Ten Things of Thankful

This is kind of a late post to the Ten Things of Thankful link up.  There are ten hosts for this blog hop and also a Facebook group.  Hope you'll consider joining up with this blog hop that helps us remember the good things, great and small,  that are happening in our lives.

1.  My husband and I had breakfast out Monday morning after going to get our flu shots for the season.  Hopefully we got them in time. Today at church I heard of one person who has come down with the flu.  A couple of weeks ago one section of the nursing center where my Mom is staying had an outbreak of the flu.  Fortunately it was in another part of the building.  Flu shots, a funny sight (see below) and breakfast out with my husband were all things for which to be thankful that day.

After getting our flu shots we saw this car adorned with eyelashes in the space next to our car.

2.  This past week I had a couple of meetings with people that could answer some questions that had been on my mind.  One of these days I may learn how much better it is to face one's fears rather than put them off fearing what the outcome might be. I could save myself a lot of unnecessary ruminating. I'm thankful for the skills and helpful professions of others that help us take care of those things we must in this life.

3.  After a crazy trip home from visiting my Mom one of the days this past week, I'm so thankful that I made it hope safely.  I spent 50 minutes on a stretch of I-5 that normally would have taken 10 minutes at the most.  The freeway had been completely shut down due to a shooting on the freeway.

4.  I learned this week that my cousin's son is a member of a band called Yaima and plays the didjeridu and also another instrument. The band has a Facebook page.  I'm thankful for the internet and the various ways one can stay in touch with close and more distant family members.

5.  Sometimes the timing of things we do in our lives can be a protecting force.  I'm thankful for that. One time this week I didn't get up to visit with my Mom  as early as I was thinking I would, and ended up going later in the day.  As it turned out, it was good for me to be there when I was so I was able to observe a situation and be an advocate for her.  This wasn't any thing that was out-of-line as to her care, but just a little thing that could make her feel more at ease.  I was able to talk to the nurse and let her know what I thought might have been a concern to Mom.  As it turned out the nurse really took the words out of my mouth before I needed to say them, and assured me she would take care of it.

6.  After sending a birthday card to one of my grandsons this past month, I was surprised to have it returned to me.  I confirmed that I'd written the right address and that he hadn't moved.  When I inquired at the post office as to why it had been returned, they were able to determine that the machine had read my handwritten 9 as a 4.  I guess my handwriting isn't what it used to be.  I'm thankful that I am still able to write, but realize now that if machines are trying to read our handwriting, I'd better be writing those numbers very carefully.

7.  There are several different pots in my kitchen.  Thursday I made a stew and used a pot that I apparently hadn't used for stew before, or perhaps had used it but didn't realize that I didn't even need to add liquid to the pot.  (I bought the pan used at a thrift store a number of years ago, so didn't have any directions regarding the use of the pot.)  Because I started off with the meat and slowly added vegetables, one type at a time, juice gradually accumulated and was just the right amount of liquid needed.  I did add about 1/2 cup of broth at the very end of the cooking, because it was just a tad thicker than I wanted.  It was delicious.  This was another thankful discovery.

8.  I participate in several blog hops, and got a little confused with the prompts and the guidelines this week.  That is what happens when one tries to multi-task when writing blog posts.  Click here to read more about this amusing experience.  I'm thankful to discover that I'm capable of more than I thought.

9.  We've had a LOT of rain this weekend, so much so that I heard dripping in the hall last night.  That is NOT a good thing, and we will need to call a roofing company tomorrow, but the good thing was that I was in a room early in the evening where I was able to hear that dripping sound.  If I'd been elsewhere in the house there would have been a bigger mess.  As it was, I just had a little Halloween Fun crawling on hands and knees in an area of the attic where one cannot stand up.  Now imagine dusty spider webs finding resting places on my hair and clothes.  As I crawled, I held in one hand a grabber that some people use to pick things up from the floor.  I'd attached a old bath towel to the stick so I could fling the towel to the places where there was some standing water in order to wipe up the mess. Then we put a container there to catch any more drips that might come before the roofer can come.  I was plenty warm by the time I finished that Halloween adventure.  The good thing was I didn't see any spiders.  Maybe they thought I was one of them, crawling on the floor such as I was.

10. When I was watering my houseplants yesterday, I discovered that my little begonia that I have had for several years is getting some buds, so I think I'm going to have some blossoms soon.  It has never bloomed.  About a half year ago, it only had very small leaves, and then I decided to move it to another spot.  It started to grow, the leaves began growing more than double the size, and now it is going to bloom!