Thursday Thoughts

~ Molly and I have been taking longer walks in the mornings.  Since she was spayed last month I had to start her on short walks so she wouldn't tire herself out or hurt herself.  We went from 10 minutes to 15, then to 20, and the last couple of mornings we've walked for 30 minutes.  She enjoys her walks so much, and it's great exercise for me as well.  Plus, I have to take advantage of the beautiful weather we've been having.  The mornings are sunny and warm but not humid, and there's a breeze so it's comfortable for walking.

~ If the weather continues the way it's been, this summer will be unbearable!  We basically skipped winter this year, with only one or two "cold" days (in the 50s).  Winter felt more like spring, and spring has already disappeared, quickly turning into summer.  We haven't had much rain either, just a few sporadic days of showers, so the heat is becoming more intense.  In the afternoons it gets into the mid 80s and we're only in April.  I don't know how we'll survive July and August.

~ My daughter went back to Central Florida on Tuesday.  She came down for the weekend, and we mailed her graduation announcements.  It still seems incredible that 4 years have passed and my daughter will be graduating from college.  She has her last classes this week, and finals next week.  Graduation is May 3.

~ I don't know why colleges schedule graduations for weekdays.  My daughter's graduation is on a Thursday morning.  That means E and I will have to leave here Wednesday afternoon, because A lives 4 hours away.  It also means he'll be missing 2 days of school, Thursday and Friday, because there's no way I'm driving up Wednesday and leaving Thursday.  I know this won't go over well with his school, but I don't care about that.

~ Here in Florida, excused absences are: a) a death in the family, or b) sickness.  I think that's horrible.  The schools will only excuse absences for illness or tragedy.  What about happy occasions?  What if Mom is having a new baby?  Or a special relative is visiting from out of town?  Or maybe your older sibling will be graduating from the university?  I think these are valid reasons for a child missing school.  Children should be allowed to celebrate the good moments in life and not worry about what their teachers will say.

~ My daughter A and I went shopping on Saturday for a dress for graduation.  She wanted to dress up nice but didn't want to wear heels because the graduation is about 3 hours long and that can get tiring.  I dreaded having to go dress shopping with her because she's so picky.  We've gone dress shopping before and it's hasn't been much fun.  God obviously had compassion on me because He found us a dress at the very first store we entered at the mall!  We went into Sears only because it was the first store we passed, not because I expected there to be anything she liked.  Actually there were several really pretty summer dresses that would be totally appropriate to wear with flats, and the first one she tried on was a winner!  The dress was on sale too, $35.99.  She got a tank top to wear underneath (since the dress is low cut) and a pair of black patent flats at Payless, and so she got her entire graduation outfit for just over $75.  After looking at some other outfits and shoes I felt like we did really good!

~ The past couple of weeks have been so busy.  This is the first day I'm taking it easy in quite some time.  I deserve a day off.  Of course I'll still have stuff to do, like making my son's favorite meal (beef empanadas), but I'm gonna relax a little today too.

~ I've been watching Poirot on Netflix, since I've finished watching all the episodes of Sherlock Holmes.  I love those kinds of mysteries, the whodunnit's.  I'm so glad we have Netflix too, because network television has nothing that appeals to me.  I'm not into the competitions, I don't like reality TV (well, except for the Duggars), and even the channels I used to enjoy don't entertain anymore.  I used to watch HGTV all the time for the decorating shows, but now it seems all they ever show is House Hunters or Property Virgins or My First Place - shows on buying homes, not decorating them.  There are still a few good shows on Food Network but too many are repeats.  If it weren't because my son loves watching his cartoons I'd get rid of satellite TV altogether and just keep Netflix.

And those are my thoughts for this Thursday.  Have a blessed rest of your week.