I was just thinking of something I needed to add to this week’s Friday’s Fave Five, when I realized Friday was tomorrow (or today, by the time you read this)! So I’d better get started. I join with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story each week to recount recent blessings.

1. A “Girl Talk” session. Our church had one of these for women last year, but I was unable to attend. This time, Mittu and I both went. The topic was “Unmet Needs,” with a session in the morning and afternoon and lunch in-between. One lady spoke most of the time, but a few other ladies had been asked to share their stories, plus there were a couple of group activities as well. One thing that stood out to me, that I would not have thought to include in a talk like this, was that God created us to be needy. He made us with certain needs, so we don’t need to feel ashamed that we have them or feel like we’re “bugging” Him by presenting our needs to Him. He wants us to come to Him and depend on Him.

The lunch was catered by McAlister’s Deli and was so good. They had salads as well as sandwiches. And they had some wonderful cookies that I don’t remember seeing in their restaurant before.

2. Amazon gift cards. I had received these last Christmas, but I waited to add them to my account until I knew what I wanted to do with them. Amazon has a frustrating way of automatically paying for any purchases from gift cards unless we manually uncheck that box and check the one for our credit card or reward points. I’ve had gift cards disappear that way before we realized what was happening. When I added my gifts cards in and made my purchases, it felt like Christmas all over again.

3. A “Super Celebration.” Our church has Awanas for younger kids and something called Eagle Club for the older elementary kids, which Timothy has participated in this year. They had a big end-of-year celebration this week and invited family members. They received rewards and recited verses and songs they learned. Then they had carnival-like games set up in the gym.

4. Safety. We had severe thunderstorm warnings, flood warnings, and tornado watches this week. Thankfully all was well here, and the electricity didn’t even blink.

Also, on the way home from the “Super Celebration,” a semi truck started to pull into our highway lane—while we were still in it. After a lot of horn-honking, he got back into his own lane. It was scary for a minute there.

5. Ceiling fans. It’s been so humid lately, the ceiling fans have helped dry out the air. Plus they help me not turn the AC down so low that my husband gets frozen out. 🙂

That wraps up another week here. How was yours?

These Fridays keep coming around more and more frequently. It’s good to pause occasionally and recount the good parts of the week before they disappear from memory. I join Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to do just that on Fridays.

1. Dresses hemmed. I don’t mind maxi dresses in the winter, but in warm weather, I need the air circulating around my legs. I finally got to hemming up a couple of long dresses and have worn both of them this week.

2. A new mirror. Some time ago, I received an almost-full-length mirror for my craft/sewing room. But company was coming before we could put it up, so I tucked it in the closet . . . where it has been ever since. I asked Jim if he could put it up for me since I was planning on hemming the above-mentioned dresses and needed to check the length in a mirror. He was kind enough to do so. I always feel bad when something I’ve asked him to do turns out to be more complicated than I thought it would be. In this case, I wanted the mirror on the back of the room’s door–which was a hollow inside door with no studs. But he got it up there.

3. Puttering in the craft room. I came in while Jim was working on the mirror to answer a question about how high I wanted it. I stuck around in case he needed me to hand him something or get something for him. Plus, I couldn’t get out of the room without interrupting what he was doing. 🙂 So when he didn’t need me, I worked on decluttering my work table. It was an enjoyable time, and my table looks so much more spacious now.

I’ve had an idea for a long time of doing everything I need to do with the blog and computer on weekdays so I could use Saturday for family or church events, or, if nothing was happening on those fronts, I could get to some of the crafty things I want to do. I have photo albums I need to redo, photos in shoe boxes I need to do something with, craft projects I’d love to work on. I have a watercolor kit I’d love to dabble with. This Saturday afternoon in the craft room was the first opportunity to implement that desire for my craft time.

4. Wrap-up potluck. Our Bible study wrapped up its spring session with a potluck dinner and discussion of what we learned from Isaiah. It was a good way to remind ourselves of some of the key points we studied.

