Winging it

Thankful Friday
I'm tired. Stressed. Running late. I'm Monday morning cranky, even though it's Friday. I'm not thankful for anything right now, am I?

Give me a second here...

Ok. I'm ready. Off the top of my head, what am I thankful for today?

I'm thankful that Zephyr's going to have a baby brother, and that I'm going to have a new baby around without having to have another kid of my own for once.

I'm thankful for Captain Underpants, for the way Kai laughs when she reads it, and the way she says, "Wait, wait! This part is rawley funny!"

And for The Frog and Toad Treasury, even though (or maybe because) Taavi wants to hear the same stories over and over again.

I'm thankful that Hugh's playing the guitar again. I like the music filling the house, I love to play and sing along (though I'm good at neither!) and I love, love, love how happy it makes him.

I'm thankful for the sound of Kai singing along to American Girl and Behind Blue Eyes, all soft and sweet and earnest.

And for Katherine's voice! (That's her guitar in the reeds in Wednesday's post.) Did you see my little ones look up from the picnic blanket when you started to sing, Kat? Their little mouths dropped open like they'd just heard an angel.

I'm thankful for the way old friends pop up now and then, and how they're still the same people you remember: for the sporadic long email (thank you G -- how are you this week?) and the pictures of babies grown into shiny, happy little girls (she is gorgeous, J!) and the out-of-the-blue phone call (see you in April, we hope, L!).

I'm thankful that spring training and Little League and coed softball are right around the corner.

And that the neighbor's big, airy plum tree is blossoming (instead of dropping those annoying plum plops), and the other neighbor's magnolia is in bloom.

Hooray for spring!

Which reminds me: there's nothing better than Taavi on his Skuut, gliding along with the biggest grin, like he's lit up with spring fever and born to ride. Best present ever, Granny!

And this particular combination: the sounds of the skate park, where Caiman and Eli ride, Taavi zooming around outside the gate, down the sidewalk and over the little bridge, and the intoxicating smell of the freshly mown soccer field right there next to the skate park.

Last but not least, I'm thankful for Adventure Playground, one of the grandest places in the world and right here in Berkeley. Especially when Kai, having turned six, can finally ride the zip line that zooms from a rickety tower to a big pile of dirt; and when Eli and Caiman know it's a big moment for her and encourage her and help her onto the seat; and when she crashes into the dirt and gets sand in her pants and wants to do it again.

Oh! And when Taavi is the captain of a splinted wreck of a boat, and Caiman turns back from almost-man to full-on BOY, and we all have lunch at the Sea Breeze afterwards, and Hugh buys me a beer.

Yeah. Life is pretty good, and I feel much better now, thank you.

(Thanks again, Jen, for passing on the Thankful Friday habit.)