Ten Things of Thankful - Week 21, 2017

This photo has an image of a couple sitting
next to each on a lake shore with their bicycles
 bicycles parked beside them on the right. The
opposite shore is bordered by a row of large trees.
The sun in the background behind the clouds is
setting, giving the photo a golden glow. The 
quotation by Zig Ziglar written on it in black
lettering states "Today be thankful and think how
rich you are. Your family is priceless. Your health
is wealth. Your time is gold." This photo is the
property of Simple Reminders.*

 

This morning finds me reflective, and thankful for the extended family I grew up in. At 5AM this morning my youngest uncle made his journey to the Spirit World at the age of 82, reuniting with his four brothers, mother and father, and beloved wife, who had all passed before him. He had been suffering from cancer for a long time and was in a great deal of pain, so I am thankful he has at last been set free. 

 

My uncle's faith was strong and he was ready to depart, and yet it is a bittersweet thankful, he was the last remaining family member of my parents' generation. I can still recall him and his older brothers standing by my father's casket at the visitation, and them all looking so very sad; who would have guessed that the remaining three of them would all be gone less than eight years later. I am thankful that there was surely a joyful reunion in Heaven today. 

 

My heart goes out to his seven children, my cousins, who will now find themselves feeling the pain of being orphans, just as we did when my father passed. I am thankful they are very close and will be there to continue family get-togethers and traditions, and support each other in their mourning.

 

I am thankful for the heritage I grew up with. My father's family was of German descent, living near a small farming community in eastern South Dakota. My grandparents grew up speaking German at home and in their small country school until the outbreak of WWI, at which time that were forced to adopt English. Their children were raised "no nonsense", strong and stalwart, and not a great deal of emotion was shown. They grew up during The Great Depression and there was very little money, my father recalled the joy of the rare candy bar purchased and split four ways between them.

 

My grandfather died when my father was just twelve, leaving my grandmother to raise four boys and run a farm on her own, and she did it well.  She is the woman I grew up to admire most, a breast cancer survivor who lived to be 97. I patterned myself after her. All of her sons grew up to be good men and good providers for their families. They were raised in the Lutheran tradition and raised their own families the same. While we sometimes bemoaned the strict discipline, lack of emotion and outward shows of affection that they were raised with and subsequently raised their children with, they all mellowed in their later years and most certainly loved their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I am thankful that we were raised with strong values, a sense of right and wrong, responsibility, and the knowledge that you had to earn what you wanted in life, it wasn't going to be handed to you. 

 

The hardest part of losing family is that you really can't go home again, ever. If I return to the town where I grew up, there is no longer a home to visit, and although my cousins have inherited the family homes they grew up in, including my grandparents home, it is not the same when you walk into the kitchen and mom's not standing in the kitchen cooking, and dad's not sitting in the recliner watching TV or out mowing the yard. I am thankful for the good memories we all had growing up.

 

I am thankful I grew up in a small town in the Midwest, although I never thought I'd say that. I understand now that it was a good place to earn a living (my father was a John Deere dealer, a member of the City Council and a County Commissioner), a good place to attend school, and to have the freedom to run and play all over town. It was relatively safe back then, and it was a simple way of life I wish we could give today's children.

 

I am thankful for the wonderful memories I have of spending time with my cousins at their farm and at my Grandmother's house. My Uncle's wife used to chuckle at how much I enjoyed being outside with their horses, cows, and baby pigs, playing in the hay stacks and the barn loft, and getting far more dirty than my mother would ever have allowed. My love of the land and rural life surely grew from those experiences.

 

I am thankful for holiday memories shared. We always spent holidays with my father's family, or they all came to our house, taking turns each year. We gathered at a large park each 4th of July too, and we cousins all miss those fun times. I think back to big Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners when my father and my uncles would be found snoozing in the living room chairs soon after, much to the giggles of us cousins.

 

I am thankful that although I moved far, far away from South Dakota and from family, I am able to stay in touch with several of my cousins through Facebook, and can let them know that my heart is with them today. We were born of sturdy German stock and raised in faith; and hard as this is for them, I know they will find peace and healing. And maybe one day in the near future, before we too start to leave this world, we can all meet up again for a happy reunion. 