5. Family dinner and games. Mittu, Jason, and Timothy offered to come over and make dinner Sunday evening. Jesse was free to come, too, so we enjoyed time together.

That’s our week..How was yours?

It’s Friday once again—time to share the blessings of the week with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Time with Timothy. My son and daughter-in-law had a meeting that lasted all of Saturday morning, so they brought Timothy here. He and his granddad did some of the experiments from the National Geographic Completely Gross Chemistry Set Tim had gotten for his birthday. 🙂

Then they played games on their tablets, then made mini pizzas on gluten-free tortillas. Jason and Mittu came home just in time for lunch.

2. Lunch with Melanie. We usually get together every few weeks, but it had been two months since we last did. I had some Red Lobster gift cards, so we enjoyed good food and a nice long chat.

3. Bible Study. Our ladies’ Bible study ended its trek through Isaiah with a particularly good discussion. We have one more wrap-up meeting and potluck next week, then we’ll break for the summer.

4. Naps. Sunday afternoon naps are the best. 🙂 I’d actually rather not take them on other days, but sometimes that’s the difference between being functional or not the rest of the day.

5. Good books could be listed every week. I finished one recently that I am sure will be a favorite of the year, Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes (linked to my review).

That’s my week—how was yours?

I’m joining in once again with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to share the blessings of the week.

1. Timothy’s birthday! My grandson turned 10 this week! Double digits!

He wanted a banana split pie instead of cake, and Mittu made a gorgeous and tasty one. And he also wanted a Buc-cee’s themed party. He loves that place, which, if you don’t know, is basically a gas station that advertises the cleanest bathrooms ever, but also is something like a mini mall. I guess a lot of other people like it as a party theme, too, because there were party plates and decorations with Buc-cee the beaver all over them. 🙂

2. Play and dinner. The school associated with our church was putting on a play of Winnie the Pooh and invited the church folks to come for a free showing of their last dress rehearsal Tuesday afternoon.

3. Dinner out. After the play, we tried out a new Mexican food restaurant. We hadn’t actually eaten in a restaurant in a long time: we usually get takeout to bring home. It was really noisy, but otherwise enjoyable.

4. A rediscovered turntable. We have our medications in a corner cabinet in the kitchen. There’s a lot more storage on either side of the cabinet door, but it’s hard to get to. So we have Lazy Susan turntables on one shelf for our prescription medications. The shelf below has nonprescription medicines and supplements, and we were getting so many that I was frustrated having to move containers around to find what I needed. Then I remembered I had tucked away in the pantry a turntable I had bought for another cabinet but which was too big to fit there. Thankfully, I hadn’t given it away yet, and it worked perfectly for the stray medications.

5. Tooth removal recovery. Last Friday I had just had a problem tooth removed. I was envisioning chipmunk cheeks, living on broth and applesauce, and constant pain. It did hurt, and I was on soft foods and Tylenol for a few days. But it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. It’s still a little tender, but thankfully, there have been no complications.

And that wraps up another week! I hope yours has been enjoyable, too.

It’s been a rainy, overcast, dreary week. That kind of weather can get me down a bit when it lasts so long. That’s one reason it’s important to deliberately look for the blessings in the week. They’re there, but they can be overshadowed by gloom if we let them. I join up with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to look for five good things from the week just past.

1. Dinner at Jesse‘s, my youngest son. He made chili, Mittu made gluten-free cornbread, and I made gluten-free blondies. We got to see the progress he had made in setting up his new house. And Jim and Jason helped him set up his wall-mounted TV. Then we all played Jackbox games on it.

2. The eclipse. Jim, Jason, and Timothy drove six or so hours to Sidney, OH, to view the eclipse. Jim’s main motivation was that Timothy be able to see it. We had seen the one in 2017, but Timothy was only three then and didn’t remember much. They had safe travels, clear skies, and good weather. Jim brought a couple of his telescopes so they could see the progression on screen.

