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Ten Things of Thankful: Not Quite Ready to Cry Uncle Edition

Pretty soon, regular readers will not only know that I end each list expressing gratitude for John, they will also know that I begin each list expressing gratitude for the rain.  Granted, this is getting a little bit harder to do, as the rain in this area has become destructive and is now reported on the national news.  Despite the destruction (which I do not wish on anyone, and feel badly for those impacted), I am a stubborn woman, and will remain thankful.

1.  I am thankful for the rain.  I like listening to the pitter-patter on the roof.  I like the fact that we haven't had to turn our sprinklers on, and the plants are still alive.  We even have a green lawn now!

2.  I am thankful that we could travel safely in the rain, and for navigation apps that directed us around the many accidents that were on the freeway.



3.  I'm thankful that though it has rained every week for quite a while now, that the rain is interspersed by sunny days.

4.  I'm thankful that my grandchildren got to visit on one of those gorgeous days.  

I'm thankful for simple pleasures, like:


5.  Hammocks

Photo:  John and the grandkids in the hammock.  (Yes, even though grandson has his finger in his nose, this was the best photo I got.)
 6.  Books 




7. The companionship of a good dog


Photo:  Drexel and grandson look at the camera
Photo:  Granddaughter gives Drexel a hug
8. I'm thankful for friends near and far, long-time and recently acquainted.

9.  I'm thankful for faith, which puts everything in perspective and brings hope.

10. I'm thankful for John.  Last night's venture out onto the rainy freeways of Los Angeles was due to another one of my bright-idea date nights, for which I had already purchased tickets.  Continuing my Italy theme from last week (and before I knew what a soggy experience Italy can be), I booked tickets to see Lady and the Tramp at the El Capitan Theatre.  "We've lived in Washington," was John's reply when I expressed concern about navigating the freeways.  I wasn't so concerned about our ability to drive in the rain, but was concerned about all the other cars on the road. Fortunately, we traveled without incident.  

I've never seen Hollywood so subdued.  There were no street performers, no celebrity look-alikes posing for photos--just an umbrella salesman standing under a dripping awning. ( I think he thought we were going to be an easy sale, since we were the only people without umbrellas, but what kind of Oregonian would I be if I carried one? Seriously, Oregonians don't really use umbrellas.  I may live in California, but I still maintain some weird Oregonian traits.)   

In any event, the date went swimmingly.  (Yes, I used that word on purpose.)  As John likes to say, "Life's an adventure, and adventures usually work out."  I'm so thankful ours is.  

How did your week go?  Are you in ark-building mode, shoveling snow, or enjoying sunshine?  

I can't quite figure out why I'm getting an error code with the link up, but link your posts up at the Ten Things of Thankful blog.



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Ten Things of Thankful

Comments

  1. We have enjoyed a week of lovely sunshine and warmer temps here in Iowa. So welcome after some bitterly cold weather. I grew up in San Diego and know all about how welcome rain is, and then what happens when we get too much of a good thing. But it will do all the trees good to have an abundance of ground water. Enjoy!

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  2. We've done well for limited precipitation, which of course, here would mean snow, which, like any un-welcome guests always stays longer than it should. It's 48 degrees, in fact. Snow be melting.
    (I was going to kid you about driving and videoing and then remembered that you are a more reasonable person than am I lol and you probably in the passenger seat when you took the vid.)

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  3. So many wonderful photos of smiling faces, this post was a definite joy to read! I love your attitude about the rain, and John's about surviving adventures! Your grandkids are gorgeous, and the video of you sharing a book is priceless! I don't think we can list family, faith and friends too much ever. Without these, nothing else would matter much!

    Thank you for sharing with us at TToT. Apparently I messed up the code for the button, will go work on that now. I have no idea why the code for adding the link-up to a page isn't working. Will delete it and try sending you the code next week and see if we can make it behave. :-)

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  4. Slowly, the white stuff is melting and generally making my street an ice-rutted, one-car lane, but I'm so thrilled it's finally melting that I can deal with the inconvenience. Underneath all that snow my lawn is happy to have the moisture. I love the Spring thaw! Of course more snow will fall, but we've turned the corner on the bitter temperatures.

    I love the adoring look your youngest granddaughter is giving John in the hammock photo. Precious!

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  5. Being from south Louisiana swamps and used to rain and floods, you have my sympathy and California is in my prayers for the rain to slack off and come in reasonable doses. (Pretty much the same thing i pray for us!)

    The picture of your family in the hammock is priceless!

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  6. I adore the hammock photo - finger in the nose and all. Your grandchildren are precious. I'm hoping the rain slows down, but to mix metaphors, I'm glad you could make lemonade. (dance in the rain). I enjoy reading the adventure of your life with John.

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  7. What a lovely post.
    I've always envy yards with hammocks. But the clumsy me would probably fall from it head first.

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  8. Those are darling photos of the kids, "big kid" and Drexel!

    For some reason some photos you may be posting are not showing up in your blog, at least on my computer. Whatever you had under #2 and #6 just shows a blank space. This had a couple of other times on your post, but I haven't had this happen with posts from other people.

    I'm thankful you had safe travel too, especially after I saw where some places of the highway just completely sank or broke away. How frightening that would be!

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  9. Books, kids, dogs, rain...all good things. I like hammocks in theory, but always feel rather unstable in them. :D
    It was super cold here, then sort of standard winterish, then this weekend we have seen 60 degrees - most definitely not normal for this time of year. But you know what? I'm done being cold and I'm done with snow and I am most definitely done with the winter germs! Bring on spring! (Just not too hot too soon please and thank you.)

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  10. Love the pictures. Abundant blessings!

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  11. The Oregonians must have Dutch blood; we don't do umbrella's either. We had a nice few weeks, but tomorrow there will be rain that will keep coming for a while. We're used to it, so driving, shopping, everything is business as usual here. For me rainy days ask for tea, books and quilts, or when I'm a bit more energetic, quilting and sewing... I hope you'll have some nice weather soon. I'm already looking forward to our holiday in the north of your lovely state. JUST 7 more months.... Give John my best. How is his car coming along??

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  12. All that time you go without rain and then you receive too much. Just can't win.
    :-)

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  13. Love the pictures of Drexel! We were in Oregon last week and it rained the whole time we were there and thank goodness for Android Auto!

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