Well, friends, it has been a rough week.

I mentioned last week that our hot water heater had died. We’re still without a hot water heater.

I mentioned having a couple of infected sores on one leg. Sunday morning, the area under the sores was red for a few inches. I kept an eye on it, planning to call my doctor in the morning. But by mid-afternoon, the redness had wrapped around my lower leg. So we went to the ER, where I was diagnosed with cellulitis, given an IV antibiotic, and sent home with a prescription antibiotic to take in addition to the one I was on.

We were in the ER five hours, mostly in the waiting room. They were so full, they’d call me back to take a blood sample or whatever and then send me back out to the waiting room. I noticed a lot of both patients and staff wearing masks. I asked one nurse if they were seeing an upsurge in Covid. She said yes, that and flu and RSV.

I don’t know why I didn’t think to ask for a mask or remember I had some at the bottom of my purse.

Monday morning, I started having a sore throat and runny nose.

Tuesday afternoon, I had a follow-up visit with my primary care doctor, where I was diagnosed with Covid.

The triple antibiotics are negatively affecting my digestive system, to put it lightly. (I’m taking probiotics. Yogurt actually makes it worse.)

Then Jim developed a bad cold, but thankfully tested negative for Covid.

So . . . not the best of weeks. And I’ve had my share of whiny moments. But I’m thankful for this regular exercise Susanne hosts at Living to Tell the Story, where we take time to look for five blessings in the week. Sometimes they are harder to find; sometimes it seems like the bad outweighs the good. But they are always there. And it helps to remember that good is happening and to be thankful for it.

1. My son and daughter-in-law brought over three meals for us.

2. Friends have texted or messaged me to see how I am doing and assured me of their prayers.

3. Medicine. One of our former pastors used to say God can work with medicine, without medicine, or in spite of medicine. 🙂 I’m praying He would do just that. I look at medicines as His tools. Even though I am appalled at having to take so much, I am thankful we have them.

4. Sunshine. Most of this week, the sky has looked almost as dark as the photo at the top. I don’t mind rainy days so much, as we need them. But when the dark clouds just hang around for days, I wish they’d go ahead and rain and get it over with. Thursday has been a mostly sunny day, and that makes such a difference in one’s mood and outlook.

5. Carb substitutes. We’re both trying to watch our carbs and sugar these days. We already used rice cauliflower in place of rice sometimes, and “zoodles” made of zucchini for spaghetti noodles (better fresh that frozen). Mittu made a dish over the holidays that used gnocchi made from cauliflower rather than potatoes. It was really good, so I asked if they could grab a bag of it the next time they went to Trader Joe’s. They got that as well as noodles made of kohlrabi.

We’d sure appreciate your prayers for healing.

Have a good weekend!

This week didn’t turn out to be quite as restful as I was anticipating after the last couple of lovely and busy weeks. Wednesday morning just before my shower, I discovered we had no hot water. The water heater kept setting off the breaker. Jim tried an easy fix, but it didn’t work. He ordered a new hot water heater, which won’t get here until next Thursday (the 11th). So by that time we’ll have been eight days without hot water.

But even among frustrations, there are blessings. Here are a few I’m sharing with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story. Please feel free to join in!

1. Provisions. Though it’s frustrating and inconvenient not to have hot water, we have options. We have a tiny shower in the RV. And Jim set up a camp shower he’d gotten some time ago in one bathroom. It’s not as warm as a normal shower, but it’s tolerable. We have disposable plates and utensils. I can warm up water to wash dishes the old-fashioned way. The laundry was caught up, but I use mostly cold water for that, anyway. I’m aware that many places in the world don’t have clean water, much less running water in the house or hot water. I try to remind myself of these things when I start feeling grumbly.

2. More family time. Jeremy left for RI Monday morning, so we had the whole weekend still for the family to do things together. He made a wonderful halel chicken and rice dish on Saturday. One year when he came to us by train, he found a food truck at one of his stopovers and had some, then went home to look up how to make it.

Jesse had us over Friday night for some amazing nachos.

After church Sunday, we all went out to one of our favorite restaurants.

3. Fun games. We often play Jackbox games via Apple TV. Timothy can play some of them, and what he doesn’t play, he watches while playing something else on his iPad. He also got Uno Attack this year, which includes a little machine that makes funny noises and spits out anywhere from 0 to a handful of cards.

Then Jeremy brought a game he had received as a white elephant gift: Poetry for Neanderthals. At first it sounded a little weird—you choose a card and have to describe it with one-syllable words so your team guesses it. If you mess up and say a two-syllable word or say the word on the card, someone from the other team gets to bop you with an inflatable “No” stick. It turned out to be so much fun and had us all laughing.