 

Blessings to you this 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 20, 2017

This photo has a background of soft shades of tan
which darkens on the upper corners to a caramel
color and then to coffee brown. Tiny fairy lights
on strings frame the sides and upper edge. A
quotation printed on it in simple black lettering
reads "A good life is when you assume nothing,
do more, need less, smile often, dream big,
laugh alot, and realize how blessed you are."*

Happy Weekend Friends!

So often I find myself chasing my tail, and have the feeling like I'm falling hopelessly behind with life... with writing, with blogging, with housework, and with staying in touch with friends. My first thankful on this week's list  is the awareness that each day is a new day to begin again. I may not be able to do everything I'd like to accomplish today, in fact I know I won't, but I can do something... and I can start with something that's so very important to me... recounting my reasons to be thankful!

The nicest blessing of the week is occurring at the present, Papa Bear has a three day weekend off to spend with me.  We had planned to go to a Masonic function in Dallas, but decided against it due to the long drive and travel expense.  Instead we are relaxing at home, staying up late, sleeping in late, and working on a few much needed house projects.  I love having him home, even if it does mean a little less time here in the blogsphere, life trumps blogging, and we like spending our time together!

I have started writing at the newly acquired table, retrieving my comfy office chair from the "clutter room". Typically, I've been writing with my Surface tablet/keyboard on a lap desk, but this is much better and the furkids are loving it that they can gather around me on the table and chairs while I write.  (Don't worry, the table is cleaned before we eat on it. :-) I will never cease to be amazed that our furry housemates want to be near to us wherever we are and whatever we're doing.

I spent much of this week helping the reunion committee for the 45th reunion of my high school Class of '72 track down missing members online and obtain their mailing and email addresses. I love the challenge and I had the time to play with it, so I was glad to volunteer, in the process reconnecting with friends that go as far back as gradeschool! I won't be attending the reunion in June, it is too far and too expensive to travel back to South Dakota, but they promise plenty of photos and I'm going to set up a private Class of '72 Facebook group for us to keep in touch from now on. It was sobering to learn that fourteen of our classmates have already died, and we wonder how many will have left us by the 50th reunion.

Coming out of my reunion efforts this week, a bigger blessing evolved. It is no secret that high school was not one of my favorite life experiences. I was clearly a misfit and hung out with the other misfits. The "cool kids" weren't always nice, nor were some of the teachers. Adolescence is a difficult time. I have said for many years that I had no desire to reconnect with anyone from that time of my life. But the passing years change perspective and I find that most of us are a bit nostalgic for home and those simpler times as life has scattered us to the winds. This week I have been able to revisit old issues and forgive. The past is in the past, and we are older and a bit wiser. It feels good to let it go.

A fun thankful on my list this week is the addition of the new  "Crosswords with Friends" to my online game activity. While it really isn't set up to play "with friends" there is a timer on the daily crosswords which makes for a bit of competition. For me it's all about challenging my brain to fill in the blanks as quickly as possible.  Doing things online is just so much easier than using a pencil... and an eraser! Along with ongoing games of Words with Friends and Yahtzee, it's good exercise for old brains. :-)

I am so very relieved and thankful that sound my husband's truck was making ended up not being an extremely expensive repair as we had feared. Rather it is just a wheel in need of a new bearing assembly.  He was able to get the needed part at cost and a mechanic friend will install it this weekend for a fraction of the in-shop price. While it's still a bite on our budget, it's not the disaster that it could have been.

I am so delighted that my nephew has been offered the job we've been praying about for the company he works for. It's a substantial promotion and there were many applicants. He has a wonderful, outgoing personality, and he's smart. I know he will do well, and I'm thankful he's been given the opportunity. 

I am thankful that my husband's daughter that recently moved back to the area has been able to arrange for an apartment for her and her grown daughter and high-school age son. Housing is expensive here. With three incomes they should be able to make ends meet if they budget carefully. She is still applying for jobs, but she is determined and I'm sure she will be able to secure one soon.

I am thankful for the peaceful, relaxing ending to evenings spent with Papa Bear in the hot tub underneath the star-filled skies. We leave the water jets off and enjoy soaking while talking about the day without the distraction of the television. It makes for a great night's sleep!

Bonus thankful... I am so thankful and humbled by the people who reach out to me on a daily basis and make and effort to stay connected even when I am such a sporadic respondent. It is a good feeling to know people care about me, trust me, and what to share the ups and downs of their lives.

