Counting

Blessings, that is. I have had many, many blessings to count this week.

1. My children are healthy, beautiful specimens, for the most part. This week Fiona has had a fever and general malaise, but Tuesday night, her fever broke and we finally started to get more sleep. I am blessed that this does not happen more often.
   
2. My children are (sometimes) thoughtful and helpful. While I was cuddling Fiona in her sickness, Calla went to and fro helpfully and quite selflessly gathering things: tissues, toys, blankies, drinks. And she played quietly on her own so that her sister could have the Momma time she needed. Thank you Calla.
   
3. My car is going to be fixed. Some of you may not have known, but I was hit by a young lady in a hurry to get to school to write and exam. There was some damage done to my passenger rear quarter panel and the estimate was making me seriously worried that they would just write off my most excellent chariot. Insurance just called. It’s covered and my rates will stay just where they are. It was completely the fault of the other drive. Whew! I am also blessed that I did not have to write an exam after getting in a fender bender.
   
4. My Christmas knitting is underway and progressing. Not only am I enjoying the endeavour (remember this as it gets closer to Christmas and the shine comes off and I start to cry because I’ve bitten off more than I can chew), but I am designing things that will appear as patterns available for free on this blog. Knitters, take note.
   
5. Not only am I getting to it with the Christmas knitting, the flood gates of inspiration seem to have sprung open and I am getting ideas from every corner of my mind for all sorts of things—writing, knitting, music, gifts, house renovating, etc. Now my prayer is that I maintain the energy to act on them!
   
6. The Bell Sympatico gods smiled benevolently upon me yesterday. Previously, I had been cursing and swearing because Bell is a monopolistic monster and my current modem would not think of conversing with another company’s wireless router. I threatened to pull my accounts and leave Bell for good, but the technical support merely scoffed at this thought and put the phone down on his desk. He didn’t hang the damned thing up! And then he walked away. And then, because it is not enough that they could not fix the problem of a router that I could not use, they emailed me a Customer Satisfaction Survey! So after trying to figure out if anyone had a better deal and whether or not I could manage to save all of my saved emails (and there are a few of them as you might guess), I called their marketing department (another level of Dante’s Hell) and actually received help. For $2 more a month, I may have a wireless modem. Soon, I shall roam about my house surfing at will. I am blessed for my tenacity and my flexibility and most of all, that no one else heard me tear a strip off the *$(##**ing tech support manager. Eating crow is easier to do with words.
   
7. Although very few of you knew I was doing this yesterday, I went in for my very first routine mammogram. Guys, you will not get this, but every woman fears this unconditionally. My blessing here is that despite horror stories of bricks and hydraulic presses, of humiliation and degradation, of cold equipment and uncaring technicians with cold hands and cold hearts, I escaped unscathed, unhurt and with all the dignity I usually muster intact. I am blessed to have had such a caring and encouraging technician. I am blessed that I had the mental fortitude to go without caffeine for 3 weeks before I went (3 coffees in 3 weeks folks). There were those who said they didn’t see how that would help and frankly I don’t know that it did, but the results were pain-free testing. Frankly I’d have run with the bulls naked if someone told me it would help. I am also blessed with a well-rounded sense of humour to deal with the very fashionable paper bolero jacket and dental floss belt that they gave me to prance around in before and after your exam.
   
8. And lastly, I am blessed to have such a wonderful group of people who care about me and make me laugh. I would not be who I am without my friends and family. Thank you for all the support you give me.

Edited to include:

9. You folks are scarcely going to believe this: When I got home, I had a letter from the government (rarely a good thing). Remember back in October I had to pull together a whole load of information together for the tax department to audit my childcare expenses. Well, I got notice today: I filed everything correctly and no adjustments were needed in my taxes. That's a relief!