Ten Thanks of Thankful

This year has not been an easy one as I think we can all agree, and trying to stay positive in the midst of it all has tested the majority, if  not all, if we are honest with ourselves. Throughout this year, I have participated in the weekly Ten Things of Thankful blog hop which has helped me to reconsider the things for which to be thankful. Sometimes they are everyday things, other times they are very significant events, and frequently they are things I never want to forget like special relationships. I am thankful for the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop now hosted by Dyanne of Backsies Is What There Is Not. I am also thankful for all those who have previously hosted and those who co-host.

1. Being able to get my oven very clean and not have the smoke alarms go off while using the self-cleaning oven option

This time around I used natural cleansers (baking soda, water, and white vinegar), to remove as much as I could before using the self cleaning oven setting. Basically there wasn’t a whole lot left for the oven to do, but it did what I was hoping it would. I cleaned the oven racks with steel wool soap pads after soaking the racks overnight with water. The oven hasn’t looked this good since it was new! I am thankful for Vic helping me, of his own accord, get some of those hard to reach places. (My right shoulder only cooperates to a certain point when reaching deep into the oven.) I am also especially thankful that our oven is a wall oven making it ever so much easier to clean at this point in time.

Clean oven

2. New pillows for our bed and the magical way they reached their puffy state of being after we removed them from the plastic wrap in which they were encased which said casing made them look nothing at all like a pillow (We gave them a few hard slaps and they began to expand. After a couple of hours they were ready for use.)

3. The beginning of a new day when all is still and the body refreshed  from a good night’s rest before the to-do list unfolds to view

4. The  beauty of the white Christmas cactus blossom like the single very bright star that appeared in the sky at the time of the Savior’s birth (For the time being this seems to be the only blossom that will be appearing on this plant this month.)

White Christmas cactus blossom

5. A plate of Christmas cookies left on our doorstep

6. This buck and his harem which are willing to share their hillside properties of their cervidae ancestors with those of us who have built homes here

Buck grazing on a hillside

7. The many who have made sacrifices, often at the risk of their own health, so that the rest of us have been able to get through this year of the pandemic

8. The one day a week which is set aside as a day of rest from doing as many as possible* of the tasks they do during the rest of the week and instead more fully worshiping God in thoughts and in deeds, and receiving inspiration as to how they can more fully live their lives in harmony with the teachings in the scriptures every day, not just on Sundays

(*There are many whose employment requires that they work on Sundays.)

9. Contrasts that help us recognize good from evil, joy from despair, etc. that enable us to make better choices in our lives in the future

10. The many who have written lyrics and composed music that remind us of the birth of the Savior and the many who share this music during this Christmas season

This is one of my favorites.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter