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Happy last week of June! Can you believe that the year is almost half over?!Today has been a busy Monday, catching up on domestic duties, and I am now ready to take a break and get my thankful on! I am so very thankful for each one of you that makes the time to write and share your own thankfuls with us at the TToT blog. No matter how out of sorts I feel, when I sit down and begin to read your posts I find myself smiling along with all the good things in your lives!
We have had so very much rain here and it is humid, but I am thankful that the rain cools things down, often as much as thirty degrees very quickly, and greens things up so I won't be complaining about dry, brown West Texas for at least a little while! Papa Bear is thankful for how easy it is for him to pull up the weeds that have grown so large.
I am having fun getting better acquainted with our feral kitty Andy, who now makes an appearance just about every time he hears me come out the door, to see if I might have something new to add to his food bowl. He is becoming more trusting and sits and waits for me to return with a treat instead of hiding. I will eventually have him willing to come up to my hand to get it. :-) The other male feral kitty, Smoky, is more wary, and only appears on the infrared camera at night or if no one is out. I am thankful that we have sufficient resources to share food with them. Whole chickens were on sale at the grocery store today, so I boiled one for them which will supplement their dry food for several days. There were four furry "supervisors" around my feet in the kitchen while I was deboning it. :-)
I am thankful for words of encouragement that I come across online. I read a piece last week in which the point was not to get bogged down in defeat over all that needs to be done... "Just do the next thing." I think about how true that is, doing anything will motivate us to do something more and get us out of that deadlock of despair. I am working to focus on just one task at hand rather than a room full of them that makes me want to surrender. I am thankful that I have the time to work on things, no longer feeling exhausted after long stressful work days. There is not a day that I don't thank God for the blessing of being retired, and I pray that we can continue to make it work!
I am happy and thankful with the success of my newly created Facebook group for my high school class. The 45th reunion was held in South Dakota this weekend and classmates were able to share their photos and videos and we who were unable to attend enjoyed seeing who all was there and how they had changed over the years. The group will give us a way to stay in touch with each other and be more supportive as others experience the trials and losses that come with aging. Encouragement is such a blessing to both the giver and the receiver!
I am thankful for the fun things my children share with me in texts... projects they are working on, purchases they've made, home improvements, and places they go. It gives me an opportunity share more of the day to day aspects of their lives. My son and his girlfriend found a wonderful used bed for sale that has a headboard made of baseball bats. They got it for her 7 year old son and redid his room as a surprise one day. He loves baseball, so was very excited. It made me happy too! I am thankful that both my son and his mother get along well with this little boy's father, it makes life so much better for all of them, especially him. Divorce is hard enough on children without parents being ugly to each other.
I am thankful for the sometimes uncomfortable awarenesses I am shown about myself, giving me room to work on improvement. If we are complacent we miss the opportunities to grow, and we all have room to do a little of that! The first step is being willing to admit you have an area in your life or your behavior that could use a little fine-tuning. :-)
I am thankful for the wonderful shoulder bag I bought with Mother's Day gift money to replace my old, very worn one. I love a purse that has lots of pockets on the outside so that I can have quick and easy access to things like my car keys, phone, sunglasses, coupons, etc, without having to dig through it. I also found a great purse organizer that goes inside and has many more pockets, now I have a place for everything and it really is awesome. Once again, Amazon wins the day! :-)
I am thankful for the surprise cash bonus that Papa Bear's boss gave him last week as a thank you for his hard work. Surprises like that do so much for morale, and I insisted that he use it for something fun he would like to have or do, he works such long hours and never complains, and it definitely made his day! We all love happy surprises!
I am thankful for reconnecting with friends from long ago, and with making new ones. The Internet is such a wonderful tool for that! There was a long period in my life when I really didn't feel that I had any friends. I can honestly say now that my life is blessed with positive friends and acquaintances, and it's such a wonderful feeling!
Blessings to you this week. Look for reasons to be thankful in your life, and remember to be a blessing to someone else!
* Descriptions of the included photos are being provided for those who may be unable to view the illustrations.
You have brightened my day! It's so nice when an employer sees the hard work of an employee and gives a little something extra. That baseball bat bed is so creative, too!
ReplyDeleteAwesome, your TToT posts always brighten mine, you remind me to be grateful! The baseball bat bed, with the bats painted red, white, and blue, is really colorful and cute, something a little boy would love!
