Three Hundred and Counting

This is amazing to me.....it's my three hundredth post here on my main blog. Who knew I had that much stuff to ramble on about? ;)

This blog has been helpful in many areas.

• One thing is, I love to scrapbook, but by the time I get around to doing a yearly album, sometimes I've forgotten what happened that year. I can always look back on my blog for details. I've done roughly 15 albums since last year, including several gift albums. In the process, I got behind on my year to year books. The last one I got fully completed was 2004. Recently, I decided to combine 2005 and 2006 in to one big book. I turned to my blog to figure out "what happpened when." That was great.
• It's a coping tool. When life gets tough, I can vent here. It truly is my therapy tool.
• It's a praise tool. When good stuff happens, I can give God credit here. I don't forget what I am thankful for or how prayers were answered, because it's here in black and white.
• It's a way of keeping my local friends/family informed on my life. I have a couple of "silent" readers, who keep up on my ever changing life just by reading my posts.
• It's a way of communicating with my beloved blogger peeps. I think that's been one of the most amazing aspects of having this blog. Who knew such bonds of friendship could form over the miles like this? I'm humbled, and grateful.

So, for this, my 300th post, I had an idea of what I wanted to do.

My Jess inspired this post.

She and her boyfriend John care about each other. It's obvious. They've been dating for going on a year now. Before that, they were neighbors and friends. Robert and I care about John as well. He's with us on many family outings. We're so used to having him around. He's been a blessing in our lives. He's shy, a straight A student, very well mannered, cautious, handsome, and humble. He wouldn't knowingly hurt a fly.

This is in sharp contrast to Jess' "run 'em over and ask questions later" mentality. She is so sweet, but when she gets mad, look out! She will tell you like it is in short order. For months, we've watched Jess order John around, demand her own way, and basically run the show. Why? Because he lets her. Robert and I have been trying to counsil Jess on better ways to communicate with John...and everyone else for that matter. We want our daughter to be confident, but we have cautioned her that John is a sensitive kid. She needs to tone down her attitude sometimes, because he gets his feelings hurt, as anyone would.

So, lately John has seemed really sad, Jess said. He has been speaking up to her occasionally, and I think this stresses him out. Life can be hard for him, with some of the prejudice he has to endure due to his Mexican heritage. So, when he gets sad, he gets quiet, and the more Jess presses him to find out what's wrong, the quieter he gets.

Yesterday Jess called me and asked me what she should do about this. I thought for a few minutes, and I said, "I think you should tell him what you like about him." She said, "Like, I don't know, that he makes me happy?" I said, "That's one thing, Jess, and that's a good idea. But what I mean is, what specifically do you like about him? What are some good traits that he has?" I said, "When people are sad sometimes they feel better if they know they are appreciated and why. For example, do you think he's got a good sense of humor? Do you like his smile? What about him is special to you?" So Jess said, "Okay, I'll try that," and hung up.

A few minutes later, my cel phone rang. "Mom!" Jess gushed, "I can't believe this! I told John that I like his smile and that he is a really great boyfriend. He cheered up right away. He didn't even want to talk before that, but after I said that, he said he'd call me after dinner. Thank you for the advice!"

First thing, it isn't often that a teenager THANKS their parent for advice, so I was feeling mighty wise and full of myself. :)

But afterward, I thought: "You know? That would make a really good post. EVERYONE likes to be appreciated." So, I decided to do a series of "Ten Things I Like about You" posts here. Dedicated to my blog peeps....to those who follow my blog daily or weekly or occasionally.

What do you think?

I think YOU need to know what I like about you.

Look for me to single you out here real soon! ;)

Until then, have a great day!