Thankful Thursday Thirteen

Giving Thanks

I’m counting blessings today — a baker’s dozen for good measure.

1. GOD
2. SuperDad, my dh
3. My 4 sons
4. A secure job for my husband. I do not take this for granted.
5. Friends
6. The undeserved blessing of being born into a country where I have many freedoms.
7. Family that lives beyond our walls:  grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, brothers, in-laws and out-laws.
8. Faith Family — blest be the tie that binds.
9. Education — not everywhere in the world has free education for all children, but it’s there for my children, and I am grateful.
10. Beauty in the world around me — may I always take notice of it.
11. Food and Shelter
12. Music — it brings joy to my life.
13. I’m thankful for the new guy who showed up to practice on Sunday morning with his banjo and his fiddle.  There was joy on the faces of the rest of the group when he started playing along with us.
For him, we’re just a fun side gig, a way to enjoy church. He’s already in a real band. I’m headed over to the local concert hall (also known as “The Barn”… have I mentioned I live in the exurbs?) on Saturday evening to hear his band play. I suspect there will be a Musical Monday post about them soon.  🙂

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

13 Thursday snippets

I’m working in the nursery this week for our church’s Vacation Bible School. Lucky me, I get to spend time with these 2 sweet baby girls!

I’m guessing 10-15 years until I am a grandmother. I’m looking forward to it! 😀

racous symphony
early morning cicada
please go back to sleep

We’ve been spending money like crazy lately and it’s all been for MusicMan to go to college.  SuperDad purchased the laptop that will accompany MM; I purchased the plane ticket and other incidentals (XL bedding, etc.).  I’m avoiding any sight of  the bank account status.

I might need to purchase a plane ticket for myself. My dad fell and broke his leg last week; he is currently hospitalized in a rehab facility while he takes pain meds and they evaluate if his leg can be placed in any sort of a cast.

My mother has been hospitalized this week, too, but her trip was planned: she had a knee replacement on Tuesday.

The doctor told me a few years ago that I’ll probably be looking at a new knee myself in about 20 years. That is a lot more expensive than a plane ticket. Darn arthritis.

Summer here = heat and humidity. SuperDad is TDY in an equally hot and humid location; therefore, I am not envious at all!

However, SnakeMaster is going to the beach for an entire week. His “other family” is taking him again this year; they even get to have him on his birthday! I’m glad he has this opportunity… even if I am a bit green over it.

I am hopeful that the the 6 of us can take one last family vacation before MusicMan heads off to college, EB becomes immersed in the Cross-Country season, and H-J gives up all his free time to Marching Band. SnakeMaster & I have been trying to talk everyone into going to Chincoteague to see the wild ponies.

Of course, I wish I could be taking MM to school. I had originally planned thought about a road trip in conjunction with taking him to college, but then reality reared its ugly head.  Five days of driving in each direction simply isn’t feasible.

I was also toying with the idea of going to Wisconsin again to visit family there. My SIL told me that their schools start earlier than ours, and since she is a teacher and all 3 of her kids are in school, I had to give up on that idea, too.

*sigh*

Thankful Thursday

Cherry pie for Thanksgiving

1. I’m thankful that I’m able to be a SAHM. I honestly don’t know how other moms manage to juggle work and parenting, kids activities and housework. I was fighting some strange virus last week and I was very grateful that I could take to my bed for extra hours in the middle of the day on Tuesday and Wednesday.  (Four-hour nap, anyone?)

2. I’m thankful that I finally had some energy back on Thanksgiving! My family was thankful for a good meal and 3 pies (2 pumpkin, plus the cherry above). By the time I spent 5 hours preparing food, I didn’t have an appetite, but that’s okay — the leftovers were tasty on Friday!

Thanksgiving Dinner (hurry up and take the photo! We're hungry!)

3.  I’m thankful for wonderful friends who not only share their love of the outdoors with SnakeMaster but then invite us back to cut greens for Advent wreaths.

(The man turned 90 back in June, and yes that is him cutting greens for us from his yew trees!)

4.  I’m thankful that another job has been checked off my to-do list! On Sunday afternoon, we hosted the tweens group at church for an Advent wreath-making workshop. Now my head can stop spinning with the details and just enjoy the Advent wreath that SnakeMaster made.

November 29th was the first Sunday of Advent

5. I’m thankful for my new craft/scrapbooking work area.   People, this is in what was originally designed to be a formal living room. Did I score or what?!?!

6. I’m thankful that my husband & I still like each other after the 2 weeks of stress over getting rooms rearranged.  (We didn’t like each other very much during the process, so I’m especially thankful that we got over those bad feelings.)

7. I’m thankful for strong sons.  I didn’t have to carry a single  piece of furniture upstairs or downstairs during that whole process!

8. I’m thankful that my husband actually agreed to make this grand switcharoo! He has taken a big gamble, hoping that I will indeed keep this space neat and tidy.  (I don’t have a very good track record…)

9.  I’m thankful that my Bible study class is meeting today.  PWOC has been my military wife support group for the past 18-1/2 years.

10.  I am thankful that my husband put up some outside lights on Sunday afternoon. They really brighten my outlook when I come home at night!

