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This is a little harder than I thought.

After one week, I managed to send out one thank-you note. Before I reread the post this relates to, I thought I had failed already, as I had sent out just that one note. But fortunately, knowing myself well (duh!), I apparently set a goal for two notes a month. Phew!

The first note went to a mom of another third grader in J's school. As I have blogged (and complained) about before, some Catholic school moms are mean, which, I suppose, makes them like some moms in general. And many moms are just not welcoming. This mom, I am delighted to say, was unlike most other moms.

When J was new to the school in first grade and many of the moms ignored me, N was the nicest person. As I would stand alone outside of my car at the end of day, waiting for the kids to come out, she would come over and ask me to join her group. She tried to make conversation with me, unlike her mom friends, for most of whom it seemed to be a bother to smile at me.

Eventually, I gave up trying to talk to the group of moms that this nice mom was friends with and started to run instead. It turned out to be a great decision as I got in better shape and was able to clear my head. But I have still not forgotten how N was kind and welcoming, and how I felt a little less alone that first month because of her, things I mentioned in my thank-you note.

I must admit, I felt a little weird sending this first note; I felt compelled to tell her how I came about doing this, so she would not think I was completely nuts. Hopefully, the next note will feel a little more natural, but this first note was from the heart all the same.

Stay tuned to read about who gets my next ray of sunshine!

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