Grains of Gratitude

When Kayla was first diagnosed with Celiac disease I wondered how hard it would be to follow the gluten-free diet, how hard it would be to make sure her foods were gluten-free, I wondered if we'd ever be able to eat out again (not that we eat out that often) and I was saddened at the thought of never just going out for pizza as a family...or even just ordering pizza in. Thankfully restaurants are starting to become more aware of the gluten-free diet and offering acceptable menu choices; other well-known companies are also starting to offer gluten-free products.

1. I'm grateful that we can go out and have pizza as a family! Someone told me that Uno Chicago Grill offers a gluten-free pizza crust, but there isn't a restaurant close to us. Then a few weeks ago I found out Bostons started offering the gluten-free pizza crust - and there is a Boston's right near us, so we went out for pizza last week and I was so grateful Kayla could eat pizza with us :)

2. I'm grateful that some companies are changing the ingredients in their products to make them gluten-free. Chex now has 6 gluten-free cereals! This is great because I can use these in the Chex mix recipes. And this month Betty Crocker is coming out with 4 gluten free dessert mixes.

3. I'm grateful I was able to go to the Mom's Club "Mom's Night Out Banquet" on Friday. The theme was "Black and White" so I was able to borrow a pair of dress pants from my sister (and even took the time to paint my finger and toe nails!) and go out for a nice kid-free dinner with nothing but adult conversation (of course a bit of the talk revolved around our kids!). I'm grateful I'm here with my mom so it allowed me to get out for some grown-up time...and I'm grateful the kids didn't give her any problems at bedtime!

4. I'm so very grateful for my husband and the wonderful father he is. For the most part I live day-by-day feeling pretty comfortable with where Joe is at - meaning I don't spend every minute worrying about him or what he's doing. I feel secure in the knowledge that, all things considered, he is relatively "safe" where he's based at. I don't mean that to sound like I'm not taking the potential danger of what is happening in Afghanistan seriously, because I am. But I know Joe's job - I know he's not on convoys, or flying, or patrolling in villages - and compared to those duties he is relatively safe.

Attacks on the actual bases are rare, but it can happen, and it did happen - this morning actually. Rockets hit a US base in Afghanistan and 2 US service members were killed. This isn't the base Joe is at, but he is near there, so it does hit close to home for me. It's like reality slapping me in the face that this very easily could have been his base that was attacked.

So while I'm so, so very thankful that it wasn't his base, and I could talk to Joe this morning, my heart is heavy knowing 2 families will be notified of their loved ones loss. My prayers go out to those families.