Kisses

51.  Thankful for hugs and kisses.  
52.  Thankful for chocolate kisses.
53.  Thankful for dog kisses.  Not.  But I am thankful for my dog.

Let's Move This Along

Halfway through the month.  Feel the need to get to 50.
41.  Thankful for Sundays.  Fingerpainted in Sunday School, sang songs I knew the words to in worship service, ate a late lunch, took a long nap, watched a little football, snuggled with the SLD.  I needed that.
42.  Thankful for my girls.  So glad to see the women they are becoming.  Don't know that I can claim any responsibility, but I'm glad to have a part in their lives.
43.  Thankful they are all thinking about moving to Wyoming.  This will make my life better.
43.  Thankful for my son.  I'm probably more responsible for the person he is than I would care to admit, but I like him.  Looking forward to hugging him next week.
44.  Thankful for sunshine. Love the way it spreads across the ground early in the morning, warms the air in the afternoon, and colors the clouds as it sets in the evening.
45.  Thankful for napkins.  And for the STP who points out food on my chin that needs wiped off.
46.  Thankful for toilet paper.  While we are on the subject of paper products.  Just sayin.
47.  Thankful for craft ideas.  I need to get moving actually making some, but it's good to have a starting point.  Lets just say it--I'm thankful for Pinterest.
48.  Thankful for my gratitude list.  The focus is good for me.  When the Goob was little, we would recount the story of the day and always end it with "all in all, it was a very good day".  It does me good to look back over the day and see the good that was there.
49.  Thankful for tomorrow off.  No pressure to go to bed early, to finish up things tonight.  There's always tomorrow.
50.  Thankful for starry nights.  Something so awe inspiring about the night sky.  Wyoming does starry skies like no other.  Thankful to be here.

Grace, Peace, Love

38.  Thankful for grace.  Several quotes about grace have crossed my path this week.
This one from the December issue of Real Simple magazine:  Hoping we've made the "nice" list helps reassure chiuldren that they're worthy,despite their failings and misbehaviors, of the love, goodwill, and yes, even the presents that come their way during the holidays.  It's not Santa's magic that children cling to and need, but his grace.
The second one from an old Esquire magazine article about Mr. Rogers who added the Greek word for grace to his autograph:  What is grace? He doesn't even know. He can't define it. This is a man who loves the simplifying force of definitions, and yet all he knows of grace is how he gets it; all he knows is that he gets it from God, through man.
A third one from Paul's letter to the Thessalonians:  The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you.
I just share these just so I can ponder them a little more.  Thankful for the favors extended to me this week which I was surely not deserving of.
39.  Thankful for peace. A quiet heart in the midst of a turbulent world. Peace that surpasses understanding.
40.  Thankful for love.  Good to be loved.  Good to know I am loved. Even when I am not very lovable.

Claire Marie and Abigail Lee

34.  Thankful for my granddaughter (the best granddaughter in the world) who calls me up to sing me silly songs.  Love her gentle spirit and easy laugh.
35.  Thankful for her mom, my middle daughter.  The child who only knew sharing, and has grown up to be one of the most generous, compassionate people I know.
36.  Thankful for whomever told me during her junior high years that the most vocal teenagers make the most well adjusted adults.
37.  Thankful it was true.

Out of Nowhere

31.  Thankful the damage done by the deer I hit on my way to work this morning did not make my car undrivable.
32.  Thankful my dad taught me 'it's only metal'.
33.  Thankful the STP's first question was 'Are you okay?'

Three Little Things

28.  Thankful for anticipation. Have tickets to see Mannheim Steamroller in concert next week.  Spending the night in the big city.  Thirty percent off at Kohl's and $10 Kohl's cash.

29.  Thankful for Rachel Ray's taco seasoning recipe.   Good.  Easy.  Gluten free.

30.  Thankful for my oldest grandson.  Love his tender spirit.  His sensitivity.  His smile.

Monday, Monday

25.  Thankful for the STP to share my adventures with.  Even the nasty disturbing uncomfortable ones.
26.  Thankful for Hobby Lobby.  Spent an hour there today on sensory overload. Replaced my number 6 round paintbrush.  And bought a few supplies to update the Christmas wreath/frame.  I have a plan that involves spray paint.  So excited.
27.  Thankful that Diet Pepsi no longer has aspertame.

Sunday, Sunday

21.  Thankful for uninterrupted sleep.  Last night I got 5 hours.  Tonight I hope to get eight.
22.  Thankful for naps.  Sunday afternoons are perfect for napping.  Just me, my dog, an afghan, and the couch.
23.  Thankful for prayers.  Unspoken ones.  Answered ones.  Unanswered ones. Because they all stretch and strenghthen my faith.
24.  Thankful for pray-ers.  People who lift me up in prayer.  People who pray about the things I pray about.  People who pray even when they don't know what they are praying for.

