I’ve got thirty minutes before I have to get serious about getting to work today. My schedule changed again so I worked yesterday morning and didn’t get a chance to post my Thankful Thursday.

Today, I’m working this morning, taking an extended break, and returning for the afternoon. Always something.

Just mostly photos (still from the Arkansas trip, phone photos, hopefully, no duplicates to what I already posted. No promises though) and a list today.

1. Having a chance to getaway in October and spend time in a beautiful place with good friends.
2. Great weather for the trip.
3. All the time spent in nature
4. And a chance to be near the water so much. Something about being near water is just soothing to my soul. I think this little creature liked the water as well.
5. That are kids are of the age where we could leave them and not worry (at least not too much)
6. Getting everything (finally) straightened out with J’s school. Mostly. They tell me I have to fill out forms.
7. Super caring and understanding band director who is leaving a spot open for my son when he returns next semester.
8. Wearing pajamas to work today. Hello, pajama day!
9. The way the preschool kids at work make me laugh every single day I’m there. I do love those kids. (Love my own older boys here as well, of course)
10. That J wanted to go practice driving yesterday and that we have a big empty parking lot nearby where he could do that.
11. That the hibiscus survived when G put it outside to make room in the living room for a small friend gathering while we were away. Waiting to see about Lucinda the Lemon tree…she’s not looking so good.
12. Also thankful G cleaned the house before and after their get-together. They’re all good kids so I wasn’t worried.
13. Have I mentioned how thankful I am that we avoided the temptation to eat out and I actually cooked dinner every night this week? I do think I’ll pass on the corndogs and just do leftovers tonight.
14. I’m also thankful that they’ve not found my Halloween candy stash and more importantly, that I’ve managed to stay out of it (mostly, ahem)
15. And that I was inspired to pick my camera up again during our trip.

Okay, I had time for 15 things in 30 minutes but now I must get going if I’m to be on time for work. What things are you thankful for today?

It’s been a while since I put together a Thankful Thursday post but I have a bit of time this morning before work.

Hoping to get back into the routine of these. It does seem to help to pause and be thankful for the big and little things that occur along the way.  I picked up the camera for a few quick snaps for this post. So first, I’m thankful that I took the time to pick up the camera. I really need to get back into the habit of it.

Thankful for the yard and the gardens.

See those petunias in the picture above. They were going to throw that big beautiful pot of petunias away at Home Depot a few weeks back!  Not sure how it all worked out (they couldn’t give them to me) but somehow I bought a big (probably $40) pot of petunias for $10. For the record, they didn’t look like that when I bought them. They were an over-watered, in desperate need of cutting back and deadheading,  dying mess. The pot will be handy next year as well (petunias are annuals in these parts).

The winding down of the vegetable garden.

Despite the ongoing drought, we had a good for us garden year. I’ll still try to maintain the fall garden idea but admit I’m tired. That said, rubs hands together, I do have plans for my vegetable garden next year. BIG plans.

Good Friends

I’m very thankful for my friends and opportunities to get together with them. A night out, a dinner out, dinner out and a small firepit with my husband and our mutual friends (s’mores!), and tomorrow a long overdue coffee date with a friend I’ve not seen in some time.

Faith and Hope

If you’ve read any Happy Homemaker Monday posts, you know this school year has again been a tough one with J. It started great and then, just plummeted. I’ve had to give up the idea of what this Senior year would be, clearly nothing like the one G had.

Yet, I continue to have faith and hope that we’re going to make it to the end and he’s going to graduate, go on and this is just going to be a little blip in the big picture.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

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I’m also thankful for distractions like good, suspense novels, comedy and dramas on tv, coffee and chai tea, a certain little gray cat, and being able to sleep with the windows open. What things are you thankful for this week?

Yes, this summer lover just said that. I’ve had a nice summer but it’s time for a new season. Time to embrace the inside of the house and the coziness of the season. Of course, I need to do a bit of work to make that possible. 

Today, however, I choose to go slow as I celebrate and embrace the first day of autumn. By the way, fun fact, our calendars all say the first day of autumn or the autumn equinox is tomorrow. My Farmer’s Almanac says it’s tonight at 9:04 EDT. We were curious about this last night and I looked it up: Note: Dates listed above are based on Eastern Time (UTC-5). Due to time zones, the date of the equinox may differ by +/- one calendar day in your location.(Click on the link to read more about the Autumnal Equinox). 

