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

After a busy weekend, it’s been kind of a quiet week. Here are some highlights:

1. Jesse’s birthday. It’s a joy to celebrate my youngest son plus all the other good components of a birthday – having the family all together (one via FaceTime) and lots of talking, visiting, fun, and cake!

2. A surprise birthday party. Jason and Mittu wanted to give Jesse a surprise party with his friends, so planned it at their house for the day after the family celebration. They invited him over under the guise of playing games with them and another couple, and Jim and I were supposedly going out on a hot date since all the kids had plans (thankfully Great-Grandma’s caregiver was available to stay with her that evening), so we left early to go over to J&M’s. He didn’t suspect a thing til he drove up and saw cars – there was no way to hide them in the neighborhood. It was a fun evening.

3. Bath aide. I mentioned last week our favorite bath aide for my m-i-l had been out with an injured hand. She’s still wearing a brace but was released to resume work this week.

4. Pudding Chip Cookies. I don’t do much baking for just the three of us – because we I can’t seem to keep my hands off of it, and we can’t send many home with J&M since she is gluten intolerant. But my husband mentioned recently that I ought to make some chocolate chip cookies, and it had been a long time since I had, so I finally found an evening to do so. Scrumptious!

5. The first day of fall. It’s still not feeling and only barely starting to look like fall, but it is official now, and I am looking forward to the rest of the season, trusting it will feel like it soon! I may get out my decorations this weekend.

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 been a fairly nice week. Still hot and humid in the day time but fairly pleasant in the evenings and mornings. I’m still longing for fall coolness, though! I feel like my body has been trying to come down with something, but I’ve gotten some extra rest to try to head it off. Here are some of the best parts of the last week:

1. Grandparent’s Day. I know that’s a holiday that hasn’t caught on in a big way yet. But I am thankful our son and daughter-in-law remember it. 🙂 We came home Sunday afternoon from church to dinner already made, flowers for me, and jerky for Jim, and I wondered what the occasion was. Then they showed us a Grandparent’s Day card Timothy had “signed” for himself. Awww! And earlier in the week Mittu had tried a new recipe and wanted to bring it over to share – Mexican Chicken Casserole. It was very good!

2. AC fixed. We noticed around bedtime last Friday that the AC had been running constantly that evening, and when I woke up in the middle of the night, it was still running. But it wasn’t putting out much air, and the air’s coolness was decreasing. We do have a service contract with the company who sold and installed it, and called them Sat. morning. Thankfully they did work on Saturdays. We hoped it just needed freon, but something with the compressor wasn’t working – a switch, if I remember correctly. Thankfully the guy had the part on his truck. So by the time it was just starting to get uncomfortable, it was fixed. I’m thankful it was done so quickly (my m-i-l has a window AC unit in her room, so she was fine.)

3. Lists made and checked off. I don’t make lists every day or every week, but if I am really busy, or the stuff I list is very important, or if I’m afraid of forgetting something, then I do. This week it wasn’t anything urgent: I just felt a bit scattered and kept forgetting to take care of some little things. So I finally put them down, and it was nice to see them crossed off one by one. One of life’s little pleasures. 🙂

4. Timothy “fixing”. He’s at that age where he learns or says something new every week, if not every day. One day he was tinkering around his little mini lawn chair saying, “I fix it!”

5. Seeing our favorite bath aide. You don’t think of being a bath aide for elderly people as a particularly thrilling job, but one lady from hospice is just superb at it, always cheerful, efficient, caring. She’s our regular person for my m-i-l twice a week. But a few weeks ago another patient grabbed her hand and wrenched it in such a way that it has been swollen and in pain ever since. She’s going to see an orthopedic surgeon next week. So we’ve been missing her. And then she suddenly showed up on our doorstep Thursday! The hospice agency sends the doctor out once ever few months to check on my m-i-l (a nurse comes once a week, and we can call any time we have a need). The doctor always has someone with her, and this time it was our bath aide! She helped take and record vitals for the doctor. It was just so good to see her and hear from her directly how she’s doing.

Hope you’ve had a good week as well!

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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.

Let’s jump right in:

1. A long weekend. Having everyone off for Labor Day makes it feel like we had an extra Saturday in the week. But it means all the other days of the week I’m having to ask myself, “What day is this?” 🙂 I don’t even remember now what we did except for grilling burgers for dinner.

