Thankful Me

  A collage of two photos: the one on the left is a sign from the Mad Greek Cafe that says, "Please do not grab the Mad Kitties." The one on the right is a photo of a black and white cat sleeping on a chair. Last weekend, John and I drove to California to visit the grandkids. Even though we've made that trip many, many times, there's always something new to see. This time, it was learning that the Mad Greek Cafe in Baker now has resident cats. I just had to take a photo. :-) I'm composing this while watching the BYU football game on TV. Hopefully the game will improve, but if not, at least I'll feel better after remembering what I am thankful for this week.  1. I'm thankful for finding paneer on a great sale at Costco. I don't think I'd ever purchased paneer before, but because it was so inexpensive, I bought it and found a recipe for saag paneer  that I think will go in the regular rotation. I modified the recipe slightly: I didn't use ghee, i

A purple African violet  This week, I thought I'd run a quick errand to the local one-stop shopping place. The blinker on the car was out, so I headed to where the automotive lightbulbs should have been, only to find myself in the toy section. Sigh. Then it dawned on me that if I changed something up in my own house, I would feel a sense of joy and accomplishment. If a familiar store tries it, though, I'm none too happy. Strange. Perhaps I'm a bit of a control freak. :-) In any case, I'm going to focus on the changes (and some constants, too) that I'm thankful for this week: 1. I divided and repotted some of my African violets. I then had an abundance, and was able to share one with a neighbor whom I hadn't had a chance to really visit with before. We had a nice chat, and I'm glad we got to know each other a bit. 2. The weather is cooling down a bit. We've had a stretch of rather hot weather lately. Even though we've been in Utah for 5 years now, I s

  The colorful old buildings above the creek in Ketchikan, Alaska Before July, I had never been to Alaska. Earlier this summer, John and I booked a cruise to go to Alaska in August. After we booked that cruise, we received an email from a different cruise line offering unbelievably low rates for a last-minute cruise to Alaska. As responsibly as two kids in a candy store, we decided to take as many cruises as we could, so we booked that July cruise, too, and took our son and his girlfriend along. Walking around Ketchikan, Alaska in July in the pouring rain really wiped me out--or so I thought, until I tested positive for covid the next day. Last week, John and I returned from the second, though first booked, Alaska cruise, and I can tell you that Ketchikan is much more enjoyable than the town formerly known to us as Caughtacovid.  I'm thankful: 1. We both remained healthy and well on this cruise.  John and I smiling in front of a waterfall in Tracy Arm Inlet 2. We live on a beautifu

A bright rainbow, with a fainter double rainbow above it John and I have been busy this week taking care of things around the yard and house, and the result is now being able to enjoy a more beautiful yard and a more organized and clean house. We've had rain and rainbows, gathered with family to celebrate my in-laws anniversary, and gathered with friends to celebrate the life of a neighbor gone too soon.  I have a pad of paper that has printed on the top of each page, "Lists Make Me HAPPY." It's true. Lists allow me to see what I want to accomplish, but also let me see what I have done. I like to see on paper what is OK to postpone until later, too. Having it written down means I won't forget it, but it doesn't take priority right now. Right now, I can relax for a moment and just enjoy.  Lists also allow me to look back and review what I am thankful for! (How's that for a segue?) Without further ado: 1. I'm thankful that the road leading up to my neigh

  A orange-yellow sunset over mountains, with the Mt. Timpanogos temple in the middle of the photo and treetops in the foreground Time fascinates me. I remember a conversation my grandma had once when I was a child where she was able to figure out what year something happened based on something else--where she was living at the time, how old a child was, etc. I was amazed that some arbitrary year number could be remembered in such a way. I also remember turning 10 years old and realizing that I had just entered the "two-digit" phase of my life. Never again could my age be described with a single digit, and it would be a very long time before I entered a "three-digit" phase. Perhaps because I've always been focused on time, I think about the past and look forward to the future. However, that fascination with the past and future sometimes means the present gets a short stick. I'm learning to enjoy the little "now" moments, without my brain telling me

A rapid covid test with a negative result That photo sums up a huge thankful on my list: both John and I are once again testing negative for covid. (Thankful #1)We didn't have that bad of cases, but we certainly were wiped out. We now understand the phrase, "binge watching TV," as John has gone through season after season of Fear Factor, and I managed to get through all of Virgin River. (A strange, but nonetheless thankful #2) We've had lots of discussions on who would do which part of the stunts if we were ever to face Fear Factor challenges. (I will gladly be covered in boa constrictors, but John will need to do the walking around 80 feet in the air. If either of us has to eat scorpions, we might as well forget it.) Virgin River was an enjoyable, albeit formulaic show. Basically much of the conflict in the series comes about because someone told someone something that they were asked to keep confidential. However, the characters do have depth and development, so wha