Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts this opportunity to look back at the previous week and appreciate the good things in it. Sometimes we overflow with things to give thanks for; other times we have to dig for them. But this is a good exercise either way.
1. A long weekend. My husband took Friday off before Labor Day to have a four-day weekend. We had the kids over for grilled burgers Monday, and Mittu made a gorgeous cheesecake. Jason and Mittu brought over gluten-free cheese pizzas and assorted toppings Friday night and then had us to their house for Sunday lunch after church.
2. A new light fixture above the sink. The one we had was broken and held together with tape. Jim used one of his days off to replace it. I always feel bad when a home project turns into a bigger deal for him than we thought it would be. He had to make four trips to Home Depot. The first light he bought didn’t work with our configuration. The second turned out to be an off color. I don’t remember what the other two trips involved. But he finally got it in. Not only is it more pleasant to look at, but it’s much brighter.
3. A super clean tub and sink. My cleansers and scrubbers weren’t taking complete care of the stains in the sink and tub. Jim has a drill with a brush attachment and scoured both fixtures til they were gleaming.
4. A breakfast biscuit. Somehow in talking with the kids I mentioned that when I used to take them to school, I’d “reward” myself by getting a breakfast biscuit once a week or so. But because I’m not usually out early in the mornings any more, I hadn’t had one in a long while. The next morning, Jim had to go out for something and surprised me by bringing back Chick-Fil-A biscuit.
5. A good critique session. I mentioned recently joining a writing critique group. Everyone in the group has a chance to “present” several pages of their work for others to edit and offer suggestions. It does feel very vulnerable, but it is so valuable. Even with running our pages through a spelling and grammar checker, mistakes are missed. And then there are larger issues, like when a phrase or paragraph is confusing or something hits in an unintended way. This past week was my turn to present, and the comments were so kind (as I knew they would be, even though I felt nervous beforehand). I had a chance to ask for feedback afterwards and got lots of good ideas.
Bonus: We watched Timothy last night while his parents went on a date. They brought me this wonderful cookie in the cutest little box:
Just before sitting down to start this post, I heard of the passing of Queen Elizabeth. She was such a stabilizing factor over the course of such a long reign. My heart goes out to her family and British friends.
Stray Thoughts 
Mittu’s cheesecake looks amazing! It’s so nice to get together with family, especially when they make such wonderful desserts! We had cookies from Crumbl in Florida. First one I’d ever had. Huge and so good! I had a chocolate “something-or-other”.
I’m so glad that your critique went well. What an awesome opportunity to be in that group! I too love breakfast biscuits. My go-to is McDonald’s sausage, egg and cheese, muffin. Have a great weekend!
All your things are good, but I am drawn to the sugar today 🙂 That cheesecake!!!! YUM!!!! And I have heard good things about Crumbl cookies but I don’t think there’s a place to buy them around here. What did you think?
The cookie was excellent! Tasted like it was just made. It was so big, I had to divide it up over two days.
I don’t eat cheesecake as i’m intolerant of cream cheese (as is my oldest we discovered when she was 5!). But that sure looks YUMMY. I’d gobble that cookie in two bites…looks so good!
How wonderful to get together with the family over the long weekend and have special meals
Your husband is a trooper. On his day off, doing projects. That’s a true blessing.
My husband had a science fiction short story published several years ago in a magazine and he attended a critique group for several months beforehand. He found the other writers to be very kind and helpful. Glad you did too!
Happy Weekend!
That cheesecake looks delicious, as does the Crumbl Cookie! This post is making me hungry! So glad you found a helpful writing group. Your Labor Day sounds like it was nice. Have a good weekend. See you again soon!
Sounds like the perfect week 😃
As soon as I saw the cheesecake photo, I thought, “Mittu has outdone herself!” Oh, my gosh, what I would give for a taste of that cheesecake 🙂 We’re so fortunate to have husbands who take care of household fixes, aren’t we? Especially since they often involve multiple trips to the Depot (as we call it around here). My husband is over there so often that some of the crew still thinks he works there, as he did for a year or two after he retired. I found a writing group last month and will go again this month. I think it’s going to be a good fit. I really need the accountability! Those Crumbl cookies are divine!
I treated myself with a chicken biscuit from Hardee’s a few Sunday mornings ago. It was yummy. 🙂
It was a pleasure reading your work and getting to talk about it with the others. It was easy for all of us to agree that you’re doing great with what you have already!
All those yummy treats!
Hurray for your hubby doing all those repair chores. I believe The Prof will be making a run to the hardware store this morning.
I admire you for your willingness to be part of a writing critique group. Having been a writing/composition teacher, I know the whole process is painstaking and we all become very attached to our words and don’t want anyone changing them.
My heart too hurts for Britain.
Cheesecake is one of my all time favorite desserts and that looks fantastic. Your long weekend sounds great! Good for Jim being so patient and persistent with that light. Seems things around our house because it’s older always end up being a bigger job than first imagined. We don’t have a Chick Fil A but hearing you all talk about it I sure wish we did!
Nice that your husband was able to get a few tasks done and some time to do it (albeit four visits to HD is kind of a bummer). While it was work on a long weekend, sounds like the results brought everyone great satisfaction.
Glad you had a useful and encouraging critique session!
We’ve got a Crumbl shop nearby often with long long lines. I hear they are tasty (but super sweet) cookies.