He got some neat pictures with the telescope as well. Here’s just one:

They went to a hotel that night, with Jim using the last of the hotel reward points he had accumulated from work. They enjoyed the pool, then drove back the next day.

Back at home here in TN, this was all I got of the eclipse, in a short break in the clouds. 🙂 So I was glad the guys got a fuller experience.

3. Jeremy in Montreal. My oldest son in RI took a few days off and drove to Montreal to see the eclipse. He had not ever really taken a vacation beyond coming to see us or going camping with friends, so he thought this would be a good time to travel and explore. He went on a walking tour the first day, which I thought was a great way to start (and it was only $5). Among other things, he went to the “Aura Experience,” a kind of light and music show, at the Notre Dame Basilica and walked up 339 steps to the Mount Royal Park, which overlooks the city. He regaled us with photos and text comments about the places he visited. It was fun to experience it with him in that way.

4. Tax refund. Jim did our taxes this week, and for the first time in years, we’re getting a refund.

5. Tooth extractions are no fun, but getting it over with is helpful. This particular tooth has been a problem for a long time and had about everything done to it that can be done. It had a root canal, crown, and bridge, then got a cavity underneath all that somehow. There was some question about whether it would support another root canal or whether it should be extracted. In the meantime, it got infected again. So we made the decision to remove it. That was done Thursday afternoon, and they said it went as well as it could have. I’m still numb at the moment, a couple of hours after the procedure, but taking it easy for a couple of days.

6. Bonus: the dogwoods around town have been blooming, but our backyard ones are just getting started.

I wrote this on Thursday afternoon. Now, Friday morning, the sun is out! And should be all day!

Have a great weekend!

Every week seems to have up and down weather lately, but we hit extremes of 80s one day and 30s the next this week. I’m glad we can adjust heating and air conditioning inside so easily, but I am really ready for cold weather to be done til next fall. We’ll get there eventually.

Meanwhile, it helps to stop and count one’s blessings. That doesn’t usually happen unless we deliberately look for them, so I make it a point to do so on Fridays with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Easter. I enjoyed meditating on Christ’s death and resurrection the past few weeks by rereading Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter complied by Nancy Guthrie. We had a good church service, great dinner with the family, and a fun Easter egg hunt.

2. Camping. Jim, Jason, Mittu, and Timothy camped out a few days at a state park about half an hour from here. Jesse and I drove up to join them for lunch and dinner Friday. Mittu had made these neat foil packets with fish and vegetables, and Jim grilled his yummy burgers.

3. Time alone. If you’ve read here for long, you know I love my family. But I do love time alone sometimes as well. Camping is not my favorite thing for a number of reasons, some of them due to physical issues. Going for a few hours one afternoon gave me some of the camping experience while getting to sleep in my own bed at night. 🙂 While everyone was away, I got Mexican food take-out one night, watched a movie, and got a good chunk of writing done.

4. April Fool’s Day is not something we’ve ever done much with as a family. But I was amused to hear that Timothy pulled his first April Fool’s Day prank. Jason opened the egg carton one morning to find that Timothy had replaced the eggs with confetti eggs he had gotten for Easter. Jason said Timothy was pretty proud of himself. 🙂

I also smiled, after some initial confusion, when the Connections word game showed pictures that day instead of words.

5. Getting an appointment over with. I have mild sleep apnea. The only reason I sought treatment for it was that one doctor told me sleep apnea could cause atrial fibrillation (which I have, even after having an ablation), and any number of ablations wouldn’t help unless the sleep apnea was treated. Using the CPAP machine requires a once-a-year in-person visit to the sleep center. That visit really could be phoned in. In fact, one year they had a telehealth visit on the phone because they were moving to a new office the day of my appointment. I asked if we couldn’t do that all the time–it only took about ten minutes whereas the in-person appointment takes about an hour by the time I drive there and back. They said no, insurance requires that it be in-person unless they have extenuating circumstances like they did that year. This year it had to be rescheduled a couple of times. So it was good to be done with it for another year. Also, as appointments go, it wasn’t bad: the people were very pleasant, their new building was much more spacious than the cramped, maze-like building they used to have. Their bathrooms were right outside the waiting area instead of being back in the maze somewhere. My only problem with it was the hour it took. But since I have to do it, I need to have a better attitude about it.

