I’m joining up with the CatholicMom.com community for Small Success Thursday!
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It’s Catholic Schools Week, and I got a nice surprise on Monday from Little Brother’s class. Each homeroom wrote thank-you notes to someone in the community who helps the school. I am a library volunteer, and it warmed my heart to receive notes from the 6th-graders, many of whom let their personalities shine through in the notes and drawings on the cards.
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An organizing project started small and snowballed into a wholescale rearrangement of my kitchen. It’s a small kitchen (about 11 x 11) and my cooking paraphernalia has pretty much outgrown the space. Once we added in Little Brother’s diabetes supplies, it got out of hand fast.
First I boxed up the 3 months’ worth of equipment we’ve got here:
That box is labeled “70 gallons,” for what it’s worth. And the 7 boxes of insulin pens are in the fridge, taking up about as much space as 3 cartons of eggs.
I’m not complaining. I’m grateful for the equipment that helps us keep Little Brother healthy, and for the prescription plan that pays for almost all of it.
ANYWAY, once I got all that stuff out of the way, I moved the table, the cart with the coffeemaker, and the trash can. I think the new arrangement will alleviate some of the traffic jams that happen when 3 or 4 people are in the kitchen all at once trying to get something to eat.
I put my vintage tablecloth on the table, along with the cool teacup Middle Sister gave me for Christmas, and I moved 3 grocery bags’ worth of stuff that didn’t belong in the kitchen back to wherever that stuff needed to go. My kitchen feels like a peaceful, happy place again.
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After a tough Tuesday, I took the morning off yesterday to figuratively put my oxygen mask back on. I met my friend Ellen for breakfast at the Jersey Diner (what my kids call the Shiny Diner). Boy, did it feel good to just spend a couple of hours hanging out, chatting, and enjoying some delicious bacon. That was a much-needed break.
Give a lift to your ordinary Thursday by celebrating this week’s successes! Join the link party at CatholicMom.com or share yours in the comments.
Bacon…mmm…bacon! You had me at bacon. And what nice cards for the kids to give.
That diner had the BEST bacon. The coffee…not so much. I’ve known these kids since kindergarten–I have them in library almost every year and my son is in the class. The cards cracked me up because the kids were so in-character with them. A serious reader thanked me for a book recommendation. Several boys bragged that they spelled my last name right. Just little things like that–they were sweet. A real treasure.
Nice to see another person who uses tablecloths, and a very pretty one too!
I never thought of it as “putting on my oxygen mask first” but you’re absolutely right. Good for you!
Love your table and cloth. I love old linens. In fact, in our classroom one of our tables is covered with a red-checked table clothes with dragonflies embroidered on it. Sigh. That diner sounds great.
And I’m so happy you were thanked. Volunteers are important. And more than that, it’s nice to be thanked – PERIOD!
Great Successes.
You’re so blessed.
Em
How adorable are those notes?! Gotta love handwritten notes from children. I love that tablecloth. So pretty! I’d pull ours out more often if I didn’t think little fingers would try pulling them off every opportunity they had. Mmmm…bacon…we’re definitely kindred spirits! Girl time is the best! My husband was a doll last night and encouraged me to grab some desert with one of my former colleagues. A good girlfriend can heal a multitude of wounds! The laughing and the chocolate are always good for this soul. Have a blessed weekend!
Enjoyed our breakfast so much. We need to do this more often!