My plans for today involve living in my pajama pants as long as possible, baking a Honeycrisp Apple Cardamom Cake (without the walnuts though because yuck, maybe I’ll add pecans), fresh green beans and new potatoes in the crockpot for dinner (with ham), and a slow, mindful cleaning of the house. If I have time and can get to the bin, I’ll bring out some small fall touches. 

Here’s my short gratitude list.

Thankful List For The Past Week (Thursday to Thursday)

1. A chance to go into work and spend time with my favorite age group
2. Watching the Chiefs win last Thursday night
3. Plenty of nice, warm sunny days (I think even I have had my fill of the hot days though)
4. A great book to read
5. Watching G build his own computer from parts he ordered. I’m just amazed by this. He says he’ll never do it again, ha. He did have a friend come help him a little bit but he did most the work himself.
6. J’s very understanding and compassionate private baritone instructor
7. That I forced myself to go to Bunco and be around friends on Tuesday night (It was a day of ups and downs with encouraging and then discouraging news regarding J’s school. We’re back in waiting mode. SIGH)
8. Time spent talking to a good friend I’d not seen in awhile after Bunco plus plans made to get together again next week
9. Plans to go to the art gallery with friends tomorrow, once again forcing myself to get out
10. A chance to go with J to look at a euphonium (baritone=euphonium for simplification purposes) yesterday. The kind shop owner let him play a high dollar model as well. Wow, even my untrained ear could hear the sound quality difference.
11. The Masked Singer being back on TV. I don’t know why I love that show so much. It’s silliness just makes me happy.
12. Seeing an owl fly across the backyard on Monday morning just before the daylight arrived. And having the window open to hear it’s “Who cooks for you?” call from our tree last night.

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Are you celebrating the first day of autumn?  What things are you grateful for this week?

I’ll get to the title of my post with the stolen passage in a moment. (In case you don’t know, it’s from The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle)

Been a minute (or two or so very many minutes) since I’ve done a Thankful Thursday post! Thought I better take some time to share one. Time seems to be going so fast this summer (technically though it’s still spring so maybe not?).  I’m torn between being in a hurry for my flowers to bloom and the weather to *finally* be warm and wanting to make sure I take time to savor my days. Just me?

I really want to be thankful and savor these sunny summer days as they happen. Especially with the weird weather where it’s taken a while longer for them to arrive.

However, the first thing I want to take time to be thankful for this week is last week’s successful band trip for J.

Safe Travels and Modern Communication

I’m so thankful the band (and my son) was able to go on their trip to Disney in Orlando, Florida. The planning began in 2021 or maybe even 2020 so obviously, a lot of holding of the breath as we sent in payments for it. Hooray for it still happening despite COVID and crazy high gas prices (we did end up needing to pay a bit extra due to gas prices. Boo!).  However, they were able to go and spend a week visiting different parks, the beach, and the Kennedy space center.

And despite my own anxieties about sending my kid with anxiety on this trip without either of us, he did great! I requested one text photo a day and didn’t really expect much. To my surprise, I often got more than one photo a day! While I’ve been one to curse the cell phones, I’m certainly thankful for the ease of communication from far away with them.  Here’s one of the photos he sent me: 

I love that he usually sent me bird pictures or things he thought would interest me each day.

Working a few days last week helped keep me busy and my mind off the fact that my youngest son was many miles away from us.

Job Perks

Working as a part-time substitute preschool teacher doesn’t come with a lot of traditional job perks. Definitely no golden parachutes over here. The ones I do have are priceless though.

Choosing my own hours essentially. While I seldom say no, I never have to say yes.

This week though….one of the best perks ever. Every job should have a playground and outside time shouldn’t it?

Now, we get to the title of the post. Yesterday, during the outdoor time before lunch, a few of the kids and I were able to observe a monarch butterfly lay an egg on a milkweed leaf. Hopefully, we’ll get to see the tiny caterpillar pop out sometime soon. (And just to note: last week we watched 2 mature monarch caterpillars form their chrysalis). How can you not be thankful for a chance to observe the miracles of nature as well as share the excitement with young children?

