Thankful

Mother's Day 2012. A day for appreciating my family. A day for being appreciated. A day for appreciating my Mum.

Mother's Day was the same as it is every year for me. I go for a run. We go out for a lovely breakfast together. Just me and my boys (yes, that includes Iven). Then I bake a bit. For afternoon tea with my Mum.

My Sunday run followed a Saturday run of (drum roll please) 13k. It was a good 13k - 7k with the group then I turned around and went home. Sunday's run was even better. I ran 10k without stopping - except for the traffic and for the man who waves at me whenever I go the uni way who wanted to give me the first Mother's Day kiss of the morning. Not sure why - I'm not his mother. I even ran up the hill (which Iven deprecatingly called a little slope).

When I got home the boys were starting to emerge from their rooms - almost unheard of at that hour on a Sunday morning. We were out of the house 15 minutes before we'd planned - also unheard of.

Josh decided that ice cream was an appropriate breakfast food as long as he paired it with coffee.

He also decided to rebel against the constraints of society.

Baking was birthday cakes and caramel chip biscuits for the afternoon tea.

And then I got the best Mother's Day gift ever - a one hour nap!!

Toby got to visit Grandma and his two doggie cousins that live at her place, for the first time. Benny was a congenial host. Pete was not.

But all that puppy play and people-greeting and being cuddled left him all tuckered out.

And the day left me thankful. Thankful for my three healthy boys who are still happy to spend time with their Mum. Especially thankful that there was no lasting damage from last week's assault. Thankful that my health is improving. Thankful to be part of a close extended family. Thankful for the glorious weather and for the time to be able to enjoy it. And thankful that I have a cute and cuddly little ball of fluff to keep a smile on my face.

And that gratitude has rolled over to today. I'm thankful that work is quiet and I can get other stuff done during the day. I'm thankful that the courier company, who lost all the work that was coming back from the machinist last week, found it early today. I'm thankful that I gave Iven a slow-cooker so dinner was made before midday.

And my sense of gratitude has become contagious. Even Josh was expressing gratitude this morning. He was incredibly grateful that the weather has turned cold so he can now wear a sweater to work - no ironing for three or four months.

Has Mother's Day left you with a sense of gratitude?