DeleteI honestly don't know if I love or hate when I open the Internet and find just the words I need. "Just do the next thing." A message for me without a doubt. Thanks for mentioning it here.
ReplyDeleteYou have two feral friends? Did I even know that? You are one cat away from crazy cat lady status... :D
I know that feeling, Lisa, sometimes I would rather remain oblivious to what I need to do or ways to improve my thinking, but then it when it's most likely God will give me a nudge this way. It is a good motto, we tend to overthink things and that translates to stalling on getting busy with it!
DeleteAs of today we have three feral kitties showing up at the "All Night Kitty Cafe" on our deck. We have a night vision camera out there so I can check in the morning and see who visited. There is a fairly large feral population in our area, we see cats crossing roads quite often. If these stay around I will see about getting them trapped and neutered before Fall. I think I crossed the crazy cat lady line long ago, Papa Bear is more sane, and sets the inside limit at four or you would find me dead someday with 70 cats in the house. ROFL He enjoys watching the ferals show up to eat as much as I do.
I can appreciate how your Papa Bear finds it easier to pull weeds from soil that has been moistened by rain and is baked hard and dry.
ReplyDeleteYour feral cats must feel like they have found the best place ever to eat. I can just picture them hanging out and smelling that chicken cooking and being deboned.
"Just do the next thing" is a good message to keep in mind for sure.
What an adorable idea for the headboard! Did they alternate the bats?
I like the shoulder bags for the very same reasons you do, but I do have to be careful to not let the bag get too heavy, and to be honest I usually do not carry it over my shoulder anymore (doctor's orders).
That is great that you will be keeping in touch with some of your old classmates.
Have a wonderful week.
All the rain has made weeding so much easier this year. We have never had this much rain in a season, of course the weeds are thriving, but I will take that over brown and dry. Much less risk of wildfires too. I know the feral kitties are enjoying their always available source of food, and especially water on these hot days.
DeleteThe baseball bats are all going the same direction, spaced out, and painted red, white, and blue. So cute!
You are right about heavy shoulder bags, mine used to weigh a ton, but now that I no longer am away from home all day long I eliminated a lot of things I used to carry to make it lighter. They are hard on shoulders!
I am having a lot of fun getting reacquainted with old classmate friends. Life has certainly scattered us. I am thinking about doing a weekly "interview" spot for our Class of '72 page where we get someone to briefly share their life story.
I actually like the 'just do the next thing' approach, as I am prone to counting trees when I originally just needed to walk through the forest.
ReplyDeleteWe don't seem to have feral cats, but we do have rabbits this year. Unfortunately the two or three we have showing up in the morning and evening, are a little caution-deficient. They will sit and wait to see what happens next, when we step out the back door. We step out of the back door because Una needs to go out into the backyard (which is fenced) at least a couple of times of day. So we go out and convince the rabbits that it's really in their interest to leave by one of three holes in the fence. Una is not so thoughtful, if she sees them she will give them chase. It's sort of like a drag strip dog track (as opposed to an oval track.) So far so good.
Have a good week
I loved the concept of "counting trees when I was originally just needed to walk through the forest." That is definitely me too, which I'm sure comes as no surprise to you. :-)
DeleteRabbits are plentiful here this year too, and I love them, but acknowledge that they also are part of the food chain for cats and coyotes. If your rabbits are brave enough to risk entering the fenced yard with the scent of dog everywhere, I'd say they are on their own, and I'm sure Una enjoys the exercise. Let's hope they are faster than she is! :-)
Wonderful thoughts! What a great surprise for Papa Bear. Thoughtful and thankful employers are not so easy to find. I am not going to tell Teddy and Jack about the chicken. Retirement is the best! I have been enjoying it more than I thought I would and I was pretty sure I would love it. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Patricia! Yes, Papa Bear was so pleased, it really made his day, and mine too. Everyone likes to be appreciated and he is by far the most loyal, knowledgeable and hardworking employee there.
DeleteMy furkids love to supervise any kitchen activity, hoping it might be something they would enjoy a sample of. Gracie has assigned herself a kitchen stool from which she watches me cook and us eat, it's so cute!
I love the freedom, lack of stress, and the QUIET of being home and not working. It still feels too good to be true most days! I am so glad you are finding it to your liking too! I know Jack and Teddy loving having you at home with them.