Ten Things of Thankful - Week 16, 2017

This is a photo of a tiny seedling emerging from the earth
with its first pair of leaves opening. The quotation written
 on it says "A good life is when you assume nothing, do
more, smile often, dream big, laugh a lot, and realize
how blessed you are for what you have.*

Hello Friends!  The weekend is fast slipping away, so it's time to settle in for a bit of reflection and some recounting of my blessings. 

This has been one of those weekends where I just wanted to pull the blankets over my head and avoid life altogether. Every now and then something brings me down and I begin to feel so sad about life and the things people I care about are going through.  Then, once again, TToT works it's "magic" and in the process of reading and commenting on the posts you've linked up I find myself feeling a bit better, and before long I realize that I am smiling.  I know that God is good and my life is blessed beyond measure, but every now and then I need a bit of reminding, and you've done it for me, thank you! My life would be so much less without this wonderful group of caring bloggers! <3

Moving on now with a better attitude and more things for which I'm thankful...

The A-Z Challenge is entering the final week, and I'm happy that I've stuck with it. Visiting has been more active this year than in the past, so maybe it's my serial story, or maybe the change from an A-Z Sign-Up list to daily post sharing via comments on the A-Z blog, but it's been more fun for sure.

I've met some great new-to-me bloggers that I am now following, not only do I like their posts, but I like what I learned about them in their About Me/Profile sections. I'm thinking I need to work on mine a bit, I am not really great at describing myself. Any ghost-writing volunteers out there? :-)

I am loving the longer hours of light in the evenings, even if it comes by way of Daylight Savings Time rather than being allowed to occur naturally. The days are so hot here in West Texas, and evenings are much more amenable time for me to be outside enjoying some fresh air with my husband after he gets off work.

I am happy that my daughter often calls me when she gets home from her nursing shift in the morning, typically fourteen hours after she left for work the evening before. She shares the events of her night with me, and it gives her an opportunity to wind down a bit so she can fall asleep to do it all over again in a few hours. Thankfully, she typically works three shifts a week, which is more than enough as it takes time to recuperate. 

I am so thankful that I have the kind of relationship with both my children that they want to share their lives with me!  My son and I were having a fun conversation a few nights ago about how he used to get out of bed in the middle of the night to play Atari when it was first new, because he was so determined to reach the next level.  I had to start taking his game paddles away at bedtime, and now they are needing to do the same with his girlfriend's son who just got a new game system. :-)

Each month this year we've been trying to set aside a little money for medical expenses, since our budget is so tight, and it came in very handy this month when we received two bills, one for lab work done four months ago that was not covered by insurance, and one for a medical procedure done in 2014 that we were not even aware we owed. It was a relief to be able to quickly pay off both.

I am thankful that I was able to help out a friend who was having some technical issues with a file yesterday.  I am by no means a techie, but I was able to Google a solution that worked. It's so nice when we can put our collective brains together and resolve problems.

I was totally surprised to go to Katharine's blog "Teachezwell" this morning to read her TToT post and discover that she had written a post about me.  Wow, that was definitely a day brightener, what a kind thing to do! Thank you, Katharine!

I am thankful that my relationship with my younger sister has grown tremendously in the past couple years, this coming from a time when we were not speaking, which was horrible. We have both learned and grown in God's grace and we treat each other with much more kindness and respect for thoughts and feelings than we ever have in the past. Because of that we've been able to share and encourage each other through some hard times this year. At last I can truly say sisters are a blessing!

I see that my husband is putting away the lawnmower so it's time for me to end this and finish preparing our supper.  Again, many thank yous to each of you that comes to read, comment and share your thankfuls at Ten Things of Thankful each week, it makes this old lady very happy! :-)

Blessings to you in the coming week. Keep your eye out for reasons to be thankful, and remember to be a blessing to someone else!


This is a click-button to the TToT
link-up. It is photo of one of our
 beautiful Texas sunsets with blue
 still peeking through the clouds;
 yellow, orange and pink bands
around the remaining sliver of
bright sun, and a wide band of black
earth below it on which I've written
Ten Things of Thankful.*



* Descriptions of the included photos are being provided for those who may be unable to view the illustrations.

Ten Things of Thankful - Week 15, 2017

It's Easter weekend, and for me that's the perfect place to start my gratitude list for this week. Faith is far and away the gift I am most thankful for in my life. I remember what it's like not to have it, and I know that without it I wouldn't be alive today. Grateful doesn't even begin to cover it; I am blessed!

I am thankful for sweet Easter memories of when my kids were small, and when family lived close enough to get together.  I am glad they remember those times fondly too.

I am thankful for the wonderful rainstorm we had here two nights ago. It rained heavily for a long time accompanied by lots of thunder and lightning, but thankfully no high winds or hail.  We are always grateful for rain in West Texas where it is usually so very dry, and my Escape got a nice rainwater wash, which it sorely needed. I love rainstorms, so beautiful to watch, and everything smells so nice and clean afterwards!

