Ten Things of Thankful

The months of November and December come closer each year to merging and being almost a reminder to be thankful for what we are blessed to have, enjoy and be, and then to share and give to others. It is as though the two months were planned to be in such close approximation. Here are my thoughts on gratitude and thankfulness this week. I'm linking my post to Josie Two Shoes Ten  Things of Thankful blog hop.

In an instant things can happen with no more than that amount of time to make a decision. On our way to our son's place for Thanksgiving, I was driving part of the way in heavy traffic. There were three lanes going each direction, and I was in the middle lane of the northbound traffic. Unfortunately a vehicle, most likely a semi, had blown a tire. A long flatbed trailer in front of me had apparently driven over the tire as the destroyed tire was suddenly flapping and moving around in my lane. There was nothing I could do to avoid hitting the tire. All the lanes were full and vehicles close behind me. Swerving wasn't an option and neither was slamming on the brakes. Traffic was moving along at about 45-50 mph at that point. My first thought was that we would have to have some repair work done, but then that thought was replaced with the realization that we could have been hurt, or caused injury to others if I had tried to change lanes or stop suddenly. We were okay, and I am so thankful. Before we headed home the day after Thanksgiving, our son was able to do a little quick fix on the car until we are able to have it inspected at a body shop this coming week. I'm thankful he is younger and more physically fit and able to  take a look at the underside of the car.

I associate holidays with playing games. Our grandchildren taught me how to play Codenames, a new game to me. Fairly quick to play and involves teamwork.

Our daughter-in-law made a scrumptious key lime pie. It was so velvety smooth. I've only had this type of pie maybe three times, but hers was the best key lime pie I'd eaten.

I haven't tracked calories these past few days. It didn't seem the thing to do with it being a holiday and all. I probably should have at least used more discretion than I did, especially since my body had no way to fight back other than to make me feel ill that night and most of the next day. Fortunately it was short lived, with no horrible repercussions.

My husband was able to take some cute photos on Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for his camera work and ability to use Photoshop to best advantage.

Thanks to a young man skilled with using a box scraper, the gravel lane we drive on daily is in much better condition. Delivery people and visitors will appreciate this too.

Being able to enjoy a good movie with my husband is also something for which I am thankful. We saw Victoria and Abdul. We should have left a few minutes earlier as the theater was packed. I think that is the first time we have had to sit apart from each other in a theater because there weren't two empty seats side by side.  Usually we share a bag of popcorn, but I said I just wanted a little popcorn, so he ordered a small bag for me. Good thing, because we were sitting a couple of rows apart and the people in the row between us probably wouldn't have enjoyed having popcorn being tossed over their heads.

Flowers in bloom are an always welcome sight, and this year all my Christmas cacti decided to bloom at the same time, by Thanksgiving!

Larger white Christmas cactus next to a smaller red Christmas cactus. Both pots are sitting on a wooden pine file box that my husband made prior to leaving for his freshman year of college.

This little pink cactus outdid itself this year!

Being around our children and grandchildren is a reminder to us that life is different now in many ways, and yet similar. The similarities are that parents still love their children and hope that their children will be able to reach their potential, and that they will always know that they are loved.