Yikes! I fell asleep in my desk chair this morning and woke up very late. Thankfully, I had most of this post written yesterday.

It’s hard to believe we’re through the first week of May already. It’s time to stop and reflect on the good things of the week with Susanne and others at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Raises. Jesse, my youngest son, received some new responsibilities at his job, which included a nice raise. Then Jim told me last night that he had also gotten a raise.

2. Celebrations. We turned a family gathering into a celebration for Jesse. Mittu made his favorite meal (hamburger stroganoff) ad some gorgeous and delicious gluten-free lemon cupcakes.

3. Important paperwork. We got our wills, living wills, and powers of attorney all set and notarized this week–something that’s been on our to-do list for ages. It’s nice to have them done.

4. Planters planted. Just today (Thursday), I got my front and back planters planted. We’re supposed to have thunderstorms tonight, so I hope the plants don’t get pummeled. I not only love the flowers themselves, but both areas look neater with plants rather than the residue from last year. Update: we had rain and storms all night, and we’re supposed to have them all day as well. The flowers look okay but a little bedraggled. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of them when I first planted them, and they’re too droopy for photos now. But, my roses are blooming!

5. Ceiling fans. The temperatures have not been high at night, and we have central AC anyway, but I have been waking up very hot. The ceiling fans help without my having to turn the AC down and freeze Jim out.

Happy Friday, and Happy Mother’s Day to the moms!

It’s the last Friday of April, time again to pause and reflect on the good things of the week with Susanne and others at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Ham bone soup with the remnants of our Easter ham has become a delicious tradition. We had enough to have the family over with a good bit leftover besides.

2. Lunch with a friend was good because of the fellowship but also because we ate at Cracker Barrel.

3. Sales on dresses. I don’t usually shop at Old Navy except for my middle son and his family. They haven’t had anything I was interested in the few times I’ve been there. But lately they’ve been advertising some styles I really liked. I ordered a couple of things online. Then I was near the store for some errands and stopped in–and found three dresses I love for $19.99 each!

4. A washed car. My husband doesn’t want me to use a drive-through car wash because he doesn’t think some of the plastic pieces on our car would hold up well in a commercial car wash. This past weekend, he cleaned my car inside and out. It looks so nice!

5. A good errand-running day. I had a lot I wanted to get packed into one afternoon and thought I might run out of time or energy before I finished. But I hit all the places I wanted to, then got groceries, gas, and prescriptions, and brought Arby’s home for dinner. It was nice to crash that evening.

How has your week been?

Another Friday has rolled in, so It’s time to pause a moment to recount some of the highlights of the week. Time goes so fast, without these weekly reckonings, I’d forget half (at least) of what has happened. We join Susanne and others at Living to Tell the Story to share our blessings.

1. Easter. We had a wonderful day with all the family except my one out-of-town son. I enjoyed thinking, reading, and studying through the week of Jesus death and resurrection for us. We attended church Sunday morning, had a wonderful dinner with the family, then had our Easter egg hunt and some wonderful gluten-free carrot cake made by Mittu. We got a couple of games in before we started conking out.

2. Answered prayer is, of course, always a favorite. But this situation was a little unusual. I was looking for a particular story I remembered from a missionary book to use in Monday’s post about the importance of the resurrection. I had the right author in mind, but the two books I thought the incident was in weren’t on the shelves. (I remembered later that I had loaned them to someone, and when she returned them, I had forgotten them in the car). So I picked up two other books I had by the same author, thinking the story I wanted wasn’t in them, but deciding I’d leaf through them anyway. I prayed that I might be able to find the story without needing to closely reread the whole books or check the other books by this author. The first one I looked through yielded no results. But I found the story a few pages into the second book. Sometimes those small but very specific answers to prayer make me feel especially seen and loved.

3. Medicine. I’ve had need of some this week, besides the regular prescriptions. Nothing major going on, but it’s nice to have access to the basic relief we need.

4. Central heating and air conditioning. Probably some of you have had the same experiences we’ve had the last few weeks with needing to switch back and forth between AC and the heater. I’m thankful we can so easily do that.

5. Availability and good prices on clothes I like. I have a hard time finding clothes I like, but I saw a couple of ads for places where I don’t usually shop, places I didn’t think would have anything for me. But I looked online, and both places had a few things I loved with great prices and, at one, even sale prices on top of that. I ordered a few things. I haven’t received them yet, but I hope they fit and look well.

Thus ends another week here. What is a bright spot from yours?

I hope you’ve had a special week remembering what Christ did for us over 2,000 years ago. The past several years I’ve read some kind of devotional book or other book leading up to Easter. I didn’t do that this year. But I spent some time going over verses about Jesus death on the cross for our sins and resurrection.

As always there are good things scattered like seed during the week. We join Susanne and others at Living to Tell the Story to share our blessings.

1. Timothy’s birthday. He has come such a long way since surprising us with an early arrival eight years ago. You’d never know to look at him that he was a preemie. I’m so thankful for him and pray God will always have His hand on him.

2. Not cooking. I know, I mention this often. But this week, I’ve only made dinner twice! One night was Timothy’s birthday celebration.One night we watched Timothy so Jason and Mittu could do things for his birthday, and Mittu made dinner for us that night. Three nights, either Jim or I had a hankering for some kind of take-out. And Sunday after church, Jim thought he had a free entree from one of those places where they punch a card every time you order. He realized when he checked out that he didn’t have said card–he must have used it the last time. I like the food we eat at home, but I also like something different sometimes as well as a night off from cooking, planning and clean-up.

3. Dogwoods blooming. We have a few in the back yard, but they are all over the neighborhood.

4. This B. C. comic about Good Friday. It reminds me of a phrase in the hymn “My Jesus Fair” by Chris Anderson. The chorus speaks about “joyful grief”—joy over my salvation, grief at what it cost.

5. This song, Calvary Invitation, has been on my mind for the last few days. The version I listen to is on the album Creator, Redeemer, and King by The Wilds Christian Camp. The repeating line, “Linger for a moment more,” goes along with Maree’s post about not rushing past the cross to get to Easter.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Easter weekend.

It’s been another fairly quiet, uneventful week here. But every week is sprinkled with good things, even if it takes some thought and observation to find them. We join Susanne and others at Living to Tell the Story to share our blessings.

1. Adjusting notifications. Our drugstore greatly overdoes text and phone notifications. Maybe they all do, I don’t know. I usually turn notifications off until I reorder something and then have to turn them back on. This week, when I texted STOP to turn notifications off again, I received a few options, one of which was a word to text if I only wanted to receive notice when my prescription was ready. Yes, that’s all I’ve wanted all along, not offers to watch a video about my prescription. A little thing, but a cure to a consistent irritant.

2. A settlement. Back in early November, Jim took a hard fall on a hotel stairway that resulted in a severely sprained ankle and torn ligaments. The doctor said it would have been better for him if he had broken it. Investigations and negotiations between insurance companies have been going on ever since. We felt the hotel was at fault because their short stairway had black carpet and low lighting, making it hard to see the steps, and no handrail. We were advised not to say anything publicly about the incident in case we had to go to court. Finally everything was wrapped up and we received a small settlement this week. Jim still has pain and swelling in his ankle and still has to prop it up at times, but he can walk on it okay now.

3. Running into an old friend. She doesn’t live in this area, but happened to be here and in the Dollar Store at the same time I was. It was good to catch up for a bit.

4. Azaleas blooming. We planted them years ago, but they have hardly grown and I don’t think I have ever seen more than a few flowers on them. I was surprised to see one in full bloom this week.

5. Allergy medicine. Excessive pollen is the one downside of spring, but it’s a necessity to see things bloom.

Bonus: Feeling better. I had a pretty bad reaction to some food truck tacos over the weekend that took a few days to fully recover from. Then Jesse caught a bad stomach bug and Jeremy tested positive for Covid. As of yesterday, they were both doing better and well enough to try to work (both still working from home). We’re hoping and praying for a full recovery soon.

And that wraps up the first week of April. How about you? Any good things happening in your week?

Yay for the first week of April! Winter is not letting go just yet, but each day is one more step away from it and toward consistently warmer, sunnier days.

We join up with Susanne and others at Living to Tell the Story to recount some of the good things of the week. We’re grieving with Susanne today in the recent loss of her father. She has kindly left the FFF link up for us.

1. Routine medical visits. I can’t say I enjoy any medical visits, but it’s nice when they are done and revealed no new problems to be concerned about. I had my annual eye exam this week and a visit with the dentist not long ago.