4. A handy husband. I’m so thankful Jim’s knows or can easily figure out how to fix many things.

5. Antibiotics. I have a couple of wounds on one leg that got infected. I finally got in to see the doctor yesterday, so I’m hoping the medicine kicks in soon.

That’s our week! How was yours?

Some Fridays, it takes a bit of thought to come up with five favorites for the week for Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story. But other weeks, like this one for us, it’s hard to narrow the favorites down to five. Here’s my best attempt:

1. Christmas, of course: the music, decorations, lights, food, cards and letters from friends and loved ones, time with family, and most of all, the reminder that God loved us enough to send Him to redeem us.

2. Family outings. Last Saturday, we visited Sweetwater Valley Farm, took a tour of the facility, saw the robotic cow milkers in progress, heard a lot of interesting facts about the science and psychology of managing a dairy farm, and ate great food at their cafe, made with cheeses produced there. Beforehand, Jim said, “I can’t believe we’re paying to see a dairy farm” since he grew up surrounded by them. But at the end, he thought it was a great place to visit. Our tour guide was quite amusing.

Then Wednesday we went to James White’s Fort, which was where Knoxville got its start. One neat feature of their tour is QR codes on the doorposts of each building that you can scan and hear more about the building, the things inside it, and the activities that would have taken place in it.

We got done there pretty early in the afternoon, so went over to the Knoxville Museum of Art. I love that it’s free and not terribly large. If it had cost a lot to get in, you’d feel you had to wait til you had several hours. This way, we can wander in for a bit when we’re downtown.

After that, we ate at Smash City, which was amazing.

3. A sweet gesture. While at the cheese shop of the dairy farm, I saw someone at the checkout of the gift shop with a cute pink mug. I asked where she found it in the store, but she said she only saw the one. I looked around there as well as the shop connected with the cafe, and saw blue cups, but no pink ones. I lamented that to the family. A little while later, Jim wandered off to check at both shops, then saw one on a display behind the counter. He asked if he could buy that one, and they said yes.

4. A new computer! I had become increasingly frustrated with my computer running slow and having trouble doing what it was supposed to. One problem was that I was running on Windows 7 in a Windows 11 world. 🙂 Another was old drivers. I had determined that while Jeremy was here, I wanted Jim to confer with him about what would be best to do. But on Christmas morning, I was surprised to find that they had gotten a new one! Jim said he was afraid it would be viewed like a vacuum cleaner or iron–necessary but not a very exciting gift. I assured him I was excited!

Then Jeremy got everything set up for me, transferred all my files over (which took a couple of days because it ran so slowly), and deleted a bunch of extraneous stuff.

I am extremely well-pleased! I feel like I’ve gone from a donkey race to the Indy 500.

5 Clever Clasps. I have trouble fastening a few of my necklaces, even with turning them around and looking in the mirror. I knew I had some of these magnetic clasps, but couldn’t find them (after having moved them from the “wrong” place, where I used to see them all the time, to a location I couldn’t remember). I found them this week while looking for something else. They work so well!

I hope you have a great weekend and Happy 2024!

Ready or not, Christmas is coming! I hope your preparations are going well and you have some quiet time to just enjoy the season and reflect on its meaning.

This has been a full week, and I’m grateful Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts this weekly pause to recount blessings that otherwise will be all too soon forgotten, perhaps even unnoticed. Here are a few of mine:

1. Jeremy is home! My oldest son flew in this week and we’re looking forward to family time all together.

1. Our 44th anniversary. Our anniversary fell on Jeremy’s first evening home, so we celebrated a couple of nights early by going out to a nice restaurant. Then on the day, Jim surprised me with flowers and we exchanged cards. I’m thankful for our years together and would not have wanted to go on the journey with anyone else.

3. Catching up. Last week I was behind schedule. I prayed over making the family Christmas cards, and it’s amazing how well and quickly they all came together. God gave strength and efficiency to get done the main things that needed doing.

4. Sunday school lesson. One of our ladies’ Sunday School teachers was out of town and the other was sick. The latter called me to ask if I might be willing to share a devotional that Sunday, and another lady would lead in an extended prayer time for concerns over Christmas break (traveling, tense family situations, etc.). I had not done anything like that in at least thirteen years. I asked if I could let her know the following day in order to pray and let nerves settle down. That night, I saw this among my Twitter/X feed:

I don’t know if I would say it was a sign, but it helped. 🙂 I said yes and looked at some of my past Christmas posts: due to short notice and the extreme busyness of the week, I felt I’d have to use something I had already studied out. Everything came together, none of my physical issues caused problems, and there were some good comments during the discussion. I don’t think I’d want to make a habit of this. 🙂 But I was abundantly grateful for God’s help.