I hope you’ve had a good week as well.

Here we are at another Friday and the end of another month. Time just keeps marching on, doesn’t it? That’s why it’s good to pause occasionally and reflect on the blessings of the week before they pass out of memory. I’m joining with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story. You have a standing invitation to join in!

1. Ladies’ Brunch at church. This is the first ladies’ function I’ve been able to attend at this church. I love brunch foods. They played a variation of speed friending. I enjoyed getting to know the ladies at my table as well as talking with people I hadn’t crossed paths with yet during the game. Through the game, I found a number of other readers, as well as some who liked the classics!

2. A good visit with a new doctor. I was sad that my former gastroenterologist retired last year. He had done some testing and ruled a few things out, but hadn’t really figured out yet what my issues were. I wasn’t looking forward to starting over with someone new. But I was impressed that the new (to me) doctor actually read my file before coming in to see me. It seems like, usually, no matter what’s on file or what you’ve written in the multitude of forms you have to fill out, the doctor still wants you to start from the beginning. But we were able to jump right in. She recommended a couple of things to try that were non-prescription (which I was thankful for), and I am supposed to check back with her in six months.

3. My husband has done most of the grocery shopping since he retired in December. I was feeling guilty about that, but he assured me he doesn’t mind. Then this week he took some things to the post office for me and ran some other errands.

4. Family text threads. We have a group text for our immediate family where we share everything from family news to funny memes to pictures of weird things we see out and about. Then my siblings and I have a group thread on Messenger.

5. Sunshine. We’d had cold, overcast, rainy days, so it felt good to see the sun again.

I wish you all a blessed Easter remembering God’s great love in giving His Son to die for our sins so we could be forgiven and have a relationship with Him.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:21)

I often remark how the week has flown by, but this one seemed faster than most. I often keep a running list of what to include in each week’s Friday’s Fave Fives. Somehow I didn’t this week, and I am scrambling to remember what actually happened. 🙂 That’s one of many things this exercise is good for: encouraging us to stop, consider, remember, and be thankful. I’m grateful for our hostess, Susanne, at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Strands, another once-a-day game from the NY Times in the same family as Wordle and Connections. It’s sort of like Boggle or Ruzzle in that you find words in a grid of several letters. But each letter is only used once, and all the words have a common theme. Jesse, my youngest son, introduced me to it. I like these things not only because they’re fun, but they’re good brain exercise.

2. Taco or pita holders. My husband made these with his 3-D printer. I told him he should make more and sell them on Etsy.

The one on the right holds two, or it can be turned over to hold three.

3. Another quiet week. Some of the spring-break-canceled activities were back this week, but otherwise, there were no events or appointments til this weekend. I enjoy activities once I’m actually there, but I *love* quiet weeks. I’ve got some medical appointments over the next three weeks and had several earlier this year, so it was nice to have a couple of appointment-free weeks.

4. Our writing critique group. I may have mentioned this before. We meet every other week via Zoom and take turns offering our edits and critiques on one person’s work each session. Then we added a fifteen minute free-time extension for those who could stay just to talk about writing or publishing, ask questions, etc. I’m so inspired by the discussions, no matter whose work we’re discussing.

5. Prayer. Some in our church are going through rough times. It’s such a blessing not only to pray for them, but to hear the care and concern as people ask about them.

And that’s a wrap for this week! How was yours?

It’s Friday once again, time to share the blessings of the week with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. A clear week. Our church has a school which is out this week for spring break. So our usual Wednesday night activities were canceled this week, too–I guess because so many people travel this week. Plus our writing critique group meets every other week, and this was an off week. I enjoy all of those activities, but it’s also nice to have some extra time. And, for the first time in weeks, I haven’t had some type of appointment to get to. Lovely!