More Thankful Than I Sound

17.  Thankful for shoeboxes.  Packed ours for a boy this year.  Thankful for getting things done on time.
18.  Thankful for nurses who really care for patients.  Privileged to see several in action today--providing care (including a hug) in a busy ER.
19.  Thankful that I had no need to be a patient in the ER today.
20.  Thankful for homemade salad dressing. And salads with strawberries in them.

Replace, Repair,...

 It was not a spectacular year in the garden, but I grew enough hot peppers to be deemed 'the pepper lady' at work and I had stellar crop of carrots.

But the SFG fell apart at the end of the season. 

So I informed the STP that it would need some attention, either now or in the Spring.  He went out right away to survey the situation.  One side completely separated from the other three.  All the decorative corner pieces loose and falling off.  He asked if I wanted it replaced or repaired.  I was not very committed to gardening this summer and I was not ready to commit to a new garden, so I chose repair.  The STP got right to work.  Reattaching the fallen side and strengthening the corners.

Two corners look like this.  Since I am not complaining this month, I suggested that this did not meet my expectations, because I only have 16 square feet of garden and he had made almost an entire square foot unusable.  

So he repaired the third corner like this.

Once again my photography skills do not do this justice, because you can not see that there are three staples holding the L-shaped brace together.  

And now just a reminder what these corners looked like originally.

So I prefaced my next comments to the STP by reminding him that I wasn't whining, BUT I realized that I did not want the SFG replaced or repaired.  I wanted it restored.  The STP reminded me that wasn't one of my choices.  Fair enough.

Thanksgiving Pictorial Post

14.  Thankful for frosted window panes

The sun roof in my car early yesterday morning.  Love that little water molecules line themselves up when they get cold.  The microbiologist is me is attracted to little things.  Talking to the STP yesterday about nanotubes.  

Me:  I love the very idea of nanos.  I wish I was...

   I was thinking I wish I was starting my career over because I would be drawn to nantechnology.  I almost said younger, but that wasn't quite what I wanted to say.  While I was searching the hollows
of my mind for the right word the STP finished my sentence for me.
STP:  Tiny?  
Yes.  That's it.  I wish I was tiny.  Nano size.
End of conversation.

15.  Thankful for seat heaters.    (Especially appreciated yesterday morning when the window panes were frosted.) If you have these in your car I don't need to explain.

If you don't have them, I don't need to rub it in.

16.  Thankful for things that go honk in the night.

My day started early yesterday and ended early.  Early this morning.  When I was headed inside about 1:30am a large flock of geese flew overhead.  Headed south.  They were travelling loudly in a wide V, silhouetted white against the very dark sky.  I stood looking upward, hearing them first and then watching them fly directly overhead.  Then I took out my phone and snapped this awesome picture of the night sky, so I would remember to tell someone about it.  Guess you had to be there. 

Baker's Dozen

10.  Thankful for tea.  Having a cup of green tea this evening.  Wrapping my hands around the warm mug.  Wafting the aroma until it is cool enough to sip.  Eating two thin oreas while I wait.   An evening cup of tea is being at my sister's house watching Tiny Houses.    An evening cup of tea is being at my Mom's house.  She fixed my Dad a cup each evening with milk and sugar.  Her care for him is an encouragement to me that I will be able to handle the hard times with strength and grace (maybe being a graduate of the Grace Lane School of Compassion is a good thing)  A cup of tea ties me to family.
11.  Thankful for bread.  Had a candlelight soup dinner tonight.  Pure yummy without any of the work.  Fresh warm rolls dipped in brocolli cheese soup?  Yes, please.
12.  Thankful for dark chocolate.  Little Dove chocolates that I have convinced myself are lowering my cholesterol.
13.  Thankful for bed.  Plan to use my beach app tonight to pretend I have a beach house.  Love falling asleep at the shore (even if it is snowing outside for real.)

Before and After or Happy Landing

The little landing at the house next door.  Along with the steps to the basement this was covered with carpet when we bought the house.  We left the carpet in place until the basement remodel was done.  And then we just cleaned it off and called it good.  

Except it wasn't.




The very first thing I pinned on The House Next Door board was a painted floor.  I thought I would have to paint the front porch floor, but it sanded off so well that we just resealed it.  But I never gave up the idea of a painted floor.










The steps above the landing still had linoleum on them, covered with some sort of adhesive.  The steps below the landing were wooden and I repainted them earlier.  The little landing was wood, covered with varying amounts of paint, old linoleum, and sticky black stuff.

