In response to last night's gripe fest:

Every Sunday at church we sing the same song during offering time. It goes something like this:

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings,

Name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

In that spirit, I'm going to tackle my gripe list from last night in hopes that my attitude today will be much better.

1. BabyGirl is smart. She may cry & scream & pitch an unholy fit over her math problems, but eventually she will buckle down & get them figured out. I could be dealing with a child with serious learning disabilities who really cannot work out the math problems she was fussing over. She may struggle for a bit, but she's going to work it out in the end.
2. Yes, my face is a bit of a mess, but it is no where near as bad as it was when I was in High School. This break out will not last long. It will clear up & everything will be fine. I'm not going to be covered in cystic acne for the foreseeable future. I will not need to be medicated to help out. I've had both of those problems in the past.
3. BabyGirl has been wearing her old Crocs all week. We have to go to Evansville later this week. She can continue to wear them until we can make the trip to get her new ones if QM doesn't find any (while I'm at it, please pray for QM. She's supposed to come up here today but last night she was so sick at her stomach she had to take medication for it). It's not the end of the world...besides, she finally has shoes she wants...that's a huge improvement on our past shoe shopping excursions.
4. Babe is going to get her bumper fixed & it's not going to break the bank. We have a second vehicle for Husband to drive to work. My Grandmother has a car I can borrow. It's all going to be fine.
5. While next week is going to be hectic, it's going to be manageable. And I'm very thankful that we can get to doctors' appointments when it suits us, not when an opening is available 6 months from now.
6. Novocaine & Nitrous Oxide are wonderful things. My childhood dentist didn't believe in giving kids shots if they didn't want them. I didn't want them so I've had quite a few fillings that I could feel...not pleasant. My kids won't have to go through that. They're dentistry is designed for children & they are happy to dope them up....Um...I mean...dull the pain. Yeah, that's it, dull the pain.
7. NM & A Starry Night are getting married one week from today!! I have a lovely new dress!! BabyGirl has picked out a sweet linen sundress!! The boys have new polos & dress pants and will look so handsome. Bitsy loves dressing up so as long as she doesn't want to go in full ballerina garb, we should be good. Even if we don't get to stay & dance, it's still going to be wonderful.
8. My husband has a job. He makes enough money to support us & allow me to stay home with our babies. We don't have to worry about him being laid off or the plant closing. There is a wonderful sense of security in that. Plus, he can work all the overtime he needs....for times like when I back into a pole & we have to fix our new van. And the little time he has off, he works hard to spend time with the kids. He doesn't flop down on the couch & say, "I'm tired. Leave me alone." He plays with them. He listens to their stories about school. He asks them questions. He gets as involved as possible....and eventually ends up wrestling with them on the floor despite the fact that he'd really love to be napping.
9. Yes, my best friend lives 5 hours away. No, I do not have any idea when I'll get to see her next. But we have modern technology. We Facebook, IM, and talk for hours on the phone. Just because we cannot be in the same room doesn't mean we can't laugh & cry & keep each other sane.

See, things aren't as bad as I thought they were.