**No photos of the amazement as I generally don’t carry my phone when working**

Summer Produce on the Horizon

Speaking of miracles of nature at work, I observed a few at home this week as well. Such as our garden produce starting to come alive. Green cherry tomatoes are forming. The okra actually sprouted! And we have a few peppers, eggplants, and cucumbers growing as well. Each year we seem to do just a little better with the garden.

Other Thankful Thoughts 

Perhaps I needed a reminder to “bloom where you are planted” as I found this little pansy growing happily in the sidewalk crack beside a big planter of dianthus.

Or maybe a reminder to slow down and enjoy the last few days of spring official before summer kicks in full force? I am thankful for the scent of summer that’s starting to drift across the front porch in the evenings as the summer flowers start to respond to warm sunny days and put out more blooms. I’m thankful for a beautiful place to sit and soak up my summer. And for a house to provide shelter on the stormy, rainy days that we need for those flowers to bloom.

Mostly, right now, I’m just thankful we have enough. Not too much and not too little. Just enough.

What things are you thankful for this week?

I started this post early this morning. Then, deleted all the words because really nothing miraculous had occurred this week even though I liked my post title. However, I have a whole new post to share now.

First, yes this week has been buggy and muggy. And I’m still thankful for the bugs that pollinate the flowers and remind me summer is truly here.

And I love the hot weather, dreaming of swimming pool days. Funny because I rarely go swimming but the thought is there.

And now for the miraculous.

I’m So Thankful I Saw and Talked to My Sister 

If you’ve caught any Happy Homemaker Monday posts you might remember I’ve mentioned in passing how my family is not exactly let’s say on the same page about many things. And my sister stepped back from all of us sometime in early to mid-2019, maybe before that even. Then, the world went crazier than before with the pandemic.

It’s been hard and very sad at times. However, I did continue to send texts and the occasional holiday/birthday cards. She never unfriended me on Facebook as she did some other family members (I totally get that as they are part of my “30 day snooze” rotation though I try to keep off there anymore).

Today

So with a day off today, I decided to get up and run a few errands. Code for go spend too much money at all the garden centers in town. I also had a library book to grab. Frustratingly, the library and the small garden center I wanted to stop by on the way didn’t open until 9 and I was there way too early.  Annoyed a bit, I decided to just go to the garden center by my parent’s home where my dad used to go. They are the only place that I’ve seen carry the lemon gem marigolds. 

Found those, went outside to get a bigger pot of lavender. A gal was helping me go inside to find the lemon grass when I heard some one say my name. It was my sister! 

She was there with one of her sons buying things for their garden. We stopped and talked for probably 30 minutes about many things, the plants, the birds, how we missed our father (who gave us a love for both those things). We briefly discussed our other siblings and she was surprised to hear I’d not been getting together with them either.

She told me she’d had to just step back and take care of herself and her significant other for a while. While you can’t get too in depth in the middle of a (super) busy garden center, it felt so good to reconnect with her and her son (plus hear about the amazing things my other nieces and nephews, all grown, are doing.). 

I’m so very thankful that my post title with the “miraculous” came true this morning. We didn’t make official plans to call or get in touch again but I do have hope now.

Other Items For This Week: Some Big/Some Little

• An official diagnosis for J yesterday. Other specified anxiety disorder and other specified depressive disorder. Plus a suggestion he might be close to the autism spectrum but not enough to diagnose it. The appointment went well yesterday and I have hope that he can work through these things.
• New rocks for my butterfly garden area and a good Mother’s Day

  

• A couple peaceful days at work plus nice weather for it
• Time to enjoy the migrating birds in the backyard
• Surprise wildflowers in the backyard 
• A get-together with my old Mom’s club friends later tonight

Probably lots more should be on my list but obviously my big one this week is seeing and talking to my sister! Did I cry happy tears all the way home over that? Yes. Yes, I did.

What things are you thankful for this week?

Happy Thursday! I’m very thankful for an unexpected day off here. Already, I’ve been out in the yard enjoying it. However, we’re now getting some much needed rain so time to come inside and blog for a bit.