After several weeks of sanding and scraping, planning and painting in spurts fit between my work schedule and the need to go up and down the steps, this is what I ended up with.  All done with supplies that I already had. Total cost?  $4.95 for sealing wax for the linoleum left on the steps. (And one 6 round paint brush)

Total return?  A happy little welcome everytime the downstairs tenants come home and a little spot of happy for the upstairs tenants when they go and come from the laundry room.  For me-- three weeks of happy--designing and painting. Seeing an idea become reality. Transformation.  It's what this HND project is about.

Happy
Happy
Happy

Thank God

Thanks be to God.  It only makes sense that thankfulness is extended to someone.  A Provider.
Just sayin'.
7.  Thankful for my Tuesday morning Bible study ladies.  A group of a dozen amazing women who study, discuss, challenge and pray for each other. Today we discussed what our glorified bodies would be like.  Whether we would be wearing shoes when we are caught up to meet Jesus in the air.  Why, if we were dead in Christ, we would come back for our bodies.  If the dead rise first, how much later will those alive get caught up?  If the world is round how will we all see Jesus at the same time? What will facebook posts look like on the day of the rapture?  In the midst of that we talked about hope.
Put your hope in the LORD.  For there is faithful love with the LORD, and with Him is redemption in abundance.  
Psalm 130:7
And we talked about balance.  All in under two hours.  I told you they are amazing.
8.  Thankful for rain.  Something refreshing, cleansing, nourishing about evening rain.  Especially when I dont have to go out in it.
9.  Thankful for honey butter.  A yummy discovery I made tonight.  I will be making this in the very near future.  Eating it on toast.  (Or with a spoon.)

About My Day--Too Busy for Whining

Started the morning with a list of things I wanted to get done today. Added some things I wanted the STP to get done today.  Crossed everything off the list (except vacuum the living room, but, hey, I only added that because I thought I should, not because I wanted to).  Added a few things that the STP did that were not originally on the list.  The STP does not operate well from a list.  Just saying.

4.  I'm thankful for accomplishments. Today I paid some first of the month bills.  And I had money left over.  Right up until the mail came.  With more bills.  So I will add 'Pay bills' to tomorrow's list.  Today's list also included paint the floor, wax the steps, till the garden, rake the leaves, wash the shower curtain, water plants and dust the big room, take down the porch swing, put up the hooks in anticipation of hanging snowflakes, clean the fan and finish my Bible study.  All done.  All crossed off.  But seriously, if all I had accomplished today was painting this bird, I would still be thankful.

5.  I'm thankful for orange envelopes in the mail.  Today, along with the bills, the mail lady delivered a shutterfly envelope.  With a 2016 calendar with pictures of our family.  And while it made me happy, it made the STP sad.  Because we don't see enough of them. I will feel that way another day, but today I just felt happy that there so many pictures of us together.  And so many pictures of all of them doing well.  I'm going to look through it again before I go to bed. So thankful that I will have this to look at all next year.  Thankful for whomever put it together.  Here is a facetime picture of the best granddaughter in the world. Its not from the calendar, but it also makes me happy. This is the beautiful child who read me the creation story from her Bible.  Like I said, the best.

6.  I'm thankful for play.  This month my play involved paint.  The STPs play involved hunting and climbing rock cliff walls and tying a rope to himself and having his hunting buddy lower him over the side of the cliff to retrieve his gun.  The STP and I do not play well together.  Play involves something where you don't know the outcome, so both our endeavors qualify.  Here is where my project ended up.  I had several plans, several revisions, and I'm not sure yet that I am happy with the final result, but I am very happy with the way some parts turned out.  And I'm thankful for the chance to do it.  

Need to add "Varnish the floor" to the list.

No-whining-vember

Whining because I am dissatisfied.  Dissatisfied because I focus on the negative instead of the positive.  Intensifed when I am tired.  

1.  Thankful for the STP who reminded me this morning that I have been given a great gift from my Creator.  The gift of choice.  

So I am choosing gratitude for the month of November.  Focusing on the positive.  Recognizing the good. 

2.  Thankful for the gift of choice.  I am not always good at choosing.  I don't always make good choices.  But I am thankful for the freedom to choose. Which comes with the freedom to fail. 

So even if I don't make it to 100 before the first of December, or if I get overtired and whine, my Creator (and the STP) will still love me.  

3.  Thankful for the Word of God which tells me that I am loved.  Jesus loves me this I know.  In the past two weeks, I have had the privilege to listen to three beautiful young women read aloud from their new Bibles.  One read me the story of the creation of Eve.  Moved to think of the Father sharing those first moments with his daughter in the garden.  Delighting in her discovery of a waterfall.  

