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

It’s been overcast and cool this week, and maybe that’s contributed to it also being a drowsy week for me. But here are some of the best parts of my waking moments. 🙂

1. Fall color in the neighborhood. I’d mentioned a few times that I had seen some fall color in other areas of town, but not in my immediate vicinity. It finally came last week! One day while out running errands, I stopped here and there to take some pictures of it, but none really captured it (it happened to be on one of those overcast days). But there are some lovely photos posted at the local TV station’s “Your Photos” section.

2. Time with Timothy. We baby-sat (or had a play-date, as his parents called it) last Saturday while his parents had some time to themselves. I’m always just a little apprehensive about watching him beforehand, in case he misses his parents too much or just doesn’t have a good day for some reason, but so far it has always gone well.

3. A UT Vols win! I rarely watched football before we moved here, but it’s hard to escape UT fandom when you live right in the middle of it. 🙂 They had been having a rough time of it lately, and finally pulled out a win last Saturday night.

4. Getting an extra hour last weekend. I don’t like giving it back in the spring, and I am not fond of it getting so dark so early after the time change, but I do like having that extra hour.

5. Going through craft books. I hadn’t planned on any deep searching and sorting for the items I was planning to donate that I mentioned last week – it was more just a matter of pulling together items I had set aside or noticed and itemizing them. But I didn’t have them ready to go last weekend, and once I did, I decided to look through a few more places. One was the bookshelf in my craft/sewing room. I spent a very pleasant afternoon looking through craft books, and yes, I did set aside some to give away! That also got my creative juices stirred up!

Happy Friday!

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

November! “Ready or not,” the days and months keep coming! Here are my favorite parts of the last week:

1. An outing. Last Saturday, Jim, Jason, Mittu, Timothy, and I went to Vintage Market Days. It was fun to see all the “stuff” and to get some ideas for creative furniture painting if I ever get brave enough to try them. Jason and Mittu have done just a bit of buying, fixing up and painting, and then reselling furniture, so there was much to observe and take in. Timothy was good as gold.

2. A new Mexican food restaurant. I grew up in southern TX, where Mexican or “Tex-Mex” food is just a given, and I am not a happy camper without Mexican food occasionally. The two restaurants we had gone to since moving here closed (one even had the audacity to email me a coupon this week after closing their nearby location!!) After our outing on Saturday, we were headed for a burger place when we noticed a new Mexican food restaurant and decided to give it a try. We found out it was only their second day in business, and it was really good! Yay!

3. Jim going to the store for me. I had missed my planned grocery shopping Friday due to not feeling well and was planning to go out Saturday afternoon after our outing. Jim volunteered to go for me – and it was a rainy, drizzly day, so I took him up on it. I hate to ask him to go because he works long hours and has his mom’s care on top of that, so I greatly appreciated his volunteering.

4. Pumpkin Spice Cookies, just from a mix found at the store, but very good!

5. Running into an old friend even just for the briefest of moments. We used to go to the same church until her family moved to another area of town and changed to a church closer by. We keep up on Facebook but hadn’t seen each other in person for years. She was coming into the Vintage Market Days as we were going out, we were in the doorway in the rain, she had her hands full and people waiting on her, so we could manage a only brief few words and hug, but it did my heart good.

Happy Friday!

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

It’s the last FFF of October already! Times a-flyin’! Here are some favorite parts of the last week:

1. Lasagna. I had gotten all the ingredients and was just waiting for a time when the kids would be here and I had the time and inclination. That all came together last Saturday!

2. Central heat. It finally got cold enough to turn on the furnace. I’m so glad I can just push a button and don’t have to deal with bringing in wood or cleaning out ashes (or having everything smell like wood smoke).

3. Clearing out things to give away. I have a box in the pantry for the purpose of tossing things I want to get rid of. That had expanded to more than one box, plus Jesse had a stack of clothes on top of his dresser that didn’t fit any more, plus a few other things had caught my eye. There was no major going-through of closets and such this time around, which was nice since I didn’t really have time for that, and it had been done earlier in the year anyway. But pulling out the things that had caught my eye did lead to a bit of sorting in cabinets and on shelves here and there. I’ve almost got it ready to take down to the thrift store. It’s nice to clear stuff out and get it to someone who can use it.

4. Having plans for the weekend. We’re not big goers and doers. Jim usually has something to do on the weekends (grass to cut, projects to work on, etc.), and I like spending them at home most of the time. But sometimes it’s nice to have something different to look forward to!

5. Bright blue skies after a few days of rainy and/or overcast ones. We needed the rain, and thankfully I didn’t have to get out in it, but it does my heart good to see blue out my window rather than grey.

Happy Friday!

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

Well, we’re more than halfway through October already – more like 2/3 of the way! Here are some favorite parts of the last week:

1. Lunch with my aunt and uncle who live across town. We’ve been keeping in touch via email and trying to make plans to get together. They’re very busy and travel a lot. But it finally worked out last week. I always love time with them.

2. “Punkin time!” as Timothy called it, getting together to decorate pumpkins. I wrote more about it yesterday.

A bonus with this one was having apple cider. I don’t have it often – usually just at our pumpkin-decorating time plus sometimes if an outdoor festival is serving it. But at those times it really hits the spot.

3. Timothy’s first “Boo in the Zoo.” The event itself was a disappointment in some ways (the animals weren’t out! I thought seeing them was the main point of having this at the zoo. Plus different areas had very loud raucous music going on, not something kids who are already ramped-up need. Mittu said that everyone coming out of one area like that was agitated, parents and kids alike.) But it was fun to see the kids in costumes and to see Timothy’s reaction.

4. Ticking things off the to-do list, especially after feeling like I wasn’t getting anything accomplished last week.

5. Hearing from a couple of long-time blog friends after an extended blog absence – within a couple of days from each other.

Our cool fall weather is back, and that’s a delight as well.

Happy Friday!

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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 a little late today – it’s been one of those mornings with a number of interruptions. I often write the bulk of my FFF post on Thursday afternoons, but that didn’t happen this time. But – we’re here now, so here are some of the favorite parts of the week!

1. Leaves changing. I’ve been saying for a couple of weeks that they had only just started to change, and here in our neighborhood, that’s still true. But we were out in a different area of the city on Sunday and saw lots of fall color. Lovely!

2. Late bloomers. My hydrangea had gotten big and bushy but hadn’t bloomed all summer – until now! Maybe because of those big spots on the leaves – any idea what those are and what to do about them?

Even my geranium looks like it might have another round of blooms.

3. Magazines. Like many people, I’ve gotten away from magazines with all that’s available on the Internet. But there’s still something nice about curling up on the couch with the latest edition. I received gift subscriptions for these two for my birthday, and their first issues recently arrived.

4. Meals I didn’t cook. My daughter-in-law made dinner here last Sunday, we ate takeout from MacAlister’s Deli and a barbecue place a couple of different evenings, and I met a friend for lunch at IHOP this week.

5. A Timothy funny. Recently as he was coming up to our front door, he said, “I big now. I have hairy legs.” 🙂

Happy Friday!

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

And just like that we’re a week into October already! Our cool mornings are back but it’s still a little in the afternoons. A few more leaves have changed, but we still haven’t seen the blaze of color that’s coming. In the meantime, here are some high points of the last week:

1. Being prayed for. The chaplain from hospice that comes out to see my mother-in-law brought a “chaplain in training” this week. As they were winding down their visit, I almost asked the chaplain to pray for a specific concern of my own. But I didn’t – whether because it was a little harder to get a word in with two of them here, or perhaps I just didn’t feel as comfortable sharing with a new person there, I don’t know. But when she asked him to close in prayer, she said, “And pray for Barbara as well” – I can’t remember if she mentioned health issues in particular. I think she did mention health, because I was touched at the Lord’s working in that way and leading someone to pray for me in a specific way even without my asking.  Then I struggled over whether to share a prayer request on Facebook, but was blessed that so many people responded.

2. Safety. My husband was cutting up parts of some fallen tree branches at my son and daughter-in-law’s when the chainsaw slipped, and…

Thankfully the saw didn’t reach his toes!

3. Puttering is what I call getting some little jobs done that tend to pile up when life is busy – cleaning out some files, cleaning out my receipt drawer (where I stash receipts when I am wrapping presents), tidying my desk, straightening here and there, changing over from an old purse to a new one, etc.. Always a nice feeling to get that kind of thing done.

4. Getting my fall decorations out. Now it feels more officially like fall.

The last photo is from a couple of years ago – because my kitchen window currently has some gunk on it from some suction cups.:)  I wasn’t able to get it off with just washing the window so will need to go do some more intense scrubbing. Anyway – our tree is not to that stage of color yet, but should be in the next couple of weeks!

5. No major afib in a week! Even being off one medication! Praying that continues! I mentioned yesterday that I’d several occurrences in one week, and they wanted to put me on a new medicine, but first I’d have to get one of the old ones out of my system over five days. I was afraid this would be a really bad week in that regard, but so far it has been a great one!

Happy Friday!

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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 official week of fall has felt more like summer, but I’m trusting we’ll get back to those cool temperatures sooner or later. Here are some highlights of the last week.

1. A good visit with my daughter-in-law’s mother who was in town for a few days. We had them over for dinner one night and then all went to what we call “the little zoo” on Saturday and had a picnic lunch there.

2. Patient portals. Two of my doctors have these, where you can log in online and see lab results or notes from your last visit or send a message. I like being able to see the lab results, and I’d much rather write a message than say one over the phone.

3. A helpful nurse. One of my cardiologist’s nurses is just exceptionally easy to talk to, “gets” what I am saying, doesn’t brush me off like she’s in a hurry, listens and talks to me instead of sounding like she’s reading from a script, and explains things very well. I am always encouraged when I see her in the office or when she responds to a note in the Patient Portal.

4. Reese’s candy bars. My d-i-l brought me one this week. It is probably not a good thing for me that I know these are in the world now. 🙂 I found I like them much better than Reese’s cups, but for that very reason I need to avoid keeping them in the house. But it was good while it lasted!

5. The fall TV season. We don’t follow many TV shows, but I’ve enjoyed getting back into the ones we do watch with new episodes this week.

Bonus: My son and daughter-in-law came over and made dinner twice this week!

Happy Friday!

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

September is going by so fast. Here are some highlights of the last week:

1. Youngest son Jesse’s birthday.

2. A successful gluten-free lemon bundt birthday cake. I had two different recipes but not all the ingredients for either one, couldn’t find what I needed at the store I was in, but had no time to go to another. I improvised and hoped for the best, and it turned out great! (Sigh of relief!)

3. Restful days. I don’t usually have the TV on in the daytime except for when Jesse and I watch something while eating lunch together. But I gave myself permission to catch a program I had missed one afternoon and then spent the rest of the afternoon doing relaxing things. Nice to do that every now and then!

4. Messages from my grandson Timothy. Every now and then his parents will help him send a voice text over the phone. I love having his little voice on record. One day he told his mom he wanted to text, but when she recorded it, he said, “I want to Face Time please” in such a sweet little voice. So we did! Another time he wanted to FaceTime, but I was in the store: I am not coordinated enough to shop and FaceTime at the same time, and there’s no good place to pull over in the grocery store to do that. Jason sent a voice text with Timothy repeating in a disappointed voice, “Want to say hi.” So we sent a few voice texts back and forth, saying Hi that way. 🙂

5. The first day of fall is today! We’ve slipped back into more of a summer feel the last few days, but here’s hoping those crisp, cool days will return soon. I’m hoping to get out my fall decorations in the next day or two!

Happy Friday!

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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 up and down week, but I still have more than five things to share, so I’ll have to choose! Here are a few favorite things:

1. Grandparent’s Day was last Sunday, and Jason and Mittu brought over dinner and dessert on Saturday night and shared a special video they had made with photos of Timothy with us and recordings of some of our voice messages. Sweet!

2. A good post-op visit with my cardiologist. I had gone into it discouraged because I had still been having some irregularities, including a five-hour afib episode last Friday. They had told me to expect some irregularities as things healed, and that the surgery itself could cause them, but I had thought that by six weeks, everything would be healed and settled. I guess that was not the case. The doctor said everything was “just the way he liked to see it,” and I see him again in 2 months. It took me a couple of days to actually feel encouraged by the visit, but at least we’re going in the right direction.

3. Fall goodies. I made caramel corn and Peanut Butter Rice Krispie treats last weekend, and Choco-Peanut Butter Dreams on Thursday. I need to lay off the baking for a while, but we’re enjoying having these in the house!

4. Little Caesar’s is not my favorite pizza of all, but every now and then that $6 Hot and Ready pizza just hits the spot. Sunday afternoon Jason and Mittu had other plans for lunch, so Jim, Jesse and I just grabbed a couple of pizzas and Crazy Bread on the way home from church for a quick lunch. I used to do big Sunday dinners, but we get home so late, I’m pretty much looking for quick Sunday meals – more time for rest that way! 🙂

5. Cool weather. I love this time of year, and the relief from the heat of summer but not facing the cold of winter for a while yet. And we still have turning leaves to look forward to!

Happy Friday!

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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 week in September has passed already! Here are some of my favorite parts of it.

1. A good visit with the doctor. I had my yearly physical this week and was all prepared for bad blood sugar results (and a scolding) due to all the family birthdays and stay-cation and lack of exercise after surgery. I am not diabetic, but my blood sugar has been higher than normal, so I was supposed to have been working on weight and diet since last time. I was bracing myself – but my blood sugar was lower than last year!

2. These donuts (ironic that I’d mention donuts right after blood sugar issues….). I’m not big into pumpkin-flavored everything this time of year, but these caught my eye in the store, so I thought I’d give them a try. They’re not going to be something I get regularly, but they were nice for a treat.

3. Safety driving. Jesse was in Atlanta with friends over Labor Day weekend and drove there and back safely.

4. Coolness. That crisp, cool fall air that I love about the season arrived this week. We’ll probably still have some hot days off and on, but it’s good to get a taste of fall. (And another aspect of fall is football, which I am generally not much into, but we’ve started watching some UT games since we moved to TN. Their first game last Monday was a nail-biter!)

5. Time with Timothy. First, last weekend I got a voice message from Jason’s phone with Timothy saying, “Grandma!!!! Can come over dere?” I wish I could play it here – it was so cute. Then, our dryer died this week, and I asked Jason and Mittu if I could use their dryer for a couple of loads this morning (Thursday). While there Timothy and I painted at the table and then he wanted me to “play toys” in his room. It was a fun and relaxing time.

Happy Friday!

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