I am thankful for four devoted furkids and their unending antics. I often go to bed or wake up in the morning to find two or more long paws stretched under the bedroom door and waving, hoping to get my attention. I am always amazed that they seek out the companionship of humans, who must be very puzzling to them. My daughter has a new kitten, and I'm enjoying all the "furry grandkid" pix!

I am thankful that I've made it half way through the April A to Z Blogging Challenge in good form, and am still enjoying the process.  My daily stories evolved into a serial story and so far it's an easy write. Not a literary masterpiece, but okay I think. I am more of a storyteller than a writer. I'm still catching up on other A to Z blogs, but I've found some great themes and have met some awesome bloggers. That's always the fun of doing this.

I am thankful that little by little I am developing my own sense of self where I don't feel quite so threatened by the skills and achievements of others. Life is not a competition, we should be cheering for each other instead!  There are things I may be better at, and things that you might, but there is so much more that we share in common!

I am thankful for long texting exchange I had with my niece's boyfriend this week. He is such an awesome guy;  it was great to see that we view life much alike, and how much he loves my niece. He is such a blessing in her life, which has been anything but easy.  I'm sure he's heaven-sent!

I am thankful for all the beautiful wildflowers to be seen this time of year in Texas. As we were driving down the Interstate last week the roadsides and ditches were covered with bluebells, which can also be pink or white, and other wonderful wildflowers, many of which are the result of Lady Bird Johnson's campaign many years ago to beautiful the roadways and preserve native plants and flowers.  

I am thankful for friends who share uplifting and educational items of interest on Facebook. With all the negativity and fear in the world at present, and all the drama and garbage that gets posted, I love seeing things that are interesting, encouraging, and even just plain funny.  It just goes to show that most things can be used for good or bad, depending on who is using them and how.

I am thankful for how helpful my husband is, his patience, his common sense and practicality, his absolute integrity, and his calmness.  He is a great balance for my more excitable nature.  It is awesome to have his strength and knowledge to lean on, and to know that I can always depend on him.  He's amazing!  Now I think I'll get off of here and go make him some devilled eggs for Easter, he loves them! <3

Blessings to you in the coming week. Keep your eye out for reasons to be thankful, and remember to be a blessing to someone else!

JOIN US!

Ten Things of Thankful - Week 14, 2017

As most of you know, we were on vacation last week, away from home for nine days. We did a road trip to Louisiana, and had an awesome time!  I'm going to call this Ten Things of Thankful post the Vacation Edition, and will include some of the photos of things we enjoyed along the way.  (I've chosen not to post personal photos on this blog, but there are more of the trip on my Facebook page, and any of you who aren't on my friend's list there are welcome to email me and I'll be glad to invite you!)

I'm so thankful for our GPS device that makes travelling to unknown places and through big city traffic tangles like Dallas, smooth and easy.  My husband and I were recalling what it used to be like to travel folded paper maps and later road atlases, that showed routes but no Interstate Exit information, or detailed street guides for specific places. 

 

 We spent three nights in Baton Rouge, where we visited the Mississippi River, watched tugboats maneuver big barges, ate great food, and checked out the local casinos for a little gambling fun. 

 

 

 

 

We loved driving around checking out beautiful architecture such as the old plantation homes and this, the original Louisiana State Capitol Building in Baton Rouge...

My husband introduced me to magnolia trees, which I'd never seen before...

 

 

He might be guilty of stealing government property by obtaining this magnolia blossom for me from a tree on the beautifully landscaped state capitol grounds. It made our hotel room smell wonderful as it opened up to be huge and beautiful...

 

The most wonderful things I saw on the trip were the giant oak trees everywhere. These were over 250 years old and far taller and bigger around than they look in the photo.  I had to stop and give one a hug, I love tree spirits!

 

From there we drove to Grand Isle, Louisiana on the Gulf.  On the way we drove by this cemetery in Raceland.  We don't often see above ground crypts here in West Texas or where I was raised in the Midwest, but it certainly makes sense in an area where the land is swampy.  Very old and newer ones are intermixed and they are covered in white plaster that gleams in the bright sunlight...

 

 We crossed the eight mile expanse of the Gateway to the Gulf Expressway which takes you across the swamplands and waterways to the island. It's the only way to get there. I do not love being on bridges, especially ones that make sharp turns and curves like a rollercoaster!

Grand Isle is a beautiful little beach community of very friendly people. We rented a house there for three nights and had such a wonderful, relaxing time!  Everything is built on stilts as a precaution against flooding. My worn out knees definitely got some exercise climbing slowly up and down stairs, but it was worth it.  We noted that many of the newer homes there had exterior elevators, which would be ideal for older folks.  This is the beautiful island school...

This is a tree covered in purple Mardi Gras beads. We laughed about how they might have acquired so many strands of beads :-)

People over 62 have free admission to the State Park beach areas which were nicely maintained with handicapped accessible boardwalks and spotless restrooms. The beach was beautiful and being midweek and off-season, we had it to ourselves! The weather cooperated, the water was warm for walking along the shoreline and the sand was powder soft...