I got that.  

Snow Way

Saw a snow plow on my way to work this morning.  No snow, just a plow with flashing lights, driving along a snowless road.  Thinking that is like seeing a robin in the spring.  Saw my first snow plow today.  Winter can't be far away.

Bad Hair Days

One of two things is happening.
 Possibility #1.  My hair has reached critical mass where the number of gray hairs on my head outnumbers the brown hairs on my head. When I discovered my first gray hairs many years ago (you know, the ones that stick weirdly out of the top of your head) I wondered what my hair would look like when they were all gray hairs sticking out of my head in every direction possible. Yesterday that happened.  It was not pretty.
 Possibility #2.  My hair is possessed by an evil spirit.  The more attention I pay to it, the more power it claims.  Today that seemed like a pretty real possibility.  It was not pretty.
I either need an exorcism or a haircut.

Corn Tortillas-Take One

This morning at 2:15am I was sitting at work waiting for someone to pee.  ('cause I didn't make an informed decision about my career choice when I was 17yo)  And I decided in the moment that I wanted to learn to make my own corn tortillas.  Fresh tortillas.  I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it. And I came home from church this afternoon on a mission.  Oddly, I already had masa harina, a plastic shopping bag, and a tortilla press in my cupboard.  (Unlike last Sunday when I had to borrow 4 eggs at 10:30pm to make cherry bars) Because the STP had a desire for fresh corn tortillas a long time ago.  (That's what make this marriage work.  We think alike--just years apart.)  Here is what I learned:  I need a bigger cast iron skillet or griddle.  My tortilla press does not work as well as the press in the youtube video.  You should have a plan for what you plan to put in your tortillas before you start cooking them.  All said and done, with the STP's enthusiastic help, we had quesadillas for lunch today made with fresh homemade corn tortillas.  And I am determined to get good at this. Putting "Master Corn Tortillas" on my bucket list.
I'm not on call tonight. Plan to sleep straight thru the night.  Unless I have to get up at 2:15 to pee.

If I Took My Camera to the Camp Out

I would have snapped a picture of our tent in the woods.  I would have taken a picture of our queen sized air mattress before it deflated.  I would have taken a picture of the STP sleeping flat on the ground and me up in the air. A picture of my feet wearing my pink wool socks.   And one of my sleeping bag with a lump in the bottom where the SLD was snuggled.

I would have taken a picture of the campfire.  One with high dancing flames and another with red hot coals.  And the perfectly toasted marshmallow just before I put it inside a peanut butter oreo. S'moreos.  You would have taken a picture of me with my mouth open wide, stuffing a peanut butter s'moreo inside.  And one of everyone who ate a s'moreo.  

I would have taken a picture of the SLD in the kayak with the STP and myself.  It would have us all three perfectly framed.  Smiling. I would take it with a selfie stick (if I had one) so my face would not be disproportionately large and distorted.  And the SLD would be looking at the camera.  And the background would be lake and mountains with pine trees and blue skies with white clouds.

I would have taken a picture of the cow and calf moose along the shore of Sibley Lake.  You would be able to see what large majestic animals they are.  I would have taken a picture of the beaver dam and the pine tree the beavers were cutting down. Cut deep in on opposite sides of the tree.  I would have taken a close up of the wood chips on the ground around the tree so you could imagine how big and strong beaver teeth must be.  I would have taken a picture of the seaweed in the lake shimmering as its flat surface reflected the sun.  And a picture of the kayaks on top or the car.  

I would have taken a picture of the glassy lake surface when we went back for an evening kayak ride. And a million of the sunset.  From the lake.  From the car.  Glory rays shooting up from the horizon. You know I would.

I would have taken a picture of the STP preaching at the worship service outside.  And I would have snapped one of my friend Lisa standing behind her tripod on top of an ATV taking the group picture. And a picture of all the church campers lined up waiting for fellowship dinner.  

At least one of the rocks we went to see on the ATV.  The ones we climbed over and on.  I would have posed by the hoodoo so it looked like I was holding it up and I would have asked the STP to take my picture.  And I would have taken a picture of the deep pool in the stream so I could remember how clear the water was and how I could see the fish swimming.  

I would have taken a picture of the food I cooked and the food I ate.  Pizza Nachos.  Salmon/green bean foil packets.  Taco salad.  

I would have taken a picture of our tent coming down.  The empty campsite.  Of two little ones stomping their feet and refusing to leave when their parents insisted it was time to go home.   Because I felt the same way.  

And then I would leave the pictures on my camera.  Or delete them by accident.