It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

This has been a good week! Here are some of the best parts:

1. Safety. My son and daughter-in-law’s Ring doorbell camera caught someone peeking in their window one night. My son spoke to the guy through the speaker. The guy ran off, but my son called the police. The policeman searched the area, but of course, the guy was long gone. The policeman said the guy wasn’t likely to come back because, if he was a thief, he was looking for an easy target. But the police would still patrol the area for a few weeks. It shook us all up a bit, but we’re thankful for camera doorbells and outside lights and policemen, and, most of all, God’s protection. Timothy was very brave, though, and had his flashlight and megaphone ready for use when the policeman came. 🙂

2. Mother’s Day. My family always goes above and beyond to make the day special for me. My husband grilled burgers and we ate on the patio so we could spread out a bit. We’ve had some socially-distanced visits in the last few weeks, but it was so good to have a meal together again. My daughter-in-law made a wonderful chocolate peanut butter cake.

3. A gift of meals. My daughter-in-law’s Mother’s Day gift to me was four meals she prepared. It was so nice this week to have four nights without thinking about what to have or preparing beyond warming up what she had made.

4. A cup of encouragement. This was a gift from my husband. ♥ I don’t know if I can call myself an author yet (does that happen when you publish a book?) The cup is so cute! But mostly I love that he has always supported and encouraged my writing in any form.

5. A great picture with Timothy. Timothy has been doing this boy thing lately of wanting to make funny faces during picture-taking (or do girls do that, too? When my boys were young, it was bunny ears in every picture. 🙂 ) His dad tricked him into laughing for this one with my lovely daughter-in-law and me.

We did get a little closer than 6 feet a couple of times. But all of us have been home except for my husband and son, and they’ve mainly just been to grocery stores.

What’s something good from your week?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

This has been another of those weeks—not bad, but pretty similar to the last several. We enjoyed another distanced visit with my son’s family in the back yard on a very pleasant evening. We’re continuing to find the supplies we need. We were especially thankful to find our favorite TP! 🙂

Here are some other things I am thankful for:

1. Losing five lbs. was a surprise, especially since I have been craving homemade baked goods. The only thing different is that we haven’t been getting takeout food.

2. Benadryl Cream. Somehow I got a couple of super-itchy bug bites on the back of my thigh. Cortisone cream wasn’t helping, but then I remembered I had some Benadryl cream in my purse. That worked much better.

3. Culling the closet. There were a few items I needed to get rid of, so I finally took the time to sort through my closet and pull out things I didn’t use or need any more. I need to check with the thrift store to see if they are accepting donations, but it feels good to have the closet less cluttered.

4. The end of a hard week for a couple of sons. One was asked to work overtime, specifically an hour earlier than usual all this week. Another had been working from home, but Mother’s Day is one of their busiest times, and they were shorthanded.  So he had to go in and work 12-hour (or more) days all this week, last weekend, and I think even some of the week before. This is Timothy’s Daddy, so it’s been hard for the whole family. I’m hoping things go back to normal for them next week.

5. Moms. Speaking of Mother’s Day, I’ve been thinking of the moms in my life. My own, of course, my mother-in-law, my grandmother, a dear lady in my church who I counted as my spiritual mom. Sadly, they are all gone. But I am thankful for their memories and their continuing influence in my life. A lot of women along the way have mothered by speaking an encouraging “word in due season” right when I most needed it. And now a new generation of moms like my daughter-in-law, my friend Rebekah, and others, have been encouraging me and teaching me new things. I hope I can be a blessing to them, too.

I hope you have a special time remembering your mom this weekend.

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

The first day of May! Turning the calendar to a new page is one of life’s little pleasures for me. But this month, especially, I look forward with hope for safe first steps in returning to normalcy.

Meanwhile, here are some highlights of the last week:

1. Working through a to-do list around the house not only got things done, but felt good.

2. Zoom Bible study. Our ladies only get together for Bible study about once every six weeks. We had our first attempt to do so via Zoom on Saturday, and everything went well. My husband always set things up for our church meeting, and I had thought he would be nearby in case I needed any help for this. But he was working on a project outside. It wasn’t hard at all to figure out, though. Our leader’s Internet cut out near the end, but one lady called her and put her on speaker so she could finish out the session with us.

3. A refurbished basketball goal. I’m not sure why we hung on to the basketball goal that my kids had. The rim was oval instead of round after being laid down for so long. The bottom, which is supposed to be filled with water to provide enough weight to keep the goal upright, had sprung a leak a long time ago. It has been out behind our shed for years. But my husband decided to fix it up for Timothy. He used a car jack to fix the rim, painted the whole thing, and bought a new net and balls. He filled the base with sand instead of water, so it shouldn’t leak as easily. It looks really nice now, and Timothy and his family came over to try it out last weekend.

4. Chocolate chip butterscotch brownies. Mmmm. I’m not sure why they’re called butterscotch. They don’t taste like butterscotch. But they taste good. 🙂 I only make half a batch for just the three of us.

5. A great movie. I just finished a delightful movie over several mornings of stationary bike riding that left me smiley and teary at the same time: This Beautiful Fantastic. Thanks to Laura for recommending it.

Bonus: quick return of power when it went off during a storm, Face Time calls.

What’s something good from your week?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

This has been an odd week. It hasn’t been bad at all. We’re just plugging away at everyday life. But as I thought about the Friday’s Fave Five, my mind went blank. Usually I try to keep a running list through the week of what I want to share. This week, by Thursday, I only had one.

But … God is always good, and there are always things to be thankful for. Sometimes they are obvious; sometimes you have to spend more thought.

So here’s what I am thankful for this week:

1. Sibling provision. My brother and one sister are out of work due to the virus—my brother has been for several weeks now. Unemployment processing in his state was backed up. I just heard this week that his unemployment checks finally started coming through. My sister’s store cut hours at first and then closed a couple of weeks ago. Her employer is still paying her for now.

2. Free courses. Serious Writer is offering some free writing classes through the end of April. I just signed up for one and hope to start it soon.

3. Grilled pork loin. My husband prepared this in the sou vide cooker our son made for him and then browned them on the grill.

4. Sunshine. I know I say this off and on. I know rain is necessary. But it sure brightens my spirit to have clear blue skies and sunshine. The temperatures have been crossing back and forth between cool and warm. I always enjoy this stretch of nice weather before the heat of summer kicks in.

5. My roses are exploding.

This one is about to bloom even more.

We’re continuing to find everything we need except Clorox wipes. Thankfully I had plenty on hand already, and we haven’t run out yet. We’re trying new things like boil-in-bag rice when our regular jasmine rice wasn’t available. I made way too much the first time, but now I know about how much to expect out of each bag.

What’s a blessing from your week?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

Time keeps ticking by, no matter what we’re doing. Here we are at another Friday and halfway thorough April already! I enjoy these weekly pause to note the best parts of the preceding week.

1. Easter. Though our Easter was different from usual, it was still good. We enjoyed a good church service via Zoom, and a great meal and dessert. The night before, we had a three-way FaceTime call with all the kids, and later my son sent us videos of my grandson unpacking his Easter basket from us and then hunting for Easter eggs. So all in all, a good day.

2. Food swap. We had made ham and cheesy potatoes, and my daughter-in-law had made lasagna. Later in the day my son dropped by for a food swap—we shared some of our Easter leftovers with each other.

3. My favorite candy. I usually make, not Easter baskets, but little metal spring buckets for the kids with Easter candy in them. Timothy’s basket is bigger, with little toys and such. I don’t always make one for my husband, but we usually have enough extra candy for both of us to have some. I did make one for him this year, though. And I was surprised that he had bought me a bag of my favorite milk chocolate Lindt Lindor truffles. He doesn’t usually get them for Easter, so that was a treat. And I also love the small Reese’s eggs.

Yes, by the time I took the picture on Thursday, most of the truffles were gone. I’ve been rationing them out two a day. 🙂

4. Timothy’s birthday. Original plans had been to have a camp-out for my grandson’s birthday. Not only did social distancing throw a wrench in, but the weather was chilly. My son and daughter-in-law rearranged their living room to set up Timothy’s little play tent and their inflatable air mattress for a few days. Then on his birthday they set up a tent in the yard just to play in for a bit. We had another three-way FaceTime call to watch Timothy open presents and sing happy birthday to him. The next afternoon, my son dropped some birthday cake slices off for us.

My daughter-in-law did an amazing job on that adorable cake!

5. Shakespeare’s sonnets. Sir Patrick Stewart has been reading one a day with his wonderful accent on his Instagram account. I’m not familiar with most of them, and I haven’t caught all of them, but I’ve enjoyed the ones I have taken the time to listen to.

I hope you’re still doing well this week! I feel we especially need to pray for our leaders now as decisions are made about reopening businesses and easing social distancing.

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

I’m not sure how long we’ve been practicing social distancing and isolation now, but we continue to plug away. Counting the good things is a way to express thanksgiving to God as well as help our mental health.

1. Spring and Easter decorations. I usually have them up before now. I wasn’t sure I was even going to bother this year. But then I reminded myself I never decorate just for show or for when people come over: I do it because I like celebrating the different seasons and holidays. So I pushed out of my malaise and set most everything out last Saturday. They do brighten up the place, break up the monotony, and cheer my heart.

2. Meat. My son and daughter-in-law subscribe to a meat delivery service. They had a bit more than they could use a few weeks ago, so they asked if we could do a food swap: they’d bring over some meat for us and then raid our freezer for some gluten-free items I keep on hand for them (my d-i-l and grandson are gluten-intolerant). They brought some cuts of beef we don’t often buy. Then my husband saw a note on a local Facebook group that a nearby wholesale meat processing plant was selling some of their wares to the general public for a few hours. Their ground beef was much cheaper than the grocery store’s and they had meatloaf frozen and already seasoned and ready to cook. So not only was the gift and sale appreciated, but the variety of new things to try was exciting.

3. My husband’s grilling. A while back, my husband used the sous vide cooker my oldest son made to make his teriyaki chicken, finishing them off on the grill. Last Saturday he did the same with hamburgers. Good stuff.

4. Stump removal. Longtime friends may remember our saga of 50 diseased trees a few years ago. The people who cut them down didn’t get them cut as close to the ground as we would have liked. We checked on businesses that do stump removal, and that would have been expensive, especially for that many. We checked on different processes to remove them ourselves, but they were all either complicated or time-consuming. So we covered them up with a layer of dirt and mulch. But with erosion, they’re popping back up again. My husband was poking around them recently and discovered they are rotted and dried out enough that he could dig some of them out with a crowbar as a lever over a piece of wood. For the rest, he built a contraption that helped him get them out. He worked on them mostly bit by bit in the evenings and finished them when he took Thursday off. As soon as we’re able, we’ll fill the holes with dirt. It will be so nice to spend time on the patio or look out the window without seeing stumps. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to start planting there. I appreciate all his hard work.

Before: most of these were sticking several inches up from the ground.

After: He’s going to gather them up and burn them today.

5. Another distanced visit. My son texted one afternoon to ask if they could come over and just hang out with us outside for a bit. So they sat in the grass about twelve feet away while we sat on the patio and Timothy ran around. It was good to see each other in person again. I miss our hugs and head bonks and dinners and outings together—but hopefully we can resume those soon.

Bonus: Good Friday and Easter. Yesterday I shared some of my favorite songs about Christ’s death on the cross for us. Our Easter this year will be different, maybe more subdued than usual. But I’m wondering if that will cause us to think about the first Easter and what it means a little more. We have cause for immense joy no matter the outward circumstances.

That’s our week! How was yours? Happy Easter!

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

I hope you’re doing well and have what you need. I’m disappointed that this whole virus scenario will last longer than originally expected. But I know they are working hard on it. I wish people would self-isolate more. Some don’t seem to be taking this seriously. But instead of going down that rabbit trail, let’s turn to some of the high points of the week:

1. Zoom church. We had a trial run earlier in the week, then met Sunday morning via Zoom. Everything went well. It was good to see everyone’s faces and hear from many during the discussion time. We still look forward to meeting in person, but this is a good substitute under the circumstances.

2. Phone call from a longtime friend. We’ve known each other nearly 40 years, but haven’t lived near each other in the last 26. We’ve visited back and forth and more recently touched base or messaged via Facebook. I messaged her to ask about a mutual friend. She responded by calling me, and thankfully it was a perfect time. I think we talked over an hour, and it was so good to catch up and hear her voice.

3. A birthday parade. One of my sisters is much more of a social butterfly than I am. She was disappointed that she wasn’t going to be able to get together with friends for a milestone birthday due to the virus precautions. But several of her friends arranged a birthday “parade.” While she waited at the end of her driveway, they drove by slowly, waved, called out happy birthday greetings. Some had their cars decorated with her name and/or age. That was one of the neatest and most thoughtful things I’ve even seen. We’re in another state, but we got to see pictures and videos on FaceBook.

