The Gym

Today I am grateful for the gym.  That may seem odd so some of you, but I really am very grateful for my gym membership.  My friend's mom had a stroke or something and she moved to another state to take care of her mom.  Her gym wasn't in her new home state and so she was trying to sell her gym membership.  I wanted it so bad, but I didn't have a lot of money.  She was so good to work with me and now I have a 3 year gym membership that includes childcare.Over the past 4 months or so that I have been going to the gym I have noticed  a HUGE change in my life. I have lost weight and slimmed down a bit, but that is not why I am grateful for the gym. You see I have some health problems that sometimes make me really sick and cause a lot of pain.  But when I go to the gym on a regular basis it is much better.  The stomach aches go away and the pain is almost completely gone.  But do you want to know the best part?  I get to take my kids to the day care for and hour and a half.  That is 90 minutes all to myself.  I get to work out and, I love this part, take a shower, and I don't have to worry about my boys.  I know they are safe and having fun with new friends and new toys.  So the gym helps me feel better physically, but it also helps me emotionally because of the little breaks I get.  So yes, I am very grateful for the gym, even if I do hate working out most days.  :)

Friends

Today I am grateful for friends, especially my best friends.  There are all sorts of friends.  There are many different types of friends, but the friend that got me thinking tonight is named Aleta.  She lives just down the street from me and we may seem like an unlikely pair.  You see we are different in many ways.  She works, I stay at home.  My kids are little, her kids have kids older then mine.  Well, I guess that's really where the differences end, the stuff on the outside is all that is different.  I'm sure glad it didn't keep us apart.  I met Altea when she was my visiting teacher (It's a church calling where two women go visit other women in the church ward to make sure they are doing well, give a spiritual message, and talk)  She used to come for very short visits because she thought that's what I wanted since I was so busy with my two boys.  One day I told her what I really wanted was long visits.  If she had time could she come visit me for an hour or so so I can have someone to talk to and have some adult conversation.  So she did.  Every month she came for an hour or more.  Every Sunday she would hold my baby so I could listen, and she was always there with a smile and cheery words.  Then she was released from her calling and we were both so sad, but thankfully we have still remained friends.
Well for the past two weeks I have really been struggling.  Tonight I took the kids on the walk they have been begging for and we went to her house.  She was home and we sat and talked for a while, then she walked me home and talked some more.  She read my kids books, talked with me, sympathized, empathized, and encouraged. Her parting hug was so warm and comforting it was like a hug from my mom and my best friend all in one. When she left I felt like the sun had broken through the clouds again.  I am so grateful for friends like her.

Random Moments

 Today I am grateful for random moments of play.  Those times when I have house work to do, or it's time to start dinner, or maybe I am in a rush, and the kids want to play.  This random moment started out as jumping together for a few minutes and then I was going to go in and start dinner.  But the kids begged for more time so I raked up the leaves and we jumped in them and had a leaf fight.  Dinner was late, but moments like this are what life is really all about.

 I heard once that quality time, the time that will mean the most to our kids, doesn't come scheduled or planned.  It comes spontaneously.  It comes as you are headed out the door for work.  It comes when you thought he was asleep 20 minutes ago.  It comes when we are rushed or grumpy.  It comes in the restaurant when your trying the keep kids occupied while they wait for food.  These are the moments that will mean the most to them, the ones that we will probably forget, but they never will.

I am so grateful for the times when I take these little opportunities to play trains, jump in puddles, and throw leaves.  I am grateful for the times when I have made sure not to let them just pass by thinking I could do it later.  Part of the magic for children is getting to play and read right when they ask, not having to wait 20 minutes.  Waiting takes forever and often waiting takes too long and the opportunity to make a golden memory is past.  And I am grateful that even though I let these moments slip away sometimes, there will be many more, and I am learning to see them and appreciate them for how truly special and magical they really are.