Goodbye Week. Hello Weekend. Lessons Learned: Take 80.

At work on Panama.

Goodbye looong week after having the normal 5 days of school (how unusual).
Goodbye Panama project as it traveled out of the house and into the school - clean-up time.
Goodbye attending an Internet Safety meeting at school and wondering how there could possibly be that many creepy people in the world trying to connect with our kids online - scary.
Goodbye waking up to a foot of snow, having the local school closed but not Kiddo's (thanks for driving today, Super Hubby).
Goodbye January as we're off to a good start for 2013.

Sweet child o' mine!

Hello February as you came with a full blast of white, dressing the trees and bushes in beautiful splendor. 
Hello fighting the snow pockets and ice sheets as we maneuver around this weekend.
Hello 5th Grade Parent Party and hoping everyone likes the menu, planned under severe budgetary constraints.
Hello budgeting the Parent Party appropriately so we have more funds to give the kids an awesome party at the end of the year (parents always make the sacrifices).
Hello mixing baseball and football on Sunday: baseball training in the morn, Super Bowl at night, eating junk food all day long! 

The lesson I learned this week is it's never, ever as bad as it seems. I caught myself complaining to a friend over lunch about the stupidest things. There I was just venting. Ever have those moments where you leave your body and actually see outside yourself? I saw myself being ungrateful for what I had, complaining because I didn't have more, and sounding so trite and shallow. I was embarassed as I reflected back to that luncheon later in the week. What caused the reflection?

Source

For Kiddo's Panama project we needed yucca root and the only place to get it is a Spanish Supermarket in downtown Cleveland, not the best side of town, may I add. Super Hubby stopped in on his way home and shared his experience. After passing several bums living on the side of the road, he entered the store to find the yucca root. While there, another bum off the street came into the store and begged the owner for an opportunity to shovel the front of the store for a dollar. $1, people! Perspective! Embarassed by the riches I have, the luck I had to be plopped into a life where, any where else in the world would be considered sheer luxury. I'm about to do something drastic - I'm going to go out of my comfort-zone, out on a limb. Here's what I'm going to do: STOP COMPLAINING! I'm cursed with this character trait as part of my nature but I've got to get a grip, gain control, and put a stop to such wasted breaths. So, here I go, (I know Super Hubby is rolling with laughter, if he's reading this) starting..........NOW!