2. A thorough car wash. My dear husband gave my car the deluxe treatment, washing it, vacuuming the carpet, cleaning the mats, even dusting the dashboard.

3. A breakfast biscuit. When I was driving my kids to school, I used to treat myself to breakfast out about once a week. Those days have been over for years, and though I’m up at 6, I’m not usually out and about until a few hours later. But I had to fast for lab work before my physical and got breakfast afterward at a drive-through to bring home . Delicious!

4. Seeing Timothy play with a friend. My son and daughter-in-law had friends in town with a son just 7 months younger than Timothy. I was over for a bit and it was so fun to see the boys playing together like they were old friends, too.

5. Cracker Barrel. I still had a gift card for them from I don’t know when – I think two Christmases ago. I love them but my husband’s not crazy about them, and I’m not usually near one at lunch time. But I was on Wednesday! So I got their meat loaf plate and a slice of Coca Cola cake and brought it home to eat. Plus I got a couple of items in their shop – and still have a bit left on my gift card!

Bonus: We got Mexican Food take-out one night and watched Toy Story – our old video tape of it on our old VHS player. One of the best movies ever, and it was fun to introduce it to Timothy.

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 been another busy week. One reason I love FFF is that it helps me recount blessings that I might otherwise gloss over. I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to work in an FFF post, and thought about just skipping it because I didn’t have anything off the top of my head to share. But after just a few minutes of thinking about it, I came up with more than five. I love this opportunity to stop, think, and be grateful for God’s gifts, large and small.

1. Paying only 80 cents a gallon for gas. Our local grocery store has reward points for their gas station based on grocery purchases. This summer they’ve been offering double reward points if you shop on weekends and coupons good for 100 reward points. So at my last gas stop, I only paid 89 cents per gallon. It’s been a long time since that has happened!

2. Safe travels. My husband and youngest son both had trips this week, and for my son, it was his first time to drive a road trip by himself (which made his mom a little antsy). But all went well.

3. Brunch or a late breakfast at my son and daughter-in-law’s house. Most of our get-togethers are here just due to my husband’s mom being here, but we have someone with her in the mornings, so it was fun to go to their place and especially to have Timothy show us around.

4. Help at home. When Jim is gone, his mother’s care falls to me. One of the nights he was away, Jason and Mittu came over and made dinner and cleaned up the kitchen afterward. That’s a blessing any time, but especially when Jim’s away and I’m feeling overloaded.

5. Shopping with Jesse. We had to take Jesse’s car in to be serviced before his trip, and I followed him when he dropped his car off, then he rode back with me. But that meant he had to accompany me on my errands, which he hadn’t done probably since early high school when I’d have errands after I picked him up from school. It was fun taking him in to the baby department at Target – that’s something he generally wouldn’t be interested in, but having a little nephew now, he was showing me clothes he thought were cute and finding toys he wanted to get him at Christmas. It was fun. 🙂 Plus I found this adorable shirt for Timothy.

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.

It’s been a great week in these parts! Here’s why:

1. My birthday. My husband made his famous Grilled Chicken Teriyaki, everyone contributed to the rest of the meal and set-up/clean up, and Mittu made the GF Texas Sheet Cake. Yummy! Plus they took me to Cheddar’s the night before! It wasn’t our best experience at this restaurant, but the food was great. And I loved everyone’s thoughtful cards and gifts.

2. The rest of our stay-cation. I wrote about it more here, but it was a nice blend of activities and relaxation. I enjoyed the time with the family so much. My oldest son headed back to RI Monday – that seems so long ago already! I think this is the first time I have adopted the mentality that I’m on vacation, too. Usually I don’t feel that way because I still have my regular tasks to do. But really, the housework was done before my son came, and besides dealing with meals and dishes, which others helped with, and a bit of laundry and occasional crumb sweep-up, I was pretty much “off,” too. I enjoyed a lot of reading and resting when we weren’t doing other things.

3. 4 days off from cooking. Between my birthday, getting meals out, and other people cooking during the ten days or so everyone was here, I think I had about 4 days in a row that I didn’t cook. It was nice to have such a break!  And that helped me feel a little more like I was on vacation, too.

4. Learning that the print could be enlarged on my phone. I was lamenting that I couldn’t make out much on my phone without whipping out my glasses, and my husband told me I could enlarge the text. On the iPhone you go to Settings, click General, click Accessibility, then Larger Text, and you can manage how big you want it. That has helped a lot!!!