2. Free books. Our church’s school library was thinning out some books and left them on a table in the church lobby for browsers to pick up. I got three classics.

3. Pi Day. We had a pie potluck for Pi Day (3.14). I made hamburger pie and Mittu made a Chicago-style pizza for dinner. I made Chocolate Pretzel Pie and Mittu made banana cream pie for dessert. We had talked about going to Blaze Pizza that day, as they have their pizzas on sale for $3.14 then. But we figured they’d be swamped.

4. A clever and hard-working husband. I mentioned being the recipients of my youngest son’s fairly new washer and dryer last week when he bought a house with a stackable set. His dryer is electric, and our current one is gas. We talked about whether to sell his electric one and buy a gas one. I proposed the idea that it might help resale value to have an electric line for a dryer as well as a gas hook-up, so the laundry room could accommodate either one. I didn’t realize how involved that process would be. Jim had to run wire from the laundry room up to the attic and across to the breaker box, set aside a breaker especially for the dryer, install the outlet especially for the dryer, and change the plug on it to a four-pronged rather than a three-pronged one so it would be up to the current code standards. In one significant blessing, when Jim was at Home Depot, the worker there who asked if he needed help finding anything knew just what he needed, where it was, what the current code standards were, etc.

5. Getting rid of the old washer and dryer. I knew Jim wouldn’t want to just trash the old washer and dryer, since they still had some life in them. But we didn’t think it would be a good idea to donate them to the thrift store since there was no telling how long they’d last. So he listed them on the local sales page on Facebook with an honest description. We had a few offers right away. Someone bought them for $75 and came and picked them up. It was nice to have them taken away so quickly.

And that wraps up another week! It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through March already!

This week has been a mixture: sunshine and clouds, high points and low. I guess that’s life, isn’t it? We like to take time on Friday’s to count the blessings of the week. It’s amazing how many we find when we start to look. Susanne is out hostess at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Moving day for Jesse. Our youngest son moved into his new-to-him house last weekend, and we all pitched in to help. Jason and Timothy weren’t feeling well, but made it our for the afternoon, thankfully. Jason and Mittu thoughtfully brought cleaning supplies, paper products, and brownies. By the end of the day, we had the major furniture in place and the kitchen and bathroom unpacked. So we left him in pretty good shape.

2. New-to-me washer and dryer. Jim has worked on our washer and dryer many times over the years. He said the last time was the actual last time—the next time something went wrong with either of them, we’d replace them.

The previous owner of Jesse’s house left the washer and dryer there. It’s a stackable unit, fitting perfectly in the closet space provided for them. Jesse offered to trade his washer and dryer, but they didn’t need them. So he gave them to us! They’re only two or three years old. Jim hasn’t had a chance to change them out with our old ones, but I am looking forward to them.

3. Jim’s birthday. Always a joy to celebrate him.

I got those cute candles, along with plates and napkins with a camping theme, at Party City. I don’t have Mittu’s cake-decorating skills, but I borrowed one of her ideas to chop up Reese’s cups to make a path, and sprinkled green sugar to look like grass.

4. Something found. When I started decorating after we first moved in almost 14 years ago, I couldn’t find a particular favorite piece of wall art that I wanted to put up. I assumed it somehow got lost in the shuffle. Jim found it in a box in the garage last week. I’m not sure where to put it now, but I am happy to have it again. It’s small, about 5×6″. So I should be able to find a spot for it.

5. Everyone better. All of us except Jeremy have wrestled physical issues this week. Jason and Timothy have colds. Mittu had a fever a couple of days. Jesse had nausea and vomiting earlier in the week; Jim was nauseous yesterday. I’ve had a toothache, which led to antibiotics for a tooth infection and an appointment for a tooth extraction in a few weeks. Thankfully, everyone is doing better now, though Jason and Timothy still have a lingering cough.

Happy Friday!