Thanks

Well, it's been an exciting couple weeks since I last had an opportunity to blog.  I spent a week in Dallas at a national dance competition with the kids I teach, I came back for two days, and then I spent a week recovering from an appendectomy.  At 22 years old, I had my first experience with surgery, and I am in no hurry to have another one.  I will never ignore a stomachache again.  Anyway, surgery allowed me to have what I like to call a "forced vacation."  For a solid seven days, a whole week, I couldn't do anything but lay in a bed or on the couch.  I watched a LOT of movies, caught up on the USA Network Law & Order marathons, and read The Help by Kathryn Stockton, a book I would highly recommend to anybody searching for a good read.  I simply could not put it down.

Besides having to remind myself, almost constantly, that patience is a virtue, I also had an opportunity to count several blessings over the course of the week.  So this is a blog of thanks for the many things that just happened to work out in a "best case scenario" situation in the past week.

1. Thank you to my mother for still treating my like a child when I'm sick, for coming to the doctor's office, and subsequently the emergency room with me, for sleeping in a very uncomfortable hospital room chair so I didn't have to be alone, and for letting me stay in her house for a whole week.
2. Thank you to my dad for cancelling our family vacation at the lake, for sitting in the ER, despite knowing that "it's just a stomach bug, Jess."  Thanks for listening to me whine about being in pain, too.  We all know I have the lowest pain tolerance known to mankind.
3. Thank you to my Nanny (that's my grandmother) for visiting and calling everyday, for sending me flowers, and for making random Walgreen's runs when I needed anything at all.  You. Are. The Best.
4. Thank God I was not at Miss Arkansas last week.  The past two years, I have spent this past week competing in the Miss Arkansas pageant.  Thank the Lord that the wonderful Miss Arkansas chaperones were not the ones rushing me to the hospital with appendicitis.  I think they're probably thankful for that one, too.
5. Thank you to my boyfriend for coming to visit me everyday from Conway, for sitting in the waiting room for two and a half hours during surgery and recovery, for sending me flowers, and for letting me take advantage of his DVD collection. 

There are a lot of reasons everyday to be thankful.  I made an effort last week to say "thank you" to everyone who did anything for me, because there were a lot of things I couldn't do for myself.  It made me realize how many things I probably take for granted everyday.  Even when I'm running at full capacity, there are still a lot of things I can't do alone.  I'm going to try to remember this week to still say "thank you" to people who help me in ways both big and small.  I'll start right now.....Thank YOU for reading my blog.  Have a great week :)