Ten Things of Thankful

Wendy Harris of Josie Two Shoes has decided to turn over her position as host of the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop to Kristi of Thankful Me beginning next week. I want to personally thank Wendy for all the encouragement she has given me and others through her comments to our posts. She like so many others who bring themselves here week after week to reflect upon the things for which they are thankful feel like my blogosphere friends. Even though our personal lives vary somewhat, we are the same in that we want to share and remember our gratitudes. Maybe in that sharing we bring a smile to someone who comes by to read our posts. Click the link to see what pops up this week.

1. School is officially over until fall in many places. One of our grandsons completed the eighth grade this week. We wish we could have been there for his graduation, but look forward to being able to spend some time with him soon.

2. In the not too distant future our children and their families will all be living in the west. This is very exciting news for us. One of our daughters has received a promotion that enables she and her family to relocate. Yeah!

3. Our peace plant is blooming. The blossoms are quite unique, and we don't see them often.

The white blossom of a peace plant
positioned against its leaf

 4. The thoughtfulness of the dental hygienist who cleaned my mom's teeth this week. I'm sure that having to bend down and over to clean her teeth wasn't the easiest thing to do. (Because of mom's age and physical and mental capacities, the cleaning has to be done as mom is seated in her wheelchair.) I'm also thankful the the ride in the transport vehicle wasn't as scary as it has sometimes been for mom in the past.

5. Discovering two Western Salsify (tragopogon dubious) plants on our property. They stand about 2-1/2 feet high. What attracted me were the incredibly large seedpods about the size softballs. I'm thankful to have noticed them and for having done a little research. We will be burying the seedpods deep enough that the plants hopefully won't reappear in the future. 

Western Salsify seedpod

6. I'm thankful for 1-800 numbers that save me the inconvenience of sitting in an office for up to three hours waiting for my turn. Granted, the 1-800 number that I called required waiting for 1-1/2 hours to speak to someone, but I was able to set the phone down, turn up the speaker phone, listen to music that wasn't too offensive to my taste, and continue with my tasks. Thankfully, my question was quickly answered without my call being forwarded to someone else, or the call being inadvertently dropped after all that waiting.

7. When I have noticed Western tanagers as they migrate though our area, I have not been able to get a photo of them, until this week. Although I wish the photo had been more in focus, it will do for now. This one was enjoying getting a drink and taking a bath.

Western tanager bathing in water in hollowed
rock slab

8. I made it to the fitness center twice instead of just once!

9. One of our grandsons received his call to serve a church mission in the Buenos Aires North Argentina mission district. His five years of learning Spanish will be helpful as he tries to become familiar with the Spanish dialects spoken there. He will be reporting on Aug. 9. This will be a great opportunity for him to serve the people in that area.

10. My husband and father of our children, and our son and son-in-laws for being such good fathers. Learning how to become a loving family takes commitment and work, and I'm thankful for all they have done and still do. Happy Father's Day!