It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are five favorite parts of the last week:

1. Stability. My little grandson in the NICU was having a lot of trouble earlier this week with apnea and bradycardia (episodes of breathing rate and heart rate slowing down). They put him on a CPAP machine, and the episodes are infrequent now. They have no way to predict how long he’ll be on it: they say some preemie babies have these episodes almost until their original due date, while others don’t. Otherwise he is doing well.

2. A finished internship. My youngest had to complete an internship for his associate’s degree this semester. He had to get a certain number of hours in, and I was concerned because he did not find an internship until a few weeks into the semester. But he got it finished and turned in all the paperwork yesterday. That is such a relief!

3. Lesser storms than predicted. Much of the country has experienced severe weather this week. We had thunderstorms one night with predictions of hail and a tornado warning, but thankfully none materialized in our area. My heart goes out to many who lost loved ones or property.

4. Ibuprofen and Icy Hot patches. I did something to my lower back earlier this week – I am not sure what. But those two products made it bearable and enabled me to function. It’s almost completely back to normal now.

5. Good food. Two favorites: Jim made teriyaki chicken on Sunday, and yesterday I made one of my favorite things for lunch, a grilled cheese sandwich with leftover meat loaf. Yum!

Hope you’ve had a great week as well!

 It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are five favorite parts of the last week:

It has been quite the week here! My #1 favorite below will likely be the favorite part of this year!

1. The birth of my first grandson. Though he is very premature, and we would’ve liked for him to have waited a little while til his body was more ready to meet the world, it has been nice to be able to see him and touch him. Everything is going well so far, though he will probably be in the NICU for a couple of months yet. My latest update is here.

2. An in-house dinner date. My youngest was out last Friday night, so I called my husband and he brought home take-out from Red Lobster. Good stuff.

3. Working on a project together. My husband and I went together last Saturday to pick out plants to replace some bushes he took out as well as some for hanging pots and for a row in front of the rose bushes. Then we came home and worked on the hanging pots together, then he planted the rest. Often we have to “divide and conquer” to get things done, so it was fun to do this together.

4. Replacement bush. Some of you may remember a “fave five” from several weeks ago where I mentioned finally getting rid of a bush by the front door that I never liked. We replaced it with a hibiscus and added another planter. I like it much better! I was going to take a before and after picture, but we had some unexpected frost this week that is making the hibiscus look a little shriveled. I hope it can bounce back.

5. Pizza from a place that I love but my husband doesn’t care for. I was craving it on the way back from the hospital earlier today and sprang for one. 🙂

Hope you have a great weekend and a wonderful time reflecting on the meaning of this Easter season, that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3-4.)

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

Some weeks you have to really search for five favorite things: some weeks you have enough to do a couple of “fave fives!” Here are some highlights from my week:

1. Getting a haircut. Nothing radical, but I had either been unable or unmotivated to get to it for weeks and was way overdue. My hair cooperates much better at a certain length. And I was able to snip at a couple of areas I didn’t like as well and have it all turn out ok – that doesn’t always happen. 😀

2. Putting winter clothes away even though we’re still having some cold days. I do still have sweaters and jackets in the hall closet. 🙂 Those dark, heavier things that are so cozy in the fall and winter just seemed oppressive to me now. Love the look of my closet with springy colors! I used to work in a fabric store and loved the transformation when we got the store ready for spring and put away the wools and darker fabrics.

3. The first day of spring! I had thought, for some reason, that it was Sunday, so I was delightedly surprised when I went on Facebook and say people heralding the first day of spring yesterday.

4. Job offers for my youngest son. He’s about to finish up his associate’s degree in May. In one of his classes different groups are doing projects for businesses in town, and in a meeting the man they are working with, he told Jesse he’d like for him to send him his resume. Of course, that might not lead to anything, but it was encouraging! Then his school held a job fair this week, and Jesse visited booths and passed out resumes. One in particular seemed to hold some promise.

5. Getting rid of a bush I’ve always disliked that was right by the front door. I don’t know what variety it was, but it looked like a fir tree collapsed in on itself. I’ve never liked it and asked about getting it removed, but my husband wanted to keep it there. It’s been dying out (no, I didn’t help it along 🙂 ), and he finally removed it last Saturday. Now we get to decide what to replace it with!

Bonus: Not getting the snow that was forecast one day this week. Right now my weather apps are showing that we might get some next week – hopefully it will pass us by then, too.

Hope you’re having a great 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. Here are some of mine:

1. The Olympic Skater’s Gala, when some of the figure skater’s perform something of an encore. I had actually forgotten about it and thought the skating was all done, so I was pleasantly surprised that there was one more event. It’s especially fun because there is no judging and therefore less pressure.

2. A cute little spring dish towel, bought with a gift card on my shopping excursion last week.

3. Getting these done:

I’ve been taking the multitude of loose recipes I had stacked up from many years of tearing them out of magazines and putting them in scrapbook-like notebooks, working on it in the evenings. I didn’t get at all fancy with it, because then it would have taken me twice as long. I still need to work on some of the inside labeling, but they are already easier to use. Plus since they are in page-protectors, they won’t get splattered.

4. Exercise DVDs – which is ironic for me to say, because I approach exercise with gritted teeth and grim determination, though I always feel better afterward and am glad I did it. But I’ve accumulated a few of them over the years, so I can vary the workouts and not get bored, plus they allow me to be able to exercise in my own home. My favorites are “The Biggest Loser Power Walk” and Leslie Sansone’s “Five Mega Miles,” because each is divided up into 15 minute segments which are supposed to cover a mile each, yet they also include some exercises for arms with weights or a stretch band, so I usually do a couple of segments a day. Having some variety is important for me.

5. Throw blankets. I know I have mentioned them before, but they’re just so cozy for cool evenings. I even use one on my bed at night over my bedspread, and it’s just enough. I don’t know what they’re made out of, but they have just the right degree of coziness – not too hot or cool.

Hope you’ve had a great week as well!