Another short post that is just straight to my list. Just a reminder I start my list over each Thursday afternoon/Friday. So some of these go back to last week.

1. J going to school (Last Friday)
2. Everybody getting home safely (Friday was quite the day with J deciding to walk home from school, G having car trouble, me getting locked outside for a bit, and my husband dealing with most of it while still at work)
3. lazy Saturday mornings
4. Sunshine!
5. A new book arriving in the mail (through Amazon)
6. An exciting play off football game and of course, a Chiefs win!
7. An old friend willing to help out and share her experiences as well as some very sage advice
8. Coffee!
9. A really wonderful compliment from the teacher I’ve been working with this week. She said it’s been very peaceful in the classroom while I’ve been in there. And that she even feels peaceful herself when I’m working in her classroom.
10. Another compliment from one of the kids telling me I look like one of the other young, pretty preschool teachers (We both have dark hair but that’s about it…still, a nice compliment and I’ll take it)
11. J getting his driving learner’s permit. Hooray for a confidence boost!
12. McDonald’s getting the order right for our entire family right (J’s choice for a celebration dinner)
13. Clear kitchen counters and sinks
14. Green plants that just keep growing.

Lots to be thankful for around here even in the midst of an otherwise somewhat busy and stressful at times kind of week. What’s on your thankful list for this last week of January?

This was definitely a better week than the last one with everyone sick. Nice to have everyone on the mend and things slowly returning to a routine.

I’m going to keep this post brief and just get to my posting my list of things I jotted done from last Friday until today:

1. J showing me how to change the language on you-tube and laughing with him at funny videos in Swedish
2. An Irish Cream Cold Brew as the featured coffee at Starbucks
3. G getting to work (and home again) safely during the snowstorm
4. A warm house providing shelter from the storm
5. Hearing a couple of barred owls call to each other early Sunday morning
6. Everyone slowly starting to feel better after COVID and that our family didn’t have any serious issues with it
7. An older brother who takes great care of his younger brother even when he doesn’t have to do it
8. Hyacinths blooming indoors in winter
9. Returning to routines of work and school
10. Remembering trash day and a great new company that actually picks up our trash and recycling
11. Zippers that look like toasters and preschool kids in my life who point out such wonderful observations to me
12. Wonderful coworkers who make work as pleasant as the kids who see toasters in zippers
13. My oldest son buying me lunch
14. Getting a little (very little) cleaning done

Guess I should add a bonus item and say I’m thankful I decided to splurge on these hyacinths as they bloom because they are also starting to give off a wonderful scent as well…

Do you enjoy the scent of hyacinths? What things are you thankful for this week?

Welcome to the Thankful Thursday evening edition.  Remember when newspapers used to have both morning and evening editions? And were actually paper? Delivered in the driveway?

Sometimes, I miss those days. However, I’m thankful for the Internet and the way I can use it to share all the great things from my week with all of you. And connect with other bloggers and readers.

The reason for the evening edition of my post is the weather. Today was sunny and in the mid-50’s. I was outside most of the day wearing my sweatshirt, no coat needed. One of the devotional verses this morning was Psalm 118:24, This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. And that’s just what I did with some help from a certain bossy little gray cat.

And I opened the windows and aired out the entire house. As much as I love candles, diffusers, and the like there is no better scent in the world than fresh air. Especially, after many in the household were sick.

Remember my list goes from Friday to Thursday each week. So some of these are possibly from last week as well.

Here are the items for my Thankful Thursday

1. Plenty of streaming choices on the TV
2. A Kansas City Chiefs win over Denver!
3. Financial aid and a scholarship helping with G’s college costs
4. A few pleasant exchanges with the teenager
5. On-line church
6. Drive-thru windows
7. On-line grocery shopping
8. Keeping my sense of humor (though it’s only Monday as I type this one)
9. Sunshine, warmer weather, and blue skies in January
10. Watching out the back door as two Carolina wrens called to each other

And a few extras from today:

1. A chance to open the windows and air out the house
2. Managing to keep one pack of these Prosecco Bon Bons hidden for my Joe Millionaire viewing party tonight (I’m the only guest, lol). It’s not a giant jar like in the link, it’s just a bag I ordered from Universal Yums.
3. Finding a few “forgotten” images on the bridge camera SD card

   

4. A glimpse of a spectacular sunset out the back. Unfortunately, we are well suited for me to grab sunrise photos, not so much sunset pictures. The sky was filled with the most brilliant orange and red hues. Since I couldn’t get a decent photo of a sunset, here’s another from the forgotten SD card, a sunrise from a few weeks ago:
5. Remembering to fill the gas tank on the car while the weather was still nice (snow predicted for the weekend)

What things are on your thankful Thursday evening list?

Welcome to my first Thankful Thursday of 2022! In my plans to *Heal* (my 2022 word of the year), my goal is to definitely take some time each day for a bit of gratitude and share a bit of it each Thursday. 

This isn’t a new idea at all, there are lots of thankful Tuesdays and Thursdays and other days (we should be thankful everyday) to link up and share gratitude. I have no plans to complicate this by making it a link up but if you’d like to join me each Thursday in your blog post, just let me know in the  comments and I’ll come by and visit. Definitely, always grateful for blog readers, comments, and my fellow bloggers!

Thankful Thursday for the Beginning of the Year 2022

1. Spotting a hawk sitting on the fence by suet feeder at dusk on Saturday. I startled it (we startled each other) so it flew off before I could even think to look for the camera.
2. A phone call with a friend on Monday afternoon. It was cut a bit short so definitely more catching up to do at a later date.
3. A beautiful sunrise on Tuesday morning!
4. Starbucks still having holiday drinks, one last crème Brule latte for the season!
5. Library books, everyone here is sick except me so it’s nice to have a book or two for company
6. Finding at-home COVID tests in the drug store (Not great results)
7. Feeling healthy enough to take care of all the sick people in this house (Booster shot for the win?)
8. For the discipline to tell myself “there’ll be another sale” when looking at on-line deals
9. This silly cat that keeps me on my toes
10. Easy phone calls and e-mails with the extremely kind and helpful high school nurse (attendance protocols are so confusing right now)

I’m stopping at 10 this week and that’s probably going to be my number each week. Not going to lie, coming up with a few of these items was a challenge this week. Didn’t plan to start the year with half my household testing positive for COVID. 

Bonus Items

So, I took a break from this post to run to the bathroom, check on the sick people, and change over the laundry (so much laundry…lots of bedding and blankets getting a run through with an add-in capful of bleach). And I thought of three more random things to add to my Thankful Thursday list.

1. The flower/garden seed catalogs I’ve collected, sitting and waiting for me to plan the garden for the warm, sunny days ahead
2. A vain one but I’m very thankful for a great hairdresser because my hair still looks decent despite having to postpone an already over-due hair appointment.
3. Bigger and more important: I’m so very thankful for clean, running water to drink and have available for basic chores. The church service project on Christmas Eve was to collect money for clean water wells in Mozambique (100% collected went to the project and they collected double their goal!). I tend to take our clean water (we have really good water around here, it’s won awards and stuff) for granted but I am so very thankful for it.

What things, big or small, are making you feel thankful?