Thankful Tuesdays: Tough times and helping hands

The past few days have been tough going.  Thanks to what has been happening, my parents were busy for almost a week, and my mum was not available to babysit Junior J, unfortunately at the crucial period when I was rushing the keying in of my research data... So I've been taking care of the boy and running up and down for family matters in the day, and doing the analysis of my research videos at night. With 30 hours worth of videos to plow through, I ended up getting really little sleep.  I'm so glad that both the family matters and the videos are more or less settled, but to top things off the little boy has caught a cold from my brother (whom I met for the past few days thanks to what has been happening), and just threw up on me.

However, there's always something to give thanks about, so here's my thankful list for the week:

:: Energy: Something children have a lot of, which I really wished I had more!  I've been hanging out with the little boy for the past few days, and its been fun despite all the stress I had about meeting my deadlines for my research.  The little fellow is now walking all over, all the time, and is enjoying every moment of it!  And he still never fails to make me laugh... the other day, he decided to try to master the art of gripping a wooden puzzle piece between his toes, and got really frustrated every time he dropped the piece.  I tried really hard to keep a straight face since he was so very serious about it!

:: Being able to lean upon God: This period of stress made me really thankful that we can always lean upon God for strength and know that He always takes care of us...

He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

- Psalms 91:4

(Pair of nesting albatrosses at Taiora Head,
South Island, New Zealand)

:: The hubby: Who was a pillar of strength to me.  He helped out with housework, and took care of Junior J so that I could do my research... all without a single grumble or complaint!

:: Helping hands:  Having to juggle Junior J and studies really made me grateful for all the help my mum was giving me.  Also, many of my DG mates showed their care and concern during this period, and some even offered to babysit Junior J so that I could have some time to work on my dissertation.  I really thank God for this bunch of caring brothers and sisters! :)

Junior J trying his hand at playdough, with his porpor's (grandma) help

:: Time hanging out with my brother: We are both such busy people we hardly meet, so I was glad to have had some time to chit chat with him over the past few day.

:: This sweet (pun intended!) Mother's Day gift: Our church printed these pretty little dessert recipe books for all mothers, which really is a thoughtful gift, don't you think?

:: My dissertation moving on: I've analyzed the videos (and I think I may never want to see another waving fiddler crab ever again!), and am so glad that I'm done with the keying in of raw data.  Now on to the statistical analysis!

:: Light, both natural and artificial: The former makes plants grow, warms our skin and gives us our sunsets and sunrises.  The latter allows us to see at night in our homes! :)

 Picture taken on the way to Botanic Gardens

 What are you thankful for this week?