Blessings to you this 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.

Betrayal

 

BETRAYAL

I often thought I might succumb to violence

Felled by a blow from a mortal enemy's hand

But I never thought that you, the one I trusted

Would tear out my heart and feed it to the dogs

It would have been kinder to kill me more quickly

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 

I wrote the above poem over twenty years ago in response to a particularly brutal betrayal by someone I trusted implicitly. I was totally blown away by that experience, just as I was by the betrayals that preceded it and those that have occurred since.

When I was pondering a topic for today's Finish the Sentence Friday I realized that, based on the things I've shared here and on previous blogs, there really isn't much I am hesitant to write about. I pretty much put it all out there and let the chips fall where they may. I had to reach deep inside to uncover a topic that is uncomfortable for me to write about. Suddenly betrayal hit me squarely.

Betrayal isn't easy for me to talk about, much less write about, even though it's a subject  all too familiar to me. I started to count the number of times I've been betrayed by someone close to me and memories came flooding back... friends, family members, partners, coworkers...  I soon stopped counting. 

After giving it some thought I realized the problem with writing about betrayal isn't in the recounting of what occurred, I do pretty well with looking at the events in my life with detachment once some time has passed, and I feel fairly comfortable sharing them.

Bottom line... I don't want to write about betrayal because I do not understand it. I am unable to comprehend why people do that to each other, fully aware of the havoc and hurt they are going to cause. I have never hated anyone badly enough to want to cause that kind of damage, to go for the kill. I am far more likely to say my piece and then walk away.

The number of betrayals I've experienced also makes me wonder if I am too trusting, a thought that makes me very uncomfortable. Does that mean I'm gullible and set myself up to be betrayed? Maybe, but I don't want to live my life being suspicious of everyone's motives, I want to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Sadly, in most if not all of the betrayals I've experienced in my life, I don't have a clue what I did that spurred that kind of behavior.  In all honesty I really don't think I did anything to deserve it. So why then, why would someone do something so heartless and cruel, especially someone you trusted and maybe even loved? I wish I understood, I really wish I knew.

I can't make sense of betrayal so I don't want to write about it, because I really don't know what to say... other than to say it took my breath away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This was written for Finish the Sentence Friday hosted by Finding Ninee.  This week’s sentence, in honor of our upcoming Mother’s Day in the US is “I don't want to write about…”

Ten Things of Thankful - Week 19, 2017

This photo has a background of small rocks that
have been worn smooth, such as one might find
in a driveway or a riverbed.  They are in assorted
shades from white to dark gray. There is a white
transparent banner overlay across the middle of
the photo. A quotation on it in black letters reads
"You Can Choose - Gratitude or Grumbling."*

Goodness, I am late to my own party here!  I have been busy with other projects and haven't spent much time blogging in the past few days. I apologize for being slow to get around to everyone's post to read and comment on your thankfuls.  I can honestly say that my life is good  though, and each day brings its own little reasons to be grateful and smile.  Just as the photo quote above says, we can choose a life of gratitude or grumbling.  I'm much too good at grumbling, but I'm slowly becoming better at feeling gratitude, not just for monumental reasons, but for tiny reasons, like a kind word, or something that went right in my day.  Here are some of the things I've been thankful for recently...

1. Being a mother to two awesome people that I couldn't be more proud of! While motherhood has its share of trials and tears over the years, when your kids grow up to be awesome, responsible adults that are kind and considerate of others, it is the best feeling in the world.

 

2. Mother's Day... my children are always overly generous with thoughtful gifts, and I so enjoyed visiting with each of them too.  Mother's Day sometimes feels a little sad with my own mother no longer living, but they make up for it in their love for me.  The sweet things they wrote on the cards they sent me melted my heart. 

 

3. My husband's oldest daughter was in town on Friday and Saturday to spend time with her sister that just moved back here.  We shared dinner with them on both evenings and had a fun time visiting. It's been several years since they've had a day to spend together without children or spouses, and they really enjoyed it, a true blessing.

 

4. The wonderful table and chairs I was able to find on LetGo for our small dining area. We've had a counter-height table and stools for some time and have grown tired of perching on them to eat.  I was able to sell them for enough to cover more than half of the cost of the replacement, and we're enjoying sit-down dinners at the table now, no more eating in front of the tv (which I really don't like).  In addition to four chairs, the table came with two matching benches. One is now in the entrance hallway and is so handy when I come in hauling bags of groceries and such.