4. A surprise visit. During the first couple of weeks of isolation, we had continued getting together with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson occasionally. We figured we were all at home, my husband and son were the only ones going to the store, and we were careful about washing and sanitizing, so the risk was small. But as the confirmed cases in our area continued to rise, my son and d-i-l felt it would be best if we stopped getting together for the next few weeks. Of special concern was that if Timothy were to get the virus, they would not be able to be with him. So we agreed, of course. In fact, I had felt slightly uneasy when we were together, hoping we weren’t spreading anything. But I was grieving because the next few weeks include Easter and Timothy’s birthday, besides regular get-togethers. And we’d already had to cancel my oldest son’s trip here this month. I kept reminding myself that it’s only for a few weeks, that we have ways to keep in touch, that I am so fortunate to have them nearby instead of thousands of miles away as my own parents were from us. Still, it’s hard, even though it’s the best thing to do. Then yesterday afternoon I received a voice text from Timothy saying he was outside. I thought he meant he was playing at his house, so I voice-texted, “Have fun!” Then I heard the doorbell ring. They had brought over a note from Timothy and a chicken pot pie and cupcake from their favorite bakery. They were just going to leave them on the table on the porch, but we ended up talking at a distance in the front yard for a few minutes. It did my heart good.

I should have taken a picture before the flower died. 🙂

5. A pleasant get-together. Before we decided to stay apart, we visited Jason and Mittu at their house last Saturday. Jim took the riding lawn mower over, and Granddad coming to mow and do yard work is a highlight for Timothy. He gets out his own mower and yard tools to help. 🙂 Jesse and I came later for lunch. Not only was it a fun time, but the weather was so beautiful, we sat outside for a bit. I am not an outdoorsy person, but even I loved being out a couple of lovely spring days. It’s turned cold again, but should warm back up in soon.

What signs have you seen of God’s goodness in the midst of hard times and strain?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

I hope you all are still doing well through our current circumstances. FFF is always a good practice to look for the good things God sprinkles through our days: otherwise we might miss them or easily forget them. Here are a few from my week:

1. My husband going to the store. He’s always willing to go, but I’ve done most of the shopping since he works long hours. I don’t want him to have to take on this task on top of working 8-12 hours a day. But he’s been working from home, and one day he offered to go to the store just to get out of the house and see how things were out there. Then later he said it might be best if just one of us goes out for now, so he has been doing the shopping ever since.

2. Store hours for at-risk people. Many grocery stores are trying to dedicate early morning hours for shoppers in at-risk categories. They can’t really restrict others from coming then, but they appeal to others to set aside this time if possible.

3. Enough supplies so far. Maybe not the brand or size we’d normally get, but we haven’t hurt for anything.

4. Successful new recipe. A few weeks ago I found some cubed steak for $1.93 a pound and got a couple of packages for the freezer. Trying to decide what to do with them, I thought of beef and broccoli, a favorite I sometimes order from Asian restaurants. I tried this recipe for the instant pot, using only half the sugar called for. It was so good, and Jim and Jesse liked it, too.

5. Camouflage scraps. My husband wanted me to make him a face mask, and he specifically wanted it out of camouflage fabric. I wasn’t sure if I had any, but he found a good sized piece in my stash. I was thankful for his sake that I had kept it on hand. I used Laura’s instructions and links. He was pleased. 🙂 He said he’d probably continue to use it after the virus scare for yard work in allergy season.

As a bonus, I was thinking this week of how many things we had done in the couple of weeks before the virus impact started: going on our Biltmore visit, having lunch with a friend, my son getting his cat, even buying Easter basket things. Most of those would not be possible now.

I hope in the midst of changed schedules and new concerns, you’ve seen God’s hand at work as well. What’s one good thing from your week?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

Things are uncertain now with the corona virus. But I am hoping that all the measures being taken will reduce the spread. I’ve heard it will die out as the weather gets warmer.

Meanwhile, I’m taking a few moments to appreciate the good gifts of the week:

1. My husband’s birthday. Always a joy to celebrate his special day!

2. A new cat—not for us: Jason is allergic to them. My oldest son, Jeremy, has wanted a cat for a while, but his former landlord didn’t allow them. Now that Jeremy is settled into his new condo, he felt the time for a pet adoption was good. I’m enjoying hearing about and seeing pictures of the new family member, Tabitha:

3. Lunch with a friend. We hadn’t seen each other since before Christmas due to illnesses and scheduling conflicts. It was so good to catch up.

4. A trip to Joann’s is like a field trip for me. It’s not that far away, but it’s far enough that I can’t just drop in on a whim like I can Hobby Lobby. After my lunch out, since I was halfway to Joann’s, I decided to head there. I like shopping for home things in the spring because that’s when they have the pinks and blues I love. I found some cute dish towels on sale:

On top of that, I had an old Joann’s gift card that I thought only had a couple of dollars on it had $19!

5. Chocolate pie. I had a craving for chocolate pie, so on my way home from my lunch and Joann’s excursion, I stopped by O’Charley’s and got a slice of their French Silk Pie to take home. Getting home, relaxing with my feet up, and enjoying pie and coffee was a lovely way the end the afternoon.

What’s something good from your week?