I was pretty determined to post Thankful this week.

Lizzi and her Fellowship of the Weekend Thankful always manage to lift my spirits, and on the weeks that I don’t manage to get’r done (so to speak), I miss it.

And I think, as a result of said determination, I may even get’r done early.

The secret?

Skipping out of work early on Friday.

I did overtime on Wednesday.

And Thursday.

So today? I finished what needed doing and called it quits.

And, as one co-worker said to me as I expressed mild guilt as to my “cut out early plan”:

Louise, this isn’t Dairy Queen.

Is the work is done? Then enjoy the weekend.

Word. Here’s to not being there for the sake of being there (Thankful #1).

Related to #1, I’m generally thankful this week for stolen time (Thankful #2). I’m not sure how else I would have gotten through. On Wednesday, I had to work late, so I had my parents take my kids to swimming lessons and open swim.  The result? I got home at 7:00pm and had 1.5 hours to myself!!!!! to catch up on shit. Paid some bills; responded to some email; had some wine. In that order. I wouldn’t recommend it the other way ’round. Messy.

I’m thankful for weird amusement online (Thankful #3). I signed up with Just Unfollow on Twitter to help clean my Twitter/figure out who I was following that I didn’t need to, etc…. 1. Great free service.  2. By the end I felt rather unloved. Nothing like seeing the swaths of humanity who don’t feel you are equally worthy of having in their feed. As a side note I will strive to be more Twitter interesting. 3. If you ever want more follows? Tweet about Just Unfollow. Here’s my most popular tweet. EVER.

Spent the last hour or so purging my Twitter feed via @justunfollow. Feeling kinda good about online life!

— Louise Hayes (@Louise_Hayes) September 21, 2014

It’s like .. 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife. Don’t ya think?

That said? I’m equally thankful for awesome tweeps and some lovely validation this week that I’m not just posting and blogging into the ether (Thankful #4).

I’m thankful for my parents (Thankful #5) who, in case you missed the above reference, picked my kids up from daycare on Wednesday, took them to swimming lessons, and then took them to open swim. My kids had a blast and my parents helped make life work for another week.

I am thankful for perspective (Thankful #6).

I am currently posting sporadically about my goals in a series I am tentatively calling my “Scary Organizational Rampage” posts. In my last post – here – among other things I list one of my goals as getting through Volume 1 of the Children’s Bible with my 4-year-old. So with that goal, I posted a picture of book.

Bloglovin’ – God bless them – selected that as the feature image of the post. So my “Scary Organizational Rampage” post features Noah building the ark in advance of the floods that will destroy everything on earth except, well, those who make it onto the boat.

Hey God? Wasn’t really asking for perspective on my issues. But thanks. Message received.

I’m thankful for publishing opportunities online.  My next article went up at Ottawa Mommy Club yesterday (Thankful #7). Check it out (I wax poetic about transitioning my youngest from crib to bed) and surf about that wonderful community I’m so happy to newly be a part of.

I’m thankful for fun afternoon’s with my kids (Thankful #8). Last Sunday, I took both girls to the Splash! Wave Pool. We usually hang in the kiddy pool and hot tub, but some child THAT WASN’T MINE (Thankful #9) pooped in that section so they closed it down. As a result, we were “forced” to play in the wave pool section. After getting over initial reticence about the whole wave thing, my 4-year-old had her goggles on and was diving into those waves and my youngest was splashing about and giggling maniacally. It was a fabulous afternoon.

I’m thankful that Carleton won the Panda Game last weekend (Thankful #10) and that my family got tickets to go see it at the newly renovated Lansdowne Park facilities.

For non-sports fans and non-Ottawans, this is the now renewed annual football grudge match between Ottawa’s two universities: Carleton Raven’s vs Ottawa Gee Gee’s. Carleton just got their football team back last year.

AND while Carleton was back last year, Lansdowne was under renovation, so this was the first year the tradition was back in full force.

SIDEBAR: Panda – as in BEAR. As in #FreePedro. Like this:

Sporting events with kids aren’t without challenges (among others, we shuttled to the game from Carleton with students screaming the “F*ck You, Ottawa U” song – which I think my kids mostly missed, while I got a bit misty with nostalgia).

Anyway, the kids had fun at the game:

And I just need to share the Hail Mary Win here (a week late, but, well, life):

So that’s my thankful for the last two weeks.  Share yours!