 

5. The rainstorm which came through Sunday night knocked out a power transformer which left us without electricity, but they had it restored within about an hour.  Over 1000 homes lost power in the nearby city, so we were blessed to have ours restored so quickly.  They storm was predicted to bring winds up to 75 mph, so we were also very thankful when it wasn't nearly that bad and no damage occurred. 

 

6. I am thankful that I do not have the fear of storms that my mother did. We spent many summer nights under a table in the basement of our house in the Midwest during summer storm warnings, while my dad refused to join us and continued to sleep soundly in his bed.  While we are cautious, and keep our eye on the radar maps and sky, storms are beautiful to watch as pass over us!

 

7. I am thankful that the batch of fudge I made this morning for my son-in-law's birthday turned out great. He loves fudge, and it's fun to send something I know he will enjoy, along with a gift card for a little shopping.  My husband will be happy that there are a few left over pieces that didn't fit in the box. :-)

 

8. I am thankful for my daughter's perseverance when learning new things.  In the past two weeks she has successfully repaired the engine on her lawnmower, and learned to make bathtub "bombs" of bath salts, skin softeners, and essential oils after watching it on YouTube and deciding she could do it less expensively than they cost to purchase.  She shared the learning process with me via photos and text, and I love that she doesn't give up easily when the first batch didn't go exactly as planned. The ones she made last night turned out perfect, and so pretty too!

 

9. I am thankful that my son's lifestyle with his girlfriend and her son includes doing so many different fun  activities each weekend, that are not only healthy but enjoyable. I really love the lady he has chosen, and I have hopes that down the road it will become a permanent relationship, they are an awesome match, and make each other happy.

 

10. I was once told that the secret to a good relationship is when each partner feels they got the best end of the deal. I am blessed to feel that way, as does my husband. So does my niece, based on my conversation with her this weekend, and I know her boyfriend loves her dearly. I am so thankful, her life has been anything but easy, and it appears that God has been saving the best for last in her life too!

 

I could easily keep going with this list, but I'll save some for the coming weekend, and get this posted so I can catch up on reading your posts!  

 

Blessings to you this 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.

What She Didn't Tell Me

~Image Credit~

 

Oh, Mother, it's been so long since you've been gone, over twenty years now. I am almost at the age that you were then. How is that possible, where did the time go? Sometimes I mourn the things we didn't get to say to each other, and the things we didn't know how to say. Being at the age I am now, I understand things so much better, and sometimes I wish there were do-overs; I suppose that maybe most mothers and their children do. I would want to relive the happy, carefree times - at least as they seemed to be in my childhood innocence. And I would want to try to change the sad times, and the angry times, and the hurt times, find a way to make them never happen. But somehow I know that you are aware that I understand you did your best with what you knew, and that above all, through it all, I was always, always loved. 

 

When I presented you with your first grandchild, and she wrapped her tiny translucent fingers around your own, I wish you would have told me then how hard it was going to be, this being a mother thing. I wish you would have told me that it doesn't get easier as they get older, it gets harder; and that no matter how well they are doing in their lives, they worry never, ever really ends.  

 

I remember how you used to tell me that you could sense when something was wrong in my world long after I was grown and how it used to infuriate me and I'd deny it, because I didn't want to acknowledge you had that kind of power, and I didn't want to admit to you that yes, once again my world was upside down. 

 

Now, when at times my heart feels heavy all day, and I'm not sure why, I understand that eternal connection a mother has to her children. Sure enough, later on the call will come, and in a second I can tell from the tenuous tone of the voice on the other end when I hear "Mom?" that all is not well. The next words out of my mouth are always "What's wrong?" Because I know, just as you knew.

 

The only difference is that she calls me, and she will tell me, because I learned from our mistakes. I've worked hard to keep the lines of communication open with both  my kids, even when that meant that my daughter called me daily and every night in the middle of the night for weeks when she was going through her divorce, coming unglued and saying "I can't do this", needing me to talk her down and assure her that she was going to be okay, that all she had to do was just make it through the next day... and then the next.

 

There were so many things you didn't tell me, Mom. You didn't warn me about the heartaches...