Thought I’d approach this thankful Thursday with a to-do list style. Today’s given me an opportunity to catch up on some long overdue tasks. I’ll be honest though and say I’m a bit overwhelmed with the list (not sharing the whole list here) and tempted to just catch up on my TV watching. Might do that later. Or have a cup of tea and read my book.

Outside To-Do List

1. Plant the Hollyhocks. So happy to have found starts of these at a local nursery. Flowers I love and try to start from seed almost every year without success. Excited to see these blooming along side the climbing rose that thankfully, seems to be thriving in its new home.
2. Take apart and replant in the yard hanging basket of violas and snapdragons that is not doing so well. Hopefully, the flowers thrive in their new locations and if not, I tried.
3. Thankful to have a new hanging basket (see above) for creating my annual attempt at a basket of hanging lobelia (Glad I know a place that sells it since my location for the pre-made baskets no longer exists)
4. Dig up crocus bulbs
5. Plant miniature rose bush under bird feeder
6. Try and identify some returning perennials and/or pull weeds
7. Clean the front porch of old pots/dead flowers from last year
8. Add rocks to fairy garden areas

Stopping here with my outside list to give some thanks for: sunny days and much needed rainy days, hopefully the last of the freezing temps, a front porch to enjoy the sunny days, a hobby that makes me so happy, and returning flowers.

Inside To-Do List

Thankfully, there’s plenty to do around here on rainy days as well. 

1. Flower garden research/thankful for the Internet and all the information at my finger tips
2. Perhaps take a trip to the library as all that information can be overwhelming
3. Clean out my bulging e-mail account and be thankful for the knowledge that there’s always another sale
4. Add dates to the calendar
5. Trade out rest of winter clothes for summer thankful for the durability of my clothing though I think some may be on their last lives
6. Laundry
7. Wash my gardening gloves and try to find the other lost pairs
8. Bit of blogging catch up

Lots more on the list but stopping for a few thankful thoughts instead: Unexpected extra time in my day, the library being open again (and mask optional now, woohoo!!), a home to clean, a way that works well to keep track of all our schedules (not an ad, I use Cozi and I love it!), and blogging friends.

A Few Final Thankful Thoughts Just For Fun

Before I finish my post, I thought I’d throw just a few more random thankful thoughts in it. 

• Discovering how much I love the smell of dianthus flowers! Thank you so much Mr. (or Mrs.) Hummingbird Moth for helping me discover them
• My husband buying Funyuns when he went to Sam’s Club. A memory lane trip to the skating rink on a Friday night. And I’m also grateful he took the time to go to Sam’s club as we were out of some basic items.
• Preschool kids that make me laugh with their funny ways and interesting ideas.
• Kind coworkers who also love the kids
• Time (a very rare thing) to have a conversation sharing/comparing thoughts with another very kind substitute teacher
• A job/boss willing to invest in training substitute teachers along with the regular teachers.
• The flexibility of working as a substitute teacher/setting my own hours to an extent
• As excited as I am about my unexpected day off, I do love my job and miss those kids when I’m not there
• My own kids who offer balance/countering thoughts to a mom who spends so much time with 3-6 year old kids
• A challenging church service I’m still reflecting on all the way out on a Thursday.

What things are you thankful for this week?

How is it already Thursday again? Not complaining though as it means the weekend is around the corner. And I wouldn’t want to complain in a Thankful Thursday post anyway.

While I might be working tomorrow just in the afternoon, I’m extremely thankful that my Monday work shift cancelled because I’ve been fighting this sinus/cold thing all week. It’s not been too bad, just sinus stuff really…just enough to be annoying. And of course, I was happy to see the negative result on the home Covid-19 test I took just in case.

So I’ve spent the week not doing too much and just appreciating the little details mostly. Watching the birds. Happy to notice the “snow birds” (dark-eyed juncos) have left the area. Now, just waiting for the morning I wake up no longer hearing the whistle of my white-throated sparrows. I’ll miss that just a little.

Books and TV

The weather’s been cool, cloudy, and rainy so the temptation to go outside and do stuff hasn’t been there. However, I’ve enjoyed extra time reading my book and watching TV. Despite all the Netflix controversy, it’s nice to know they still care enough to give “the message of shame” if you watch too many espisodes.

The Rain and Water

While I’m team sunshine, I do appreciate the rain water that helps my plants grow. Excited that the weather finally warmed up enough again for Lucinda the lemon tree to be outside getting a good drink of the rain water which she much prefers.

And I’m still thankful for quick and easy access to water on the inside for dish washing, laundry, and steamy showers to help clear sinuses.

Time For A Random Thankful List

Maybe I should just share a random list of appreciation for the following:

1. 1. Hot tea
   2. Instant cup of soup (my cure-all)
   3. Breathe air oil (mostly Euclyptus)
   4. Easy dinners
   5. Naps
   6. Having an 80’s song stuck in my head instead of preschool song:
   7. Figuring out how insert above video without messing up my numbered list
   8. Getting all the bills paid yesterday
   9. Having time to make resting a priority yesterday and not feeling guilty about it!
   10. Hearing my favorite flower/garden shop is open for the season
   11. Avoiding the temptation of a Bath and Body Works sale
   12. Pleasant conversations with both the kids
   13. My husband taking J to school a couple mornings this week
   14. Viewing a beautiful full moon on Saturday night before things clouded over
   15. And that special “moon” setting on the bridge camera
   16. An Easter egg pink sunrise the Monday after Easter
   17. That I didn’t plant my new climbing rose too early and it seems to be thriving:
   18. Peppermint mocha coffee creamer on sale (and that it was just a small bottle)
   19. A sale at Starbucks, coffee and a pastry for $5. Okay!
   20. Seeing the sunshine and feeling warmer air today

What little things are you thankful for this week?

Definitely, starting today by saying how very thankful I am to see no snow on the ground! Weather turned cold again yesterday and in the afternoon, something white fell from the sky.  Maybe it was just sleet?

However, it was cold enough that I called my husband and asked him to bring poor Lucinda Lemon Tree back inside. Then, after work, I brought my two amaryllis back inside as well (they didn’t bloom this year, I did something wrong but I still have green leaves so maybe next time).  Woke up to frost advisories and 33 degrees. Please, return spring!

Speaking of spring, I’m so thankful for the returning of the color green everywhere. My favorite! And that this hydrangea seems to have survived my very basic pruning attempts.

Happiness filled my heart as I stepped outside this morning to witness this:

My bleeding heart in full bloom! Forgive me as I flood this post with mostly pictures of this plant.

About My Bleeding Heart Plant

I’ve wanted one of these plants for a long time. In the past, I’ve tried planting one in a different location around the yard without any luck. And for whatever reason, the actual plants are hard to find in these parts.  However, I bought this one last year, plonked it beside the deck, and…it returned this year! With those gorgeous blooms.

These plants remind me of my childhood home as my dad had one growing near our back patio. Supposedly, he dug that one up out of the woods somewhere. So I’m thankful for these little early blooming flowering plants that remind me of my dad and lots of backyard memories from that backyard of my past.

Next on my thankful thoughts list…

My Husband

Honestly, this week’s not been the best. Or rather maybe I should say I’ve not been the best this week. However, my husband has stepped in and figured out dinner, done the laundry, and sorted out some things that I quite frankly just couldn’t cope with doing. And I’m extremely grateful for that.

He may not bring me flowers every week (hardly ever…of course, I tend to buy my own anyway) or be the most “commercially” romantic guy out there but I’ll take the practical gestures over that 100% of the time.

And I’m also grateful that he didn’t say too much when I went out today to the local place I found last year’s bleeding heart plant and returned with another one. (I have a vision of a whole section of these)

Just A Few More

Finally, I’m just going to share a few more random thankful thoughts pushing their way to the front of my mind.

1. My spinach seedlings finally emerging
2. Bloglovin’ coming back on-line (Question for my blogging friends: What do you use to read your favorite blogs?)
3. Coffee, books, Tea
4. My job and getting to work with all those fun kids as well as all the outdoor time I get as a result
5. Music

So many other things I could list but the furry supervisor just arrived to tell me it’s quitting time or is it petting time? Thankful for her little furry interruptions always (oh, and the non furry kids as well, of course).

What things are you thankful for this week?