Thankful Thursday

It's been a hard week.

Tuesday was the worst.  If I could have, I would have spent the entire day in bed, crying.  But even when events happen that are the total opposite of my hopes or plans, life goes on.

Yesterday our daughter and her husband traveled to Montreal.  They flew most of the way and then rented a car to drive from Burlington, VT to Montreal.  Apparently airfares to Canada are outrageous.  They left their home at 3:00 a.m. and by 3:00 p.m. they were settled into their hotel room.

Our son-in-law e-mailed to say that they had arrived safely -- like airfares, texts and cell phone calls between Montreal and the US are also pretty expensive.  He said they had some mild turbulence on their flight to Burlington, but nothing to get excited about.  The drive was also uneventful.  He thanked me for encouraging our daughter to study French, as her familiarity with the language helped with the various road signs.  They only got lost once and quickly were able to get back on the right track.

Today our son-in-law presented at the 2011 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. His paper symposium topic was Measurement and Prevention of Child Disruptive and Dysfunctional Parenting Practices: Comparison of the Factor Structures of the Report of Child Behavior by Teachers and Parents Using Rasch Modeling.  I don't know what that means, but I hope his presentation went well.

With the presentation out of the way, E and N are free to explore Montreal.  Unfortunately the weather is predicted to be less than ideal, but that shouldn't stop them from having a great time.  Our daughter has researched some of the museums and other attractions so they should have more than enough to see and do.

I am thankful for the safe travel that our daughter and son-in-law experienced on Wednesday and I pray that they will have the same safe journey for their trip home on Sunday.  I am thankful that our son-in-law was able to participate in this symposium.  And I am thankful for the opportunity that E and N have to take a break from the stress of work and school to relax and enjoy each other and discover a new city and a different culture.

I can hardly wait to hear all about their trip!  : )