 

Like the day I stood by my daughter's hospital bed wondering if she was going to survive a nearly successful suicide attempt that shook me to the very core of my being, not realizing at the time that severe chronic depression was going to be the story of her life just as it was yours, but understanding many reasons why, and feeling more hatred at that moment for one man than I've ever felt in my life. He is dead now, and I don't hate him anymore, I gave that up to God.

 

Like the day I took my pre-adolescent son to his father's house a hundred miles away, along with everything he owned, because he really needed to live with his father, needed a man in his life and I knew that. It tore my heart out. I cried all the way home and for days after that, and it still makes me cry now if I think about it. What I didn't know then is that it wouldn't affect how close we were, if anything we are even closer now.

 

You didn't tell me either, how it breaks your heart when you see your children making a mistake that you've warned them about,  just like you tried your best to warn me. We can't make choices for our children, and we can't always find the right words to convince them to see it differently, to see themselves differently, but that doesn't stop the scream inside of us when we know the price they are going to pay. I am so sorry for not hearing the heart of your message, I assure you that the truth in your words came back to me, just as you knew they would.  I have also learned how true it is that a mother is only as happy as her saddest child, and I wonder how many times you were sad because of me.

 

I also wish that you would have told me how hard it is to have your children living so far away that you rarely get to see them, and back then there was no texting or instant photo shares. I recall Dad's lectures when you exceeded the weekly seven-minute long distance phone call limit he imposed. I appreciate that you never tried to make me feel guilty because I couldn't afford to come and see you. When you passed that night, I'd been trying for over a year to find the money to come home to visit, and I screamed in my frustration and agony. I'm sure you heard me.  And I worry about how my own daughter and son will survive one day when I am no longer just a phone call away.

 

Oh, Mother, if only you would have told me... but then again, would I have really wanted to know?  Would I have listened? Would I have done anything differently? I doubt it. What I do know is that you did the very best you could as a mother with what you knew, and in turn I am doing the same... until we meet again.  <3



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This was written for Finish the Sentence Friday hosted by Finding Ninee.  This week’s sentence, in honor of our upcoming Mother’s Day in the US is “Oh, Mother…”

Tuesday Coffee Chat - 5/09/17

Today I'm joining Les at Ink Interrupted for her Tuesday Coffee Chat, where we are asked to respond to the question... "It's my birthday and Mother's Day soon... what should I do?"  She will be spending her weekend camping in the woods with a group of young Girl Guides, so she asks what we would wish for her as an alternative way to celebrate, or what we might wish for ourselves.

As I noted in my comment on her blog, and even though her family plans to celebrate with her a bit when she gets home on Sunday night, I think she should plan to have a late birthday celebration the following weekend.  My mother taught us that it's important that each holiday and life event be a reason for celebration, even though not a great deal of money needs to be spent to make it fun. Since Mother's Day is typically a celebration of family... either with your own mother, or as the mother of your children, perhaps it would be fun, since hers run so close together, to have her birthday celebration be a romantic overnight getaway with just her husband, with lots of candles, music, and good things to eat! 

I also believe that children should be taught to give gifts, even if they need a little help with funds when they are small.  I have seen children whose parents just include their name on the gift card for others, and they grow up to not have an understanding of how much mothers, and other relatives, appreciate a gift chosen just for them, even if it is something inexpensive, or a single flower, or even better yet, something hand made.  It is about the thought and effort expended, not the dollar value! 

I can remember my sisters and I saving up money from our small weekly allowances to go to the dime store and purchase gifts for my mother on Mother's Day.  It might have been a lace handkerchief, or some other pretty thing we thought she'd like, but she always was so very pleased with whatever we got. As we got a little older we began to make birthday cakes and Mother's Day cakes, and decorate them as fancy as we were able!  I know she cherished those efforts, just as I cherish the things my own two grown children do for me now, always with great thought and always spending too much!

However this weekend works out for you, Les, I hope you have a wonderful time camping, and that you are duly celebrated when you arrive home and that there will be cake with candles! :-)  We never grow too old for birthday cake, and we should never grow to old to celebrate another year of life given to us either!  I am sad for people who bemoan their birthdays, they are a gift!

For myself, my birthday was in February.  Our children don't live close enough to visit, but my husband always makes sure it's special, and I also follow the belief that it's okay, even awesome, to treat yourself!  Go and do something fun if you are home alone, get a treat, buy something special, make it a fun day!