5. Family Christmas night at church. One of this church’s traditions is a “Family Christmas Night” in December. Anyone can sing, recite a poem, do some kind of skit or drama, etc., alone or with others. Some of the selections were serious, some funny. Timothy’s “Eagle Club” recited verses they’ve been learning–his first time doing anything onstage, and he did great. Then they had finger food refreshments afterward. It was a fun evening. Jim already has some ideas for next year. 🙂

Bonus: Turkey Bone Soup is something we usually have the week after Thanksgiving. There never seemed to be a good time, so we put the bones and turkey leftovers in the freezer. We ended up having it last night. One of our favorite things.

Another bonus: staying well. Colds, strep, RSV, and Covid are going around, and I was praying we’d stay well til Jeremy got here and through Christmas. Now I am praying the same for the rest of his visit.

I wish all of you who celebrate the day a very special and happy Christmas!

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”(Galatians 4:4-5).

It’s been another busy week, but I imagine that will be the case until Christmas. Meanwhile, I like to pause amid the bustle with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to appreciate the blessings of the week.

1. Winning! I won an Amazon card from Paula’s giveaway and a code to see a movie from Susan. Fun!

2. Family outing at Jesse’s. My youngest son’s TV stopped working. It was wall-mounted, so he needed help getting it down and the new one back up. Jason and Timothy came over and brought pizza from Costco (Mittu was sick, unfortunately). Jim and I came and bought power tools. 🙂 Replacing the old TV went pretty seamlessly. Then we tried out some of the newest Jackbox games on it.

3. A family outing to see a play. Jason, Mittu, Timothy and I went to see an afternoon production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was put on by a local home school group and performed at a local community college. Then we went out to a taco-and-nacho place.

The room did fill up closer to play time.

Timothy took a selfie. 🙂

4. Small group meeting. This was only our second time to go. We enjoyed getting to know people better and having an extended time of prayer.

5. Harvest loaf cake used to be a yearly tradition, but I don’t think I made any the last year or two. I kind of miss holiday baking, but with both of us needing to keep an eye on our blood sugar levels, it’s best not to keep temptation around. But I made some for the small group meeting. The recipe made six mini-loaves, so I took three there, put two in the freezer for when Jeremy comes, and we had some to munch on.

I’m a little behind from where I wanted to be at this point in Christmas preparations. But everything will get done one way or another. 🙂 I hope you’re having a good week as well!

These Fridays seem to come around faster and faster. I haven’t gotten everything done I wanted to this week–but I’ve still got today and tomorrow! And it’s been a good week overall. It’s nice to pause for a moment with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to reflect on and share the blessings of the week.

1. Another Chick-Fil-A biscuit. One morning I woke up to find Jim had gone to the gym. There’s a Chick-Fil-A right across from the gym (hardly seems like a fair temptation, does it?) I texted him to see if he might pick up breakfast at CFA on his way home. Funny thing was, he didn’t see my text until after we had eaten–he had gotten CFA for us to celebrate his first day back at the gym after his surgery.

2. Dishwasher chores done. I usually unload the dishwasher sometime during the day and load it back up right after dinner. Somehow one evening last week I hadn’t done either when I dozed off on the couch. I woke up to hear Jim unloading and loading it. Much appreciated!

3. Leftover meals. Another one I forgot from last week: a couple of nights we didn’t want anything busy or heavy, and we had enough leftovers on hand to just heat up plates. Nice to have an easy dinner plus declutter the refrigerator.

4. Vitamin E capsules. I’ll spare you the details, but I have a couple of bothersome skin patches. The doctor basically dismissed it as nothing one year. This year I persisted. He prescribed a steroid cream, which worked wonders—but also raised my blood sugar. At church one morning, one woman was telling another whose husband had just had surgery about puncturing Vitamin E capsules and using their oil on the scars to reduce scar visibility as they heal. I wondered if they might work on my skin issue–and they did! (Note: a little research showed it’s not recommended to use it on scars while they’re forming: best to ask your doctor’s advice.)

5. Warmth and coziness. It’s the time of year when I am especially glad for winter clothes, sweaters, and throw blankets. And I am immeasurably thankful to be able to heat our home at the touch of a button.