2. An unexpected package. I helped a friend with her book launch a few weeks ago, and she sent me some bookmarks and a cute little magnet this week.

3. Food Truck Parks. A new one sprang up between our place and Jason and Mittu’s. They’ve been several times already, and I met them there for dinner one night this week. It’s a nice set-up. I especially appreciate that they have real bathrooms rather than portable ones.

4. Lunch with the family. Jim and Jesse went over to Jason and Mittu’s to set up a trampoline, and I joined them there later for lunch. Mittu made brownies afterward, but Jim and I needed to leave before they were done. So Jason and Mittu brought me a brownie Sunday afternoon. It was big enough to split over two days. (Jim is trying to cut back on sugar, so he declined the brownie offer.)

5. Time alone. I’ve sometimes felt guilty wishing for or enjoying having some time to myself. And then when I am alone for very long, I miss my family. But then I thought, you know what, I don’t have any control over my husband’s travels for work. Of course, I love him and love when he is here. But there are things to enjoy about being together and things to enjoy about solitude. So I decided to just enjoy whichever I was experiencing instead of pining for one or the other. Being by myself most of this week made for light cooking and the opportunity to watch some of the programs I mentioned yesterday that he would not have been interested in. But I am looking forward to having him home tonight (it’s Thursday afternoon as I write this). (Update: he made it home safely.)

And that wraps up another week! How was yours?

Last week was overflowing with favorites. This week has been a little more ordinary—not a bad week, but nothing stood out as a favorite at first. But sometimes those weeks that require a little more scrutiny are more rewarding when we find the blessings in them. We join up with Susanne and others at Living to Tell the Story to recount some of those good things.

1. Lack of a long checkout line. When I shop in a certain big store that starts with a W, I dislike that they only have one or two checkout lanes open, usually with very long lines. They have tons of self-checkouts, which I don’t mind using for a few items—but not for a whole cartful. I usually order online and schedule a pickup time. But I needed to look for some non-grocery items, so I decided to shop for my whole list inside. Surprisingly, I got into a line with only one person on front of me, who was nearly done, and my cashier was very efficient. That may have set a record for my shortest time checking out there.

2. A kind driver let me into a very long lane of traffic as I left the store mentioned above.

3. A successful camping trip. Jason and Timothy went on a father-son camping trip last weekend. They did well and had a good time, and Mittu did well by herself.

4. Insurance can be a pain to pay for and deal with. And when my oldest son’s car got sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver, he wasn’t looking forward to everything involved with taking care of the damage. But thankfully insurance does help. And, most thankfully, he wasn’t in the car when it got hit.

5. Fellowship. We had not had our monthly ladies’ Bible study for a few months due to the holidays and our leader’s having a baby in January. But we met this last Saturday. I have to confess that I am not fond of getting up early on a Saturday, which we do so that everyone is free to spend the rest of the day with their families. But once I get there, I really enjoy the time. And then, our church had a fellowship meal Sunday after the morning service. We had missed the last one due to a family gathering, and I think we may have missed one in December for the same reason. We really enjoyed the time of fellowship.

Bonus: Drop-in visits. I am so thankful most of our kids live close enough that they can text and ask if they can drop by for a little while. I don’t take that for granted—we didn’t live close enough to either of our parents to do that.

Have you found any blessings in your week?

Though there’s so much serious trouble in the world right now, it helps to look for the good in our lives. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story invites us to do just that each Friday.

1. Family dinner. Jason and Mittu had us over Friday night for tilapia, potatoes, mixed vegetables, homemade gluten-free rolls, and these cute and tasty gluten-free apple turnovers and blueberry cobbler. I had just been craving apple turnovers! We enjoyed a couple of games as well.

2. A quiet weekend. We had six inches of snow late Friday night to Saturday morning. Because we had been warned ahead of time, we ran all our errands Friday. On Saturday, Jim experimented with the 3D printer he had received on his birthday, and I caught up on some computer stuff and then did some “puttering” around the house—a little mending, tidying the craft/sewing room, figuring out how to set the clock I had in there.

While setting things right in the sewing room, I came across these two dish towels I had bought at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago, still in the shopping bag. I love shopping for home things from Valentine’s Day through spring, because then I can find them in colors I like—light, pastels, especially pinks that aren’t too orangey or reddish.

