Friday Five

Surprises. Whew – for a day or so there I thought maybe I wasn’t going to be able to find five things to blog about this week! Then it came to me. Surprises. I’ve had some nice surprises this week. Not the Benjamin-Bratt-jumping-out-of-my-birthday-cake-naked kind of surprises (but one can dream. Besides my birthday is still six months away!) but anyway, just some nice, unexpected yet lovely surprises, those little things that come along and blow a pleasant breath into what was otherwise an ordinary day. This time I think I’d like to count down.

5. Gilbert’s ear is getting better. Yes, I know I haven’t blogged about this before. But, long story short, when I took my kitty to be neutered two weeks ago I asked the doctor to check a spot on his ear. Turns out to be a mast cell tumor. Gilby is only eight months old, so he’s quite young to have something so potentially serious. The doctor put him on high-dose steroids to shrink the tumor, and if that doesn’t work, she’ll have to remove a good portion of his ear. Well I noticed yesterday – the spot on his ear is shrinking. But keep him in your prayers and good thoughts anyway. That's him, above, btw. I figured Tanner has been on here twice now, Gilbert deserves a shot at "fame."

4. My pants are getting looser! So maybe those walks with Tanner and the overall healthier eating habits I adopted at the beginning of this year are starting to work. I was able to slide into a favorite pair of jeans the other morning without the usual grunting and groaning and wriggling around to get them buttoned. This came as a bit of a surprise.

3. Writing. Yep. It makes the list again. Now that the crankies have gone, things are clearer in my head and the writing is coming along much better than it was a week ago. And I’m much happier for that, and quite pleasantly surprised.

2. A “love note” from my oldest son. We were having one of “those” mornings. Stressed. Rushed. Me holding onto my temper by a mere thread as the daily race to get out the door in time for school heated up. I yelled when my seven year old son picked up a crayon and pencil and took time out to draw a picture – we didn’t have time for pictures! Then he finished what he was scribbling and handed it to me. A folded-over piece of paper with a hastily drawn flower on the front. Inside, two stick figures, one labeled mommy, the other Wyatt. And a message. I love you. Sometimes. (LOL. Apparently I’m not always lovable, go figure!) But in the midst of chaos, it was a true God breeze.

And my #1 favorite surprise this week (and she knows by now it’s gonna be her!) was …a phone call from a friend. Not just any friend, but one I’ve never talked to before. Darah has been my CP for a good four years now, the friend I rush to tell everything to – and I do mean everything (don’t tell the DH I admitted to that!) I start most days IMing with her and end quite a few that way, too. But we’ve always been too shy to actually call each other. So imagine my surprise the other day when I picked up the phone –ironically, the caller ID didn’t work!—and heard a laugh and a “Guess who?” She beat me to it! I was going to call her for her birthday next month. I think maybe I’ll call her anyway. And while I’m at it maybe I’ll call that other CP I IM every day whose birthday is coming up next month – I’ve never talked to her either!