The vindication of social media?

I am a creature of habit--usually checking social media early in the morning, sometimes from bed, sometimes while brushing my teeth, and sometimes, at the kitchen table or my desk at school.  Sometimes this early morning reading ends up disrupting my whole day because of what I read/see...sometimes for good reasons and sometimes not so good...and I sometimes question if social media is a good thing...would I be better off not knowing....whatever?  Today my social media earned its keep, so to speak--two posts, in particular, made it worth it today--

The first was from a high school classmate, that whose mom, one of my favorite bus drivers of all time, passed away last night.  She was an incredible woman and it was my privilege to be able to tell him one of my favorite stories about his mom.  I sent my story in Messenger, knowing that he might not have a chance to read it right now, but he was able to and we were able to chat for a couple minutes.  We talked about his brother, who is an over-50 Special Olympics participant, and how my experiences with him in high school were one of the reasons I ended up as a special education teacher. 

The second was a post from a friend from my years of working in preschool-one of my first classroom co-teachers.  We were a great team--sometimes I felt like I could read her mind and her mine-- lots of shared laughter as well as some tears (we had a student in our class whose dad passed away and it was a hard few weeks for all of us). We have talked in the past 30 years---not as much or as often as I'd like, but some.  We caught up on our kids, and brainstormed some new job ideas for her..remembered the time she lived on our couch for a few weeks and offered our couch anytime--hopefully some day she will take us up on the offer.

So would I connect with these two people without social media?  Maybe...but probably not.  Social media allowed me to have two positive experiences today--a few minutes in a surprisingly busy unscheduled day--when I could have a real (text-based...) conversation with people who I probably would not have without it.  So for that...today I am thankful.

Gratitude

The phone rang at 5:45 this morning, just as I was getting ready to walk out the door.  It's funny how many emotions can flash through my head in the seconds it takes to walk across the kitchen and grab it--is is bad news?  Is it a school alert?  Who would call at this hour? (And why?)
Today it was a wrong number...and I am thankful.  Gratitude is a funny thing...often we don't feel it when we should--we take so many things for granted.  I am thankful this morning for the wrong number that reminded me of all the things I have to be thankful for.

Thankfulness :)

Things I'm thankful for this morning....

This kitty mug and a book about my sweet friend, Kristin's survival after a horrible car crash last spring (and thankful she survived and is doing well)

 This view from my kitchen sink...

 and this one from the patio doors...

 A sleeping dog..

 A cat, that while, not sleeping, is not destroying anything

Christmas cards from far and wide, including one from my college roommate that I thought lost contact with.....even when I haven't managed to send out ours.




Merry Christmas Eve Eve!