Thankful...A Day Late

As I've written before, grading student essays is difficult work. I must strike a balance between correcting mistakes, giving advice, and encouraging young writers so that they don't become discouraged but can improve their work. It's a delicate balancing act, one that requires a great deal of both time and thought, especially when one is commenting upon rough drafts of MLA research papers which has been my job since Friday afternoon at Brave Writer. Each essay has taken between two and three hours to comment upon as they range in length from five to nine pages, not including outlines and Works Cited (bibliographies). So, as I mentioned yesterday, I've been buried.

But I don't want a week to slip by without an opportunity to jot down my Journey to 1000 Gifts this week as I join, a bit belatedly, the Gratitude Community at A Holy Experience....

The beauty of thankfulness:

401. ...for rough draft grading completed...at midnight last night.

402. ...for boys who scrub toilets, vacuum floors, empty trashes, fold laundry, do dishes...all done cheerfully (most of the time)

403. ...for the blessing of advising a dear friend at church just diagnosed with fibromyalgia, of my experiences being helpful to her

404. ...for the joy of taking my girl shopping and spending time with her this past weekend

405. ...for a bank account well in the black, with enough money for food this week

406. ...for the warm water of the spa, soaking away aches and pains after long days of teaching and grading

407. ...for a Sunday afternoon spent with amazing and loving friends, beautiful women of Spirit and Word and words

408. ...for tickets already purchased to see Deathly Hallows Part 1 with Keith and boys Friday morning

409. ...for "the little things that make a house a home" (John Denver, "Back Home Again")

410. ...for morning hugs with my husband; burying my face into his warm and comforting neck brings peace of mind and heart

Grateful for the little things which are really big things when I think about them,