressed and I heard him standing up in his high chair. So, I took him out, changed his messy diaper, then plopped him in the tub for a little bath. He had food on him and I figured that would be easiest. Well, after getting him dressed and ready, I took him in the room with me to get ready. He wasn't very interested in being on the floor playing for long, so I kept picking him up until I needed both hands. We brushed our teeth, I got ready as quickly as I could and then I figured it was a good time for a walk. BUT, before I could go on a walk I needed to fix the sprinkler outside because I noticed it had been moved a little by Sadie. So, I sat Brayden with his whole box of toys in the family room while I went to get some shoes. I was looking at which shoes to wear when I heard a big crash and shattering. I came out to find the glass table top on top of Brayden!! The lamp and pictures had been thrown off and the bulb had broken. Of course Brayden had his wide surprised eyes and then started bawling, so I carried him back in, put some shoes on and headed outside leaving the mess for later. I was fixing the sprinkler when I noticed that SADIE DUG THE GARDEN AGAIN!!!!! When I was trying to scold her I just started feeling so angry, so I decided it was not a good time for scolding. We went back inside without replanting the garden, . . . what's the point anyway? . . . turned on the sprinklers, and headed on our walk.

I still had a little bit of frustration festering inside from the several happenings of the morning. But, it was at the moment that I was thinking about  life and decided that I don't want to be mad or upset or frustrated all day that my thoughts turned to the blessing journal I've been writing in each day since conference. An interesting place for my thoughts to be since a minute ago I wouldn't have thought there was much to be grateful for about the day. Then I realized how blessed I truly was already today. What a blessing that when the table fell on Brayden it didn't shatter on top of him, or his foot didn't break or his head didn't crack open. What a blessing that I have a garden to water and to be dug up. And Brayden did eat and get full this morning. And I got a chance to change his sheets this morning so they could be washed. And I did get to get ready even if I was holding Brayden. Brayden is so much more important than me looking cute. I am so blessed to be his mommy every day. And I get to see his sweet happy smiles and hear his silly squeals every day.

Anyway, it feels kinda funny to post personal stuff for some reason, but I just felt like it was a good idea. Maybe for me, maybe for one of you readers. All I know is that I learned a small lesson about blessings today. There are blessings hidden in every aspect of life, even the ones that seem awful.  That certainly doesn't make it easy to see them, but the more we try the more we'll see.

I'm glad that I have a dog who will always love me and be there when I need a furry friend. I'm glad that I have a boy who is strong enough to pull a table top off. And I'm especially glad that the only things that got damaged today are replaceable. Think about your day, and maybe if you have time write down the things you're grateful for! I know it helps. It helped me today.