A good week

Ry is getting so comfortable around horses as a result of his interest group at school. Love that he's getting these hands on, learning experiences. Our charter school rocks.

After months of endless things breaking, I really can't complain about the last week. I feel like good luck has rained down upon us, and it feels awesome:

• I got laid off from my client of thirteen years on Monday. While that in and of itself is definitely not good news (I'm very sad about it!), I am thankful that I found a new one a few months prior. The money isn't as good, but I'm still appreciative that the loss of income will be somewhat mitigated...I think. ;-) It's early too tell, but I'm grateful nonetheless.
• Our lanai railing (the almost final step in our renovation) is going in this week! It is scheduled to be done this week, with painters coming in next week, followed by tiling the week after. So we could finally, possibly be done with the renovation by the end of the month!!! I think this started in mid-July, so it'll be nice to have some quiet/privacy and added living space after 3.5 months! I see the light at the end of the tunnel!!! (Now I just need to figure out how to pay for it all!)
• Because we've been right on budget for the renovation...we are able to get the house painted. This may not be super exciting, but it is a huge, huge blessing as it means Rich and I won't be teetering on ladders trying to paint under second-story eaves for endless humid, weekends.
• I just started week #7 of training. My butt appears to be 100% healed, and my knee is holding steady at a level 1-2 of discomfort. If they can just hold on another couple of months...I'll feel safe enough to say out loud that I'm training for an ultra! This weekend is an 18-miler...fingers crossed my body allows me to do it!
• We had a fun family day in Hilo over the weekend. It's rare that Rich has time off, but he chauffeured us to a baseball game, lunch, froyo, the park and to do some retail therapy.
• Ryan seems to enjoying school (as much as a child can love school, anyway) and doing well this year. He has no complaints about school mates, teachers, etc. I chalk that up as a major victory.
• Rich's play opens this weekend. He's happy. I'm happy it marks the start of only three more weeks of over three months of nonstop rehearsals, late nights, (temp) single parenting, etc.
• Oooh this one is a biggie...I won my first real prize. I entered our family in a mud run, and won the grand prize. We get two nights at an upscale condo resort and a generous gift card to the always gorgeous Lava Lava Beach Club! We also scored an island tour (chauffeured), but we asked if they could reallocate that a prize to someone else who perhaps hasn't lived/toured here as much as we have.
• I'm also grateful (and this is forced gratitude, as I'd rather stay at home and eat snacks) to be subbing in kindergarten and fourth grade this week...it's extra income to help supplement our goals, and an opportunity for some fun/bonding with kids.
• My homie is arriving from NZ in a few days for a week. I'm sure we'll hit the beach with the kids and pound the pavement together while she's here. She moved about 3-4 years ago, but this is her third trip back...so I'm always happy to see her.
• And last but not least...we feel lucky to have such great friends in Ryan's life. One of his friends hung out with us one day and checked out the Halloween store with Ryan. You can see that they had a terrible time below: