The Fridays just keep coming faster and faster. I’m thankful Susanne at Living to Tell the Story encourages us to pause for a few minutes every week and focus on the good things that have happened. This practice reminds us that good things have happened, that we can be thankful for them, and helps them last a bit longer before we pass to the next week.
1. Dinner and game night. Last week, Mittu and Jason brought over dinner and Settlers of Cataan. They had taught Timothy to play while they were snowed in a couple of weeks ago. We had not played it often as a family the last few years because it’s a long game, and we didn’t want to leave Timothy out while the rest of us were playing. So it’s nice he can participate now.
2. Gas discount. This happened last week, but I forgot to mention it. Getting gas was among my errands one day. We shop at two different grocery stores, both of which have gas stations and gas reward points. I usually get gas at one, but this time decided to stop at the other. I didn’t know that I had enough points for $1.20 off per gallon. Plus they expired the next day! The other station only allows $1 off at a time, no matter how many reward points you have. But this one allowed for the whole $1.20. This amounted to about $18 savings for almost a full tank of gas.
3. Jesse’s house. I mentioned that my youngest, Jesse, has been house-hunting. He put an offer on one, and things have been falling into place. The inspection showed a few problems, but nothing major. The seller was willing to take care of the one thing we most wanted her to. Then the appraisal came in just a bit below the asking price, but the seller was willing to drop the price to the appraisal rate. So it looks like everything is a go!
4. Nice weather. We’ve been in the 50s most days, even the 60s some days. I know winter hasn’t had its last hurrah yet, but I am enjoying the moderate temperatures while we have them.
5. New routines. I don’t like a rigid schedule: it feels too pressured. But I operate best with some kind of routine. Since Jim retired at the end of last year, and with all the sickness of January, we’ve not known what to expect every day. But now we seem to be settling into something of a flexible pattern.
How was your week?
Stray Thoughts 
Great news about Jesse becoming a home owner! It looks like everything is falling into place!
I’m glad you were able to take advantage of the gas discount. I shop at a couple different grocery stores that offer rewards cards for gas. They aren’t the ones I prefer to shop at though so I haven’t taken advantage of it very much.
I’m a creature of routine as well. If I get out of my routine, it seems to change the whole day. Learning to shake down together with a retired husband is probably a challenge. It’ll work out.
That’s great news about your son Jesse and his house! Congrats!!
Oh we LOVE Settlers of Cataan and don’t get to play it much now that the girls are in their own apartments. OOH…I need to organize a game night soon!! Glad your grandson is old enough now to play it. it IS a long game but it’s a lot of fun. There’s another game that is similar…..i can’t remember the name of it but i think it’s French….something about a castle? i’ll have to do down in the basement and find it. Wonder if you’ve all discovered that one yet.
Yes I don’t like rigid schedules either and prefer spontaneity but i do need routine and it’s taken me a couple of months to get into my new normal (being retired). I love it though!!
Have a wonderful weekend Barbara!
Have a wonderful and blessed weekend! 🙂
We have played Settlers of Catan before with our family it is definitely a fun game. We haven’t played it in a while. So glad that Jesse is able to buy a house. Sounds like the home seller is working with him. It’s nice to have a flexible routine, but also to have a plan for each day. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. See you again soon!
That’s so thoughtful of you to hold out on your game until Timothy could join. Hope he had a good time!
What great timing on using those points. Grocery stores with gas reward points would be great here, where the last tank I bought was at $4.79/gal.
Ooh, hoping all goes through for Jesse to own his first home. How exciting. Perhaps the nice weather will be around when he moves and you all jump in with house projects.
I know just what you mean about routines after retirement. The flurry of projects and emergencies does make it challenging to find a good schedule, but it sounds like you all are getting there.
I’m so happy to hear the good news on the house for Jesse! God is good!
The reward points for your gasoline purchase was a fantastic savings for you! Gas prices around here have gone back up and where we shop, the reward points are not as good as yours.
I enjoyed your comment about routines since Jim retired. It brought back memories of when Carroll first retired. :-)
Was it a Kroger or Kroger affiliate with the gas points? We use those too for gas discounts and I’ve often wished you could go over $1. Very cool that one place allowed it! I have loved the spring-like weather too. The good news here is that, although it won’t be that nice, the next 10 days still look decent temp-wise 🙂 Happy for Jesse with the new house!
Congratulations to Jesse!
I hadn’t heard of the game you mentioned. We play board games and card games with our grandchildren. It’s nice that they are a little older now, and we’ve moved past Candyland!
Those gas sales sure make my day as well.
It took us a while to settle into a routine after we both retired. I look forward to our morning coffee and we usually break in the afternoon for coffee or tea. It’s nice.
Congratulations to Jesse on having an offer accepted on the house! That’s a great milestone. Hope it all goes through smoothly.
Retirement takes some adjustments, it’s true. It is important to remember what you are retiring TO and not just what you retired FROM. It seems you and Jim are doing a good job with that.
I hope our ‘second winter’ is a bit more mild in temperature. Spring is still more than a month away, but we can push through to warmer times.
Have a good week. Willow
That sounds very positive news for Jesse and the house. I hope things go smoothly. Yes retirement takes some adjusting to especially when illness throws your schedule out. Glad you’re settling into a routine – like you I find with no routine I can waste so much time! Hope you’ve had a good weekend.