11.  I am thankful that H-J is not asking for a birthday party this year.  While I sometimes feel at a loss over my introverted offspring and their lack of close relationships outside our own family unit, this is one of those times that I want to shout “Hurray!” over not having to plan a party.  (He does get to plan the family outing and dinner, and I will cook whatever he wishes.)

12.  I am thankful that my oldest son finally completed a college application! More to do, of course, plus financial aid headaches, but at least this first one is DONE.

13.  I am thankful that despite a stressful month, I still managed to lose a couple of pounds in November.  I have so much further to go, but every little baby-step counts.

So what are you thankful for?

T13

This is a meme that I stole from Melli, who got it by participating in “Random Dozen.”  (Melli posted hers here.)   I’m adding one more (Thankful Thursday idea is from Mary Alice, a friend I am very thankful for!) and turning mine into a  “Thursday 13” ala Janet! If you can follow all of that, then you are ready to read my THURSDAY 13:

1. Please share one middle school memory. It can be good, bad, ugly, funny. Pictures or words, I don’t care, just share. Where I grew up, my first name (and last name, for that matter) was uncommon and I had never met another person with the same name. Middle School was where kids from different elementary schools met for the first time, and it turned out there was another girl with the same first name.    Our last names were also very similar. Everyone seemed to think this was wonderful and said, “You’ve GOT to meet this other girl! She has the same name as you do.”  For some reason, I was not excited to meet her –probably due to low self-esteem, I thought she would be so much better than me and wouldn’t like me, and then everyone would hate me…. ah, middle school angst.  Lovely stuff, eh?  ANYHOO… we finally met and found that we had things in common (we were the only girls who showed up in 6th grade gym class wearing undershirts instead of training bras… Moms, do NOT do this to your daughters!).  We have been close friends ever since and she is one of the participants in the annual Girl’s Weekend.

2. What’s your favorite Beatles song?
Today I am singing the happy birthday song because I am baking cupcakes (no, it is not anyone’s birthday, although SnakeMaster is celebrating his summer birthday at school today… hence the cupcakes) but there are so many good ones that I can’t choose a favorite.  “Good Day Sunshine” is always a happy one.

3. If I asked you to describe your most comfortable outfit, what would it be?  😛  Pajamas, LOL

4. Would you rather host a party or be a guest?
I’m going to admit it: I would rather be a guest and not have to do all the work! A party is a lot of work.   But I DO like hosting get-togethers and spending time talking and laughing with people.  I even enjoy planning the food & drink, but once it has begun, I don’t like being bothered with details — I want to focus on the FUN!

5. Do you think we will move completely from traditional books to digital ones, and if we do, are you OK with that?
While I don’t believe we will ever totally move from traditional books, I would be VERY sad and unhappy if that did happen… so no, I’m NOT okay with that! There is just something special that I love about an actual book — the feel of it in my hands, the rustling of pages, even the smell.  You can’t get that from a Kindle or a computer monitor.  And really, I can’t read long articles on a computer monitor.  My eyes start to bug out and my vision goes fuzzy.  I can’t concentrate anymore.  Also, it is hard to snuggle with a child and read digital stories (although I do share some lovely blogs that way).

6. Do you learn best by reading, listening or experiencing?
I often need to do all 3 of the above before I can truly learn something new.  I think it has something to do with my personal comfort level regarding confidence in my newly-learned skill.

7. If you are (or when you were) single, what is the kiss of death for you concerning the opposite sex? (That is, what is one trait or behavior or habit or anything at all that immediately turns you off from considering that person a potential match for you?) 
Hating children (or even disliking babies and kids) would definitely be the end of any attraction for me, since I love kids and have often worked with kids.  My dream was to be a SAHM, and I am living my dream.  :D

8. Snacks. Salty or sweet?
Salt is a rare craving, so I am usually all about the sweets (to my great detriment).  However, what I really want is a mozzarella cheese stick!

9. Look around you in a four foot radius. What object is around you that you didn’t realize was there or forgot was there? How long has it been there?
There are so many things within TWO feet of me that I don’t know where to begin!  The computer desk is SO cluttered, and it is entirely my fault (and mostly my clutter).  I did just notice that I still have the summer camp schedule for the local parks & recreation department over in the corner… clearly, that needs to go out to the recycling NOW!

10. What is your favorite Tom Cruise movie?
Hands down, my favorite Tom Cruise movie was Top Gun.  It might have something to do with the soundtrack…

11. You buy a bottle of shampoo and discover that you don’t like what it does to your hair at all. What do you do with that full bottle?
I could probably put it in the boys’ shower and it would get used, but if it was truly useless for hair, I would use it to scrub soap scum off the shower walls.  (That’s a trick I learned from the FlyLady)

12. Your favorite Fall comfort food? (Last week it was beverage.)
Fall is the time when I think about pumpkin pie and taco soup.  I’ll probably be serving that for Halloween, since the pie can be made in advance and the soup can simmer on the stove and eaten at each person’s convenience.  (It will be a busy day with a band competition, a parade, trick-or-treating, and probably a cross-country meet or at least a good run.)

13.  What is one thing you are thankful for today?
I am thankful for a dependable car!  I know that this is something I should not take for granted, so today I am thinking about it and being thankful.