Ten Things of Thankful - Week 28, 2017

The above image is a quote that says "Happy are those who take life day by day, complain very little, and are thankful for the little things in life." No author is cited. The text is printed in black on an off-white background next to a round clear pale blue vase filled with white lilacs that form a canopy across the top of the photo above the text. A bright green leaf and a few green stems can be seen amidst the flowers.*

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Happy Weekend!  The above quote makes me smile. I am thankful that I am able to do the first part and the last part fairly well, but I find that part in the middle about complaining very little to be more difficult. Have you ever tried to go a whole day without complaining and come to realize just how often you think or say something negative?  It's convicting, but I'm working on it! I am thankful that I have another day to work on being a more positive person!

 I am also very thankful that Papa Bear is the most uncomplaining person I know, no matter how tired he is, or how unfair life is, he so rarely grumbles, and just takes it as it comes. He is a good role model for me! 

I am thankful for the General Manager at Papa Bear's work, a much younger man than him, who told him this week how much he appreciated Papa Bear's help and knowledge gained from working there over thirty years.  It always feels good to know that you are appreciated!

I am thankful that Papa Bear will be off this Saturday. He works six days a week, and gets one Saturday off a month. He gets so tired and needs that downtime! We won't be sleeping in on Saturday though, as we have the security alarm installer scheduled for 9 AM. That leads to another thankful... a new and much better security system that is less expensive and has it's own Wi-Fi so doesn't require a land line phone.  It will save us money, work better, can be controlled from our phones, and is much safer since there is no outside phone line that could easily be cut by an intruder. Having been through break-ins in a past chapter of my life, I feel much better having a security system.

I am thankful that Papa Bear loves cats as much as I do. He had one before he met me that lived to be twenty years old; it was an indoor-outdoor cat, so that's especially rare. We started out with just one cat which we adopted when I moved to Texas to be with him. Now we have four inside, though we have had five when we were caring for one of my daughter's cats for awhile when she lived in an apartment. He is patient with the ever-flying kitty fur from all of them having long hair, and he enjoys news of the outside feral visitors too, letting me know when Andy is waiting on the deck for supper. He recently installed an expanding "baby gate" across the stairs to the deck to prevent the neighborhood roaming dogs (a real problem in this area) from coming up on the deck in attempts to get the food in the kitty feeder. What we won't do for our furkids! :-)

I am thankful for prayers answered. One of my daughter's cats that is only six months old went into heat (yes, they can start breeding that young) so she took it to be spayed this week. Its post-surgical recovery was a little more stressful than most, while it seemed to be in pain the vet tech said it was just having a bad reaction to the anesthesia. My daughter was so worried and stressed, and felt bad for her kitty. Thankfully, the next morning it was doing so much better and is now on its way to recovery. I am thankful, too, for responsible pet owners who spays/neuter their pets and also for groups who provide low-cost spay/neuter options. If it was more affordable there would be fewer unwanted babies being born. Cats multiply amazingly fast!

I am thankful that our neighbors finally ran out of fireworks! Their 4th of July celebration went on every evening for almost a week, stressing out the furkids and at times rattling the house. I am all for celebrating and I love rockets as much as the next person, but explosions just for the sake of noise gets annoying. One tipped over and exploded on the ground instead of the air, and I am so thankful that none of them were injured, it could have happened so easily.

I am thankful that my son had an awesome birthday! When he lived alone he didn't have a birthday cake and this is a much enjoyed tradition in our family. This year his girlfriend and her son got him a wonderful cake. I am so thankful for all the blessings this relationship has brought to him and how happy they are together as a family. I could not have asked for a nicer person for him to share life with. She truly loves my son and to a mother that means everything!

I am thankful that my younger sister has discovered the joy of Internet friendship through getting to know some of the people she regularly plays in Words With Friends. In the past she never understood how I could be close friends with people I'd never actually met, now she has a couple close Internet friends that she visits with on the phone and via email, and has discovered how much those relationships can brighten your days, especially when your children are grown and gone and you spend more time at home alone.

Last, but not least, I am thankful for the beautifully cool, overcast morning. It is rare here that I can be out on the deck writing at 10 AM without being baked and blistered by the hot sun, so this was a lovely treat. The clouds are piling up and perhaps we will have rain later.  Cooler weather, even for just a few hours or a day, is such a gift!  And on that note, I think I'll head out for a little drive with the windows down, I need to go to our tiny-town post office and pick up Toby's meds at the vet clinic. Wishing a wonderful, relaxing weekend to everyone!

Blessings to you this week. Look for reasons to be thankful in your life, and remember to be a blessing to someone else!
The above photo 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.