Mother's Day is kind of bittersweet here though my dear husband tries his best to make it nice for me.  His mother and my mother have long since passed on, and my children won't be here to share it with me. There will be phone conversations most definitely and lovely treats and gifts in the mail, and my husband will take me out for a special dinner if I want to go. But I will always wish that I could spend it with my children. Maybe someday down the road life will take us closer to them. I know that my husband feels very much the same on Father's Day and his birthday, although his daughters, sadly, rarely do gifts or even cards. A text is nice, but come on girls, a little more effort for the dad who loves you so much, please!  My kids always remember him generously on his birthday and at Christmas, and I am proud of them for that.

In our house the furkids also get in on the gift giving. Christmastime and birthdays find my children getting a gift from ours, (since we keep the gift giving exchange limit very low),  and of course they will have a little help to give their "Daddy" a gift for Father's Day and for his birthday, it just makes it fun. :-)

And that's about all I have to say about that, I am very blessed and very loved and those are big reasons to celebrate, not just on my birthday or Mother's Day, but everyday!

Ten Things of Thankful - Week 18, 2017

This photo has a large yellow sunflower
against a barn wood background that has
been tinted bright sky blue. The quotation
on it reads "Count your blessings and not
your problems."*

Happy Weekend! 

 

Overall it's been a good week here in West Texas, and as always, I have much to be thankful for...

 

1. High at the top of the list, a family member who has been in a very abusive/destructive relationship for several years found the courage to go for help this week after an incident in which she could have been killed. She is going to relocate and has a difficult road ahead of her, but at last there is hope, and tremendous relief for all concerned. Prayers appreciated!

 

2.  My husband has suffered from extreme migraines for many years. He gets all the symptoms, including problems with vision and speech. While they thankfully don't happen as often as they once did, I am grateful for the medication he can take as soon as he feels one coming on, greatly lessening the symptoms, and reducing recovery time.

 

3. I am thankful he has a boss that understands he has no control over when over when these occur, and is great about letting him lie down in an upstairs office until he feels better. Yesterday afternoon he kindly sent him home once he felt okay to drive again.

 

4. I am thankful for a wonderful little wedge pillow I found on Amazon.com which is designed to prop up my tablet for reading in bed or in a chair. So much nicer than holding it for a long time!

 

5. I am thankful for  the tiny lizards that inhabit our property. One can often be found sunning himself on our back deck and isn't in a big hurry to leave when I walk by. I am not much of a fan of creepy crawlers, and definitely not snakes, but these little critters are just plain cute! Hubby says he sees a lot of them when he mows the yard, but I rarely see more than one or two.

This is a picture of a little Southern Prairie Lizard like the ones
 living in our yard. They are about five-six inches long including
the tail, and have camo-style markings in gray, tan, brown, and
black that run the full length of their bodies and legs..

6. I am thankful for new self-awareness regarding one of my behaviors that I realized was based on past fears and no longer relevant, so I've taken steps to change that behavior and it feels very  freeing!

 

7. I put up a post on my other blog inviting people I met through the A to Z Challenge to join us at Ivy's Six Sentence Stories, and we had a great turn out this week which made it really fun. If you've never tried it, you should! Ivy posts the new cue word on Sundays and the linkup opens on Thursday.

 

8.  I am thankful that my husband likes my hair long and turning silver. I haven't been to a beauty shop in almost nine years, and my hair is almost waist long now. He trims the dry ends for me a couple times a year, and I trim my own bangs. It saves a fortune in haircuts and coloring, and he likes my "wild child" look, it suites me. :-)  I do not plan to ever cut it again, I have regretted it every time.

 

9. I am thankful for the never-ending antics of our furkids which always make me laugh. Two of our four have become stealth masters at slipping into our bedroom when I'm going in and out, no matter how carefully I watch for them. (We keep the bedroom door closed due to their long fur and allergy issues.) One night this week Sophie, who is 13, managed to pass through unnoticed. As I came in later in the dark to get ready for bed, something leaped up on the bed scaring me half to death! I flipped on the light and there sat Sophie purring up a storm and quite proud of herself. :-)

 

10. I am thankful for blog friends who write interesting stories, and thoughtful pieces, and who share their own Ten Things of Thankful lists. It's amazing how much hope and encouragement I find in reading positive things from those who are journeying with me, THANK YOU! <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!


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.