 

My husband bought a kite to fly at the beach.  He is good at it and took no time to get it aloft, smiling all the while like a little boy!  It was beautiful sailing up there, and could have gone much higher if we had wanted to reel in 500 feet of kite string!

 This is an egret at the State Park, preparing to take off after we disturbed it by stopping for a photo...

We left Grand Isle to head back on Friday morning, spending the night in Shreveport.  We had some awesome Cajun food at Crawdaddy's there. This was fried catfish with crawfish etouffe, the seasoning was amazingly delicious!

 On Saturday we travelled to a small town near Texarkana to visit with my husband's 98 year old great-aunt, the last remaining family elder.  She is a treasure, so sharp, lives independently in her own home (her daughter lives just down the road), and has the most wonderful sense of humor. We love her dearly! She told us that three of her doctors have said she will live to see her 100th birthday, and she doesn't want to make liars of of them so she intends to. I have no doubt that she may well do that! Two years ago she was honored as the Grand Marshall in the Texarkana Parade and was in her glory riding in the open carriage at the head of the parade.  She has also entered crocheted items in the local fair for the past 69 years and has won many, many ribbons and monetary prizes. I took my new lighted crochet hooks to show her, she thought they were pretty amazing.

We spent Saturday night at Mesquite, Texas just East of Dallas, making the long final drive home on Sunday, a total of 1825 miles roundtrip. We were pretty tired and sore from the riding/driving, but it was so worth it!

I am so very thankful for these days spent with my husband making happy memories, proving once again that it doesn't take great sums of money or fancy adventures to have a great time together, all it takes is love and a desire to share something new. There are so many amazing places in this country, and I wish we could live long enough to see them all!

This is a "self-portrait" I made at the beach... I think it's pretty clear that I was thankful to be in my happy place...

Blessings to you in the days ahead! Keep your eye out for reasons to be thankful, and remember to be a blessing to someone else!

JOIN US!

Ten Things of Thankful - Week 13, 2017

 

We are down to the final hours of this week's TToT link-up, and because I am on vacation and only spending a little time blogging, I'm going to make this short and sweet.  I know I could have just opted out this week, but I made a promise to myself that I'd show up every week this year if  possible, and possible it is....

I am thankful for the A to Z Blogging Challenge that takes place in April each year.  Although I'm having to scramble a bit to get my posts done during this first week while we are on vacation, I am enjoying the theme I've chosen and the kind responses to my stories; and I am looking forward to more time in the days and weeks ahead to get around and read what my friends are sharing for the Challenge, and to meet some new blogging friends too!

I am thankful for eye glasses that enable me to see beautiful things and places, and even tiny bugs, and make it possible for me to read and use my iPhone and tablet.  Without glasses I would be unable to read anything but jumbo print, and even that would probably be fuzzy.

I am thankful for high-tech hearing aids that enable me to hear birds singing and my kitties meowing, Papa Bear's words, phone calls, the television, and group conversations.  Without them I would live in a very muffled and isolated world.

I am thankful for the ability to speak, to express myself, to make my wants, needs known, to take charge of situations when required, to offer encouragement, and to speak out against things and situations I perceive as wrong.  Although I love written communication most, there are still things I really want to say out loud, and conversations I want to have with people who are dear to me.

I am thankful for hands and fingers that, despite being old and sometimes a bit stiff and sore, enable me to prepare food for us, to sew, crochet and cross-stitch; and to spend time at the keyboard blogging and connecting with people I care about via email and social media. 

I am thankful for my creaky knees and ankles that still enable me to drive, to shop for groceries, and to get where I need to go, including up and down stairs if there are handrails and I go very slowly and carefully.  Mobility is a priceless gift and I do not take it lightly.

I am thankful for my sometimes forgetful mind that still enables me to compose written pieces, to organize our household and keep track of needs and finances, to think and to ponder, and to focus on the things that are important to my heart and soul.

I am thankful for my heart, that has been beating for more than sixty-three years without fail, and continues to provide my body and brain with a life-maintaining supply of blood. To me, our hearts are the most miraculous part of our bodies, their endurance defies mere scientific explanation.

I am thankful for the gift of restful sleep, and being able to sleep a little longer in the mornings than I did when I was working. Sleep is so restorative to body and mind, and it feels great to wake up ready to begin a new day and see what it holds, or to take a short nap and awake refreshed.  I realize that I am blessed to be able to sleep soundly most nights.

I'm thankful for my wonderful husband who agrees with my concept of what a fun vacation would be.  We find pleasure in experiencing new places together as well as returning to places we love. We both enjoy road trips. We make a point of scheduling in plenty of time for relaxation, because for us a vacation isn't supposed to be go, go, go! 

I'll be back next week to share some photos and highlights of our Louisiana trip.  I'm going to spend the next couple days enjoying the smell of salt air, the sound of the ocean in my ears, and burying my toes in soft beach sand.

Blessings to you in the remaining days of this week. Keep your eye out for reasons to be thankful, and remember to be a blessing to someone else!

JOIN US!