Bonus: Canceled plans. With age and some physical issues, it’s hard for me to be out several days in a row. We had something scheduled for six out of the next seven days beginning with Wednesday. One thing I just decided not to go to. Sadly, Mittu was sick and we missed something we were going to attend together. But having a lightened schedule is a great stress reducer.

Hope you’ve had a good week!

Happy first Friday of December! It was nice to have a buffer week between Thanksgiving and the first of December. Though life is always busy, December is especially so. It’s even more important to schedule pauses for remembering what’s important and counting our blessings. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts an opportunity to do that with Friday’s Fave Five.

Here are a few of mine:

1. Decorating for Christmas with the family. I thought about waiting til next week, just from tiredness. But I am glad we went ahead. I am so thankful that the family helps with this, even though Jason and Mittu have their own house to decorate. Not only do many hands make light work, but it’s fun to reminisce as we do. Mittu made a great lunch. for us all.

2. Lunch with Melanie. We try to get together once a month or so, but it had been a long while. We had gift cards to Red Lobster and enjoyed catching up. By the way, she had a birthday this week! Some of you know her through FFF or other blogging means—feel free to pop over and wish her a belated happy birthday.

3. A good eye exam with no new issues or problems.

4. Hot oil hair treatment. I have very dry skin and have to put lotion all over year-round. But cold, dry weather really does a number on me. I couldn’t put lotion on my scalp, however. Then I remembered I used to use VO5 hot oil treatment—a little tube you put in a cup of hot water and then massage its contents into your scalp before shampooing. I even had some in the bathroom cabinet. It felt so good.

5. Online shopping. We got a good chunk of our Christmas shopping done this week, and now enjoy receiving the deliveries!

That’s our week. How was yours?

Thanksgiving week, of all weeks, should be easy to come us with five favorites, right? I’m joining in with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to encourage looking for the good things, large or small, from each week.

1. Thanksgiving. I could do a whole Friday’s Fave Five on this one day. We had a veritable feast. Everyone contributed with food, preparation, and clean-up. We enjoyed family time, rest time, conversation, and games. And we had time to concentrate on what we were thankful for with our Thanksgiving tree.

2. Thanksgiving activities. In the past couple of years, I’ve gotten a tablecloth for the holidays that included puzzles, mazes, and pictures to color. I didn’t look for one in time this year, but Skip to My Lou had some free printable Thanksgiving place mats I used (She has tons of neat holiday ideas). Even though I just printed them off on 8 1/2 by 11″ paper, not really big enough for place mats, they still worked. Then, several weeks ago I found a “build a turkey” game and a kit of foam cats and dogs with different props (some got put on our Thanksgiving tree above) marked down at Hobby Lobby. Different ones of us sat down with Timothy before and after the meal, coloring or assembling.

3. Jim’s one-month post-op appointment. The surgeon was pleased with his progress and said the remaining discomfort and issues he’s still dealing with are normal and should resolve soon.

4. Family Face Time. Jeremy lives out-of-state and couldn’t be with us on Thanksgiving. He had plans with friends on Thanksgiving Day, so over the weekend we had a Face Time call with the whole family. It’s so neat that can be done with multiple people at one time.

5. A new way to do meatloaf. Sometimes it’s the little things. 🙂 For the past few years, I’ve made meatloaf in the microwave. But this time I wanted to do baked potatoes at the same time in the oven. While looking up how long to bake the meatloaf, I ran across this recipe for shaping the meat on a foil-covered sheet pan instead of a loaf pan. I had always wondered at the wisdom of the meat bubbling in it’s own juices in a loaf pan (even the leanest ground beef still has some fat). I tried this idea with my own recipe and loved the way it turned out. Plus the foil made for easy clean-up. I’ll be making meatloaf this way from now on.

How was your week?

It hardly seems like time for Friday again. But here it is, ready or not! Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story gives us an opportunity to pause the merry-go-round for a minute and reflect on God’s good gifts of the week

1. Family costume party. We’ve been doing these a few years now. My original idea for Jim and me was “Ma and Pa Ingalls, the later years.” 🙂 However, he ended up looking more Amish, and I looked more like the Colonial era. But we had fun. 🙂

Some of you may remember that Timothy has loved “air dancers” for years. This year he got to be one. 🙂

2. Homemade caramel popcorn is one of Jim’s favorite treats. But it’s labor intensive, so I only make it once or twice a year. I made some to take to the family party, with enough left for Jason and Mittu to take to their small group the next day.

