It’s been so long since I’ve written a Things I Love Thursday post that I had forgotten about them entirely! It’s been a hectic couple of months with my husband’s layoff, scrambling to work more on my part, weeks of ill-timed sickness, and most recently a cut in my own work. Still, if there is one thing I know, it’s that it’s important to remember the things you’re grateful for during the hard times even more so than when things are going smoothly. With that in mind, here are a few things that I’m loving these days…
Being around Wood Sprite. Now that I’m working more, I’m around her less, and boy do I miss that time with her! 
Surprise e-mails from old friends (several this week alone; it seems that I am missed on Facebook 😉 ) Training for the March of Dimes walk, which my body loves but I still seem to dread… Remembering that things could be SO much worse and being grateful for what we have A full fridge and plenty of toilet paper! Our new dog, Totoro, who is mostly border collie (tricolor) with a bit of coonhound thrown in, which means that we now have a zoo in our house Extra time with my husband. We’re already on Season 5 of Supernatural; a layoff will give you time for things like that! Interviews! He’s had two and another one on the way, so keep those fingers crossed Fallback plans, when you’ve got them, and especially when they work The dog peeing outside! Supernatural. Damn is that Sam Winchester one fine boy! And the stories are awesome, seasons 1-3 in particular. Making clay creations with Wood Sprite; she’s totally into ladybugs and sculptures right now. Oh, and the way her face lights up when I give her something mundane to play with, like an empty box or some masking tape. Surprise snow! It made the trees look like they were covered in snowballs since they’d already bloomed. Our neighbors made the cutest snowman and Totoro and Sage had fun romping through the slush, even though (perhaps because?) there was mud beneath. Reading unschooling books through Interlibrary Loans. I’m making my way through John Taylor Gatto and Grace Llewellyn right now. Curing Wood Sprite’s hiccups by “listening for them” Surprise visits with my sisters Rootbeer with vanilla in it
Sara J. Schmidt 