5. The car starting – after it didn’t. I had just loaded a huge supply of groceries into the back of the van and got in to start the car, and it just clicked. I tried several times and the  tried to call and text Jim. I was just getting ready to call my youngest son, Jesse, to come and rescue the groceries and me when I decided to try one more time. It started rather weakly, and I gave it a little gas, and it did fine. Jim took it to have the battery tested when he got home (it started fine for him!), and found that was the problem. It had a two-year warranty, and we’d had it four years, so it was about time to replace it. It was a relief to know it was fixed and not fear to drive it in case it wouldn’t start again. And though I was distressed (not to mentioned drenched in sweat in a hot car in August), it relatively was short-lived.

That’s my week. How was yours?

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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 been a great week! You’ll understand why from the favorite parts of it listed below:

1. My oldest son is home! His flight was delayed due to weather, which caused him to miss his connection, which bumped him to a flight the following afternoon. But he finally got here last weekend, and we’ve so enjoyed having all the family together again. Lots of talking, eating, and a little bit of playing games. That’s also why I have been mostly absent from the blog this week, except for a post about bookcases. 🙂

2. His birthday was this week!

3. A family outing. My husband had found a deal on tickets to the Ripley’s attractions in Gatlinburg, so we all went to the aquarium on Monday. The best part was following Timothy around and seeing his excitement. Then we stopped at a Mellow Mushroom in Pigeon Forge for lunch on the way back. It’s almost become a tradition to stop there since some years ago we got caught in non-moving traffic on the way to that area to look at Christmas lights and finally gave up and stopped to eat.

4. Finding a frame. I’ve had this Karla Dornacher print for a long time, planning to pair it with a piece I had cross-stitched a couple of years ago. I just recently found a frame that goes in the family room perfectly and got it hung up.

5. Rearranging. I don’t rearrange furniture much, but every now and then as I look at the decorating, I realize something would work much better in a different place. I had several such light bulb moments recently, and it helps me appreciate what I have all the more and see it in a new light.

Sometimes I can get into a “poor me” attitude when thinking that everyone else gets a vacation from their regular duties, but I don’t except in small doses. But, really, I do in some ways: one afternoon when thinking that I should be doing something productive, I thought, You know what? It’s vacation week: I can just relax until the next meal time. And we do tend to have a few more meals out when all the family is here, so there’s a break in that regard as well. Even though it’s been a busy week in some respects, there’s been time for relaxation, naps, and even curling up to read in the middle of the afternoon, a rarity.

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.

How did it get it be two weeks into August already?!  Here are a few favorites from the last week:

1.My son and daughter-in-law’s 7th anniversary. Jesse and I had fun dropping in over at their house to deliver flowers, a card, and some chocolate.

2. Baby-sitting Timothy so his parents could go out for their anniversary. I wasn’t sure how he would do being away from them, but except for asking about them several times, he did fine. I’m glad he enjoys being here. They celebrated early on Saturday, going out for the morning and then out for lunch. Then they came to our house and made nachos for dinner. Trading baby-sitting for dinner sounds like a good deal to me!

3. The Olympics. I don’t watch athletics much, but there is something about the Olympics! I just wish they wouldn’t show the parts I like best late at night. 🙂

4. Spray paint. In addition the the cart mentioned last week, I painted this button decoration for my sewing room. I’m getting better at it! I’ve had the blue and white/beige one for a while, trying to decide where to put them up. They only other color they had was red, which I didn’t want, so recently I got another of the white-ish ones and painted it pink. I may paint that white/beige one a purer white at some point, though I do like the shading. Once again, on sale 40% off and purchased with gift cards.

By the way, I did have the opportunity to use both Cricut machines on their new cart this week, and the set-up worked great!

5. A preview of gluten-free Texas Sheet Cake. Texas Sheet Cake is probably my favorite cake. Last year for my birthday we got a Coca-Cola Cake from Cracker Barrel, which is pretty close to it, but it was humongous and my gluten-sensitive daughter-in-law couldn’t eat it. My birthday is coming up later this month, and I found a couple of GF TSC recipes to see if anyone wanted to try their hand at it for my birthday, and if not, the Cracker Barrel cake would be fine again. Mittu did a practice cake this past week to test it out, and they happened to have it the evening I dropped in, so I got to try a sample. It turned out really well! A lot of GF cakes are kind of heavy, but this turned out just right. I am looking forward to more later in the month!