3. A cozy Sunday. Usually after church and lunch, we’ll take a nap, then I’ll read blogs on the computer. Since I had caught up my computer reading Saturday and not much new had come in, I got out my Karla Dornacher coloring books and colored pencils while watching some of her videos about how she does shading. I don’t color often, but I strongly wanted to that day. It was very relaxing. Plus I had fun experimenting with what she calls gradient lettering.

4. Pi Day. Since 3.14 is the number of pi, we use that date as an excuse to eat pie. 🙂 I made hamburger pie for dinner and Mittu made a delicious Mississippi Mud Pie for dessert.

5. A surprise visit. Jesse called Wednesday afternoon to say the power had gone out at his apartment complex (the whole complex, not just his building). He asked if he could come over for dinner and then borrow our cooler in case he needed to transfer items from his refrigerator. We enjoyed having him for dinner and offered him the use of our guest room if he needed it. He decided to go back to his place, and the power was back on by the time he got there. I haven’t heard what caused the outage.

Bonus: Maybe the end of time changes. The Senate passed a bill to make Daylight Savings Time permanent rather than changing our clocks twice a year. The bad thing about DST year-round is that sunrise will occur later in the morning, which is a problem for children waiting for school buses. But a lot of businesses like having more daylight in the evenings. A lot of employees do as well, so they have a little light after work rather than driving home in the dark. I’ll just be glad not to have to adjust both physical clocks and my body clock twice a year.

Have you found blessings in your week? Feel free to share in the comments here or at Susanne’s.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the negative and let the positive pass by without much notice. Fridays offer us a time to stop, reflect on the past week, and recount the good things courtesy of Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Forecast. Our early spring is due to be interrupted this weekend by snow and 12-degree nights. That’s not the favorite, though. The good part is the weather is due to warm up again next week.

2. Jim’s birthday. It’s always a joy to celebrate my dear husband.

3. Tires. Jason had an appointment to get new tires, but before the appointment one of his developed a large hole. He had his car towed in, but the company from which he buys his tires had been hacked into and wasn’t operational. Thankfully, we had a vehicle we could loan him in the meantime. We just got word yesterday that the tires had finally come in.

4. Sleep. It’s odd–I love sleep and its benefits, but I hate going to bed. I think in the later evening, when there’s nothing going on and no demands on my time, I like to relish that time to just read or whatever. But then when I am up too late, or I doze off on the couch and then wake up and get ready for bed, I pay for it the next day by either needing a nap or dragging. I’ve been making a concerted effort to go to bed earlier, and it does help.

5. Not cooking, as you know, is one of my favorite things. Besides the time off from meal preparation, it’s nice not to have to think what to make and then clean up the kitchen afterward as well. Sunday we picked up Sarku Chicken Teriyaki on the way home from church. Then one night when Jim was away, I tried one of Domino’s sandwiches (not very good, I am afraid. But I had been wondering about them, and now I know). Then last night, my grocery store and drug store runs took longer than expected, and I brought home Wendy’s (and discovered their chocolate chip cookies are wonderful).

How has your week been? Don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead this weekend.

Somehow, it’s March already!. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story invites us to pause a moment and recount the blessings of the week. Feel free to join in! Here are a few of mine:

1. In-store apps. I didn’t realize, until my sons told me, that grocery store apps can tell you where to find items. There’s one store I go to maybe every other week, and I get so frustrated at not being able to find things there. Their logic about how items should be laid out is different from my way of thinking, and apparently, that of other stores. It’s so nice to search for an item and then see what aisle to go to.

2. An Amazing Race watch party. Jason, Mittu, Timothy, and Jesse came over to watch the Amazing Race finale. The team we were rooting for was in the final three (and won!). It was fun to watch it together.

3. Calzones and pie. Mittu made calzones and lemon meringue pie for dinner the night of our watch party. She and Timothy are gluten-intolerant, and she just got a new gluten-free recipe book for Christmas. I think both dishes came from that cookbook. The calzone dough, if I remember correctly, only had three ingredients (I don’t remember what they were, except I think one was yogurt). Both were delicious!

4. Daffodils are the first sign of spring to me, and I was happy to see some of ours in bloom this week. I’m especially thankful that the ones we transplanted survived and are blooming.

5. Nice temperatures and sunshine. It’s been a fairly spring-like week outside, getting into the 70s in the daytime and 40s at night. We’re not completely done with cold weather yet, but I love this harbinger of spring.

How was your week?