Ruth Ayres hosts a weekly celebration on her blog. I appreciate this invitation to find the positives of my week.
1. My son read to me. This was by far my favorite moment of the week. It was totally unexpected, too. I haven’t heard my son read out loud in probably a year and a half, and the only evidence I’ve had about his progress as a reader is his test scores (which show basically no progress). We were doing English homework (identifying reflexive and intensive pronouns–I kid you not, gentle reader, this is what my son does in English class) and he started reading a sentence under his breath. Fluently. Accurately. Quickly. I froze. He identified the pronoun and then double-checked with me to see if he was right. I could only nod my head. He wrote down the word and went on to the next sentence. Which he also read. He turned back to look at me.
“Why are you crying?” he demanded. “Oh, never mind. I know why you’re crying.”
He never thought he was going to learn how to read. I’ve heard him say that so many times. And I’ll admit, I had become pretty skeptical myself. I’ve been reading books about dyslexia this month, trying to figure out what’s going on.
Nothing, it turns out.
So my kid has been holding out on me in a big way.
And now suddenly he is reading everything. Reading over my shoulder when I’m reading aloud. Pointing out words. Reading words on television. Reading signs.
It is absolutely lovely.
2. Black bottom chocolate pie. I love to bake, but pie crust scares me. Pie crust made from cookies and butter? Not so scary. For my husband’s birthday dessert, I made this Black Bottom Chocolate Pie from Epicurious. Yum.
3. The Princess Bride. My son has been sick this week, and to distract him from his panic over strep throat, we have been watching A LOT of movies. Mostly really bad movies selected by him. But last night, parents took control of the DVD player and popped in The Princess Bride, which is still and always just so good. There are so many wonderful moments in that movie. Pie and Princess Bride made for a very good end to the week.
4. Catching up on grading. It feels so good to be caught up on grading! Unfortunately, another stack of papers comes in and then you’re behind again. But I am enjoying the few days this week when I am all caught up.
5. Cats in boxes. When I came home from work on Thursday, my husband told me to check the camera. Knowing my fondness for cats in boxes, he had taken several pictures of THREE of our cats crammed into one box.
the dirigible plum 
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