And a bonus for this week: anticipation! My oldest son is coming to visit from RI soon!

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.

Another busy week has come and gone. I’m grateful for this time to look back over it and remember the blessings I might otherwise forget. Here are a few:

1. Rain and clouds provided a respite from blistering temperatures for a few days.

2. My mother-in-law’s regular caregiver was on vacation last week, and the person who was supposed to take her place, whom we’d had before, injured herself, so we had someone completely new. Things did not start off smoothly — but we all survived the week, and our regular person is back now.

3. Perking up my planters with a few new flowers and digging the weeds out of them brightened up our entryway. While doing that I saw this in the dirt – at first I thought it was some creature’s nose, but my Facebook friends assure me it is a black walnut. Interesting!

I think it looks like a monkey’s nostrils. One friend thought it looked like a pig’s nose; another thought it looked like an owl’s face.

4. A new cart for my craft/sewing room. I’d had my eye on it for some time at JoAnn’s web site (they didn’t have it in stores). It was more expensive than I liked, but I finally caught it on a half-price sale with a coupon for free shipping.

5. Rescuers. I had not liked all the colors of the drawers of the above-mentioned cart, but decided I’d paint a few of them. The white ones went very well, but the pink ones were a disaster. My dear husband finished off both of them for me, and then he and Jesse (youngest son) put it all together for me. I have to be careful of the painted ones because the paint does scratch or chip easily, but I like the look much better.

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.

Hard to believe we’re at the end of another month, but this has been a hot one, so I am glad for it to go and bring us one step closer to fall and cooler weather. 🙂 Here are some of the best parts of the last week:

1. Sunday dinner prepared by my daughter-in-law. They had guests that came in late Sat. night and then left too late for them to get ready for church. So they came over to our house and made lunch while we were at church. So nice to come home to great smells and good food and company!

2. FaceTime with my little grandson. It’s nice to touch base during the week. He’ll chatter and show me things in his room and blow kisses. ♥

3. A new storage solution. I found these stamp storage bags at Hobby Lobby actually while looking for a different kind that I had seen on Pinterest. The ones I was originally looking for were more expensive and just opened on one side. These were cheaper and unzipped all the way around, making it easier to get to the one you want. I don’t stamp too very much any more, but having them organized and out of shoe boxes will encourage using them more than I have been. And, I still have balance on my Hobby Lobby gift cards, so they were free to me.

4. Another storage solution. I was looking for a plastic bin I could put on its side on a closet shelf to keep the items there from getting dusty. I couldn’t find anything plastic that would fit in that space, but I did find an oversized tote that fits just right. It has these wire things that go down the side to keep the sides firm, so it’s not collapsing like something made of fabric normally would. I like it!

5. Sweet comments on my 10th blogging anniversary post. The people I’ve met and friendships that have formed have been some of the best parts of blogging.

Happy Friday and Happy End of July!

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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.

We’re over halfway through July and heading toward August! Here are some favorite parts of the last week:

1. Jason’s birthday. We kind of extended the celebration: since his birthday was on a week day, we had our main celebration on Saturday but then got together to play Settlers of Cataan on the actual day. Always a joy to celebrate God’s gift of my middle son. ♥

2. Grilled pizza. This was the main dish for Jason’s birthday – which Mittu put together and Jason grilled. They were all very good, especially the dessert pizza. 🙂

3. Being back in the gym is an odd listing since that’s not my favorite thing to do or place to be. But I do feel better afterward. Last week I had only been able to get out one day for various reasons, and it felt good to get back to it this week.

4. Power restored. I’ve mentioned several times being thankful for not losing power during storms. We actually did lose power on Saturday evening, but there were no storms – we never did figure out what caused it. Thankfully we had my mother-in-law’s dinner already pureed and heated when it happened, but we also had her flat on her back, changing her – and you can’t raise the hospital bed with no electricity! Yikes! But we used the Hoyer lift to get her in a seated position in her wheelchair and fed her there. I figured evening/nighttime was probably the best time for it to go out, and we’d just go to bed early. But thankfully it came back on later in the evening. Just having it off for that amount of time made me appreciate it so much more.

5. Two more new successful recipe experiments: Macaroni Sausage Stir-Fry and One-Skillet Chicken Parmesan.

Bonus: This photo. ♥♥♥

Happy Friday!

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