I do have things to be thankful for and even took a photo for today's blog post. Unfortunately when I inserted the SD card into my laptop, it got stuck there and it wouldn't even open. It is still stuck there. I will try again tomorrow but otherwise it might have to wait until someone more competent, namely my son Nathan, is able to remove it.
While you wait, please feel free to click on the link at The Garden Trail and another post is pending, after a gentle admonition from a good friend who reminded me I've been a bit slack there lately. In the meantime, I've added a photo that I recently received, via DVD from my one of my sister-in-laws. Yes, it is similar to another one, but this one is 'new'.
I can not remember a time when I couldn't read, nor a time when I didn't enjoy reading. I would devour books but usually only read them once, even if I own them. I'm happy to lend them out. So today, I am thankful for books. Books include biographies, information, humour and entertainment. The only problem is, I have to read 'one more chapter' before I go to sleep and more than likely, I have to read all the chapters so I can go to sleep. I am also very oblivious to anything going around me and will read even if the TV is blaring in the background. If it's a good book, I will not hear chatter around me and if it's a good book, housework will just have to wait! The longer the book, the longer my enjoyment. I am thankful for books!!
I am thankful that the 'drama' and frustration over being billed by a wrong phone company plus being given misinformation by 'my' phone company, has been sorted out and I don't have to pay that bill. Yay!
I am thankful that today was such a beautiful day, with blue skies and lovely warm sunshine. I went to a new church this morning and this afternoon, I met my son's girlfriend's parents. It was a good day and this photo was taken as I was driving.
I am thankful for my son Nathan. While he was here with me this week, he got the TV/Set top box/DVD working and we watched movies together, he put together the bed that I bought him, so he no longer has to sleep on a mattress on the floor and we just had fun being together.
I am thankful for clotheslines and fresh air. I love the smell of clean sheets when I get into bed. Clothes, linen and other things hung out to dry, smell fresher than if dried in a drier. That's my opinion and like Dave says, "................... are like opinions, everyone has one." Only, in all the unpredictability of my day, I forgot to get my clothes off the line and now it's late and dark out so they'll have to stay there until tomorrow.
This morning I received a Christmas package from Nick and Jennifer. I am so thankful for their love and support and every day I think of them. Jennifer wrote in the card, "We mis you more and more everyday" which is so sweet. In the package was jewelry, photos of the boys and they each coloured in a picture of a horse. They are so thoughtful and of course, I had to call Nick after that and talk to my no-son, Son, some.
I am thankful for my "drinking buddy" Carolyne who came and stayed for a couple of days and drank diet coke with me and ate chocolate. We had so much fun together and visited my new school, did some shopping for my classroom and stayed up late last night talking and sharing and exploring school websites together. Her younger son was dismayed that his mother would come and visit me without him being able to tag along so Carolyne promised that he could come next time, as well as his older sister. It was good!
P.S. Not that it matters, but in the photo I am sitting on a bar stool height and Carolyne is standing. :)
This morning, the post lady drove up in her van and handed me a package which was from my beautiful step-daughter, Liz. The first thing I pulled out of the box, was a gorgeous stuffed horse and since I'd been wishing I could go riding today, I cuddled it to my face and cried a little. She sent me photos and a box of chocolates that had photos of Spokane on the box so I'll need to keep the box as a souvenir. She sent me a lovely card with words to make me cry again. I feel homesick and I miss Dave the most, but miss my family and friends too.
As strange as it may seem, I am thankful that I found a hairdresser I liked and who did a good job on my hair. I had found the salon online without any recommendations and my first appointment was for a perm. Perms can be fickle although usually my perms last for more than a year which is unusual. But also going to an unknown means I didn't know if I'd get on well with the person working on my hair. It all turned out good and I found out, too, that some of the new friends I made from school here, also go there.
This morning, a friend dropped off a desk to my house as he noticed I didn't have one and his wife no longer needed the one they had. Since it didn't have any drawers, I went shopping for a bit and found a cheap set of drawers that fit perfectly in with the desk. I am thankful for my 'new' desk.
Today I am thankful for roses and other flowers. They look pretty and add beauty where ugliness may dominate. It's wonderful to go for a walk and find a small flower growing wildly, adding colour and beauty. Seeing a flower is a reminder that there will always be hope in situations where it seems hopeless. Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the flowers.
Today I am thankful for fresh bread. I walked to the bakery and bought a loaf of white sandwich bread and made a sandwich of cheese, tomato, lettuce and beetroot. To me, the bread in Australia is so much more delicious than the bread we ate in the States - but that's my own personal opinion. Mmmmm! Fresh bread!
I am thankful for the family I married in to. Even though this photo wasn't taken today, I still talked to Mom and Dad Flowers, Dan, Rhonda and Brent via Skype and/or Facebook. They have welcomed me into their family and if 'feelings' are anything to go by, they are my brothers and sisters. When I was staying with Dan and Rhonda in April last year, Brent puts his legs up on me and I pushed them off as sisters do. Dan is so much like Dave but such a brother to me that I wouldn't have it any other way. They're my family and I love them so much. We've all gotten closer since Dave passed away. No matter what, they are my family and will always be welcomed as such!
Well, since my rule is that this is a photo shoot of things I'm thankful for, and since Carolyn and I 'forgot' to get our photo taken together, I will have to settle for being thankful for the delicious meal I enjoyed when Carolyn and I went out for dinner tonight. But "behind" being thankful for the meal, is being thankful for the friendship that I have had with Carolyn for just over 30 years, and the constant encouragement and love, she shows to me. I am thankful for the friendship I share with Carolyn. I am also thankful that she didn't insist that I finish eating that meal!!!