3. A breakfast biscuit. I get up fairly early, but I am not out and about until much later in the day. I had to go in for some fasting lab work one morning and rewarded myself afterward with a Chick-Fil-A biscuit.

4. Back at church. It was nice to go to the Sunday morning service and then Bible study on Wednesday for the first time since Jim’s surgery.

5. Physical done. My yearly physical was due during Jim’s recovery, so I put it off til this week. Thankfully, there were no new surprises or concerns. I’m at the age where one appointment generates one or two more (mammogram and bone density test). But at least one appointment is over with.

For my U. S. friends, happy Thanksgiving!

I was sorry to miss Friday’s Fave Five last week. I haven’t missed many of them since I first started. I love this practice with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story. It’s easy to come up with five good things some weeks. Others take thought and digging. But there are always blessings along the way, whether a week is good, bad, or mediocre.

I usually write my FFF post on Thursday afternoon. But Thursday of last week, I was in atrial fibrillation most of the day. Some of you will remember I had an ablation for that a few years ago. It’s not often that I have a full-blown episode any more, but it does still happen occasionally. I took an extra dose of my heart rhythm medication and rested at home, per the doctor’s instructions. I couldn’t do much more than rest, anyway. I tried not to get frustrated with the situation, but just take it in stride. Finally everything went back to normal in the evening.

Then Friday was busy through the afternoon, so I gave up on trying to post that day.

But I am happy to be back and to catch up with the last couple of weeks!

1. A visit. A couple of Jim’s friends from church came over to visit one morning. We haven’t been back to church yet since his surgery three weeks ago. He’s still dealing with pain and fatigue. We’ve been watching the “Facebook Live” broadcast from church on Sunday mornings, but it was good to see and fellowship with people in person.

2. “Hanging out” with the kids. We had not seen Jason, Mittu, and Timothy (son, daughter-in-law, and grandson) for two weeks because Timothy was sick with a bad cold. We were all being a little extra-cautious with exposing Jim with something so soon after his surgery. Finally, Saturday of last week, they texted to ask if we wanted to hang out, and they brought pizza, salad, and a very long churro from Costco.

3. Kids pitching in. We don’t have county garbage and recycling pick-up in our neighborhood. But the center to take all of that is not far, so Jim usually takes all our “stuff” out on Saturday mornings. Jesse has been doing that since Jim’s surgery.

Then, the morning after my heart rhythm issues, Jim had two doctor appointments, one very early. We had made arrangements with Jason to take him, in case my heart rhythm was still acting up. When it went back to normal, I asked if we should cancel plans with Jason. Jim felt I should probably just take it easy and not have to bustle around getting ready early in the morning. Jason also moved some things around Jim wasn’t supposed to pick up yet and brought a case of water from the car that I couldn’t carry.

The day of the heart situation, Mittu made two meals and cupcakes for us. She had already made five for the week after Jim got home from the hospital.

We appreciate all they’ve done for us!

4. A day of rest. When I first started having these heart rhythm issues several years ago, I was told I had SVTs (supra-ventricular tachycardia). I was instructed to try to regulate them at home for an hour or so, and if that didn’t work, to go to the ER. Then they tried to do an ablation for SVTs, only to discover I had atrial fibrillation instead. That required a different procedure, which was done a year or so later. But I was still in the mindset that I needed to go to the hospital when this happened. My cardiologist will answer direct questions, but he’s not good at proactively explaining things. Finally, after several times in the hospital, I understood that I didn’t have to come to the hospital for afib unless it lasted more than a day. I was on a blood thinner for the clots that afib could trigger, which is the main concern.

I found that being at home was actually more restful than going to the ER and being hooked up to an IV and electrocardiogram, along with people coming in and out. I spent most of the day in my desk chair, catching up on my blog reading and dozing. So it ended up being a day of rest.

5. Frozen grilled vegetables. I saw these in the grocery store and decided to give them a try. They could be cooked on the grill or in the oven. I tossed them in the oven one day alongside some baked chicken. Everything turned out great, and it was nice to just put the veggies in from the freezer without peeling and chopping. The next time I went to the store, I got a couple of their other veggie combinations.

Bonus: Panda Express delivery. Jim an I will often pick up Panda Express after the Sunday morning church service. I was craving Panda Express Sunday morning as we watched church from home and was trying to decide if I wanted it enough to go get it. We had plenty of leftovers we could heat up.

When church got over, Jim suggested we have a Panda Express order delivered, not knowing I wanted food from there. So we splurged and did that.

I hope you’ve had a good week filled with God’s fingerprints.