Thankful Me

  An orchid stem with swelling buds (and an African violet in the background) Happy Groundhog Day! For those of you not familiar with this tradition, on February 2nd if the groundhog sees his shadow, we will have 6 more weeks of winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, we will enjoy an early spring. Despite the fact that Punxsutawney Phil did see his shadow, I am seeing evidence (at least INSIDE my house) that spring is indeed on its way. 1. I'm thankful for an orchid that is getting ready to rebloom. I've not been successful with orchids over the years; I struggle to keep them alive, let alone to have them bloom again. I can't really claim credit on this one, though. 2. I'm thankful for my son's girlfriend. She's a wonderful person in general, and she kept my plants alive for me when John and I were traveling, and I'm learning from her how to care for my orchid.  3. I'm thankful for another blooming first for me: a potted Echeveria plant. The stem just...

  An empty road passes between two rocky hills Tuesday through Thursday this past week, John and I took youngest daughter on a short getaway. She hadn't been on a vacation for a while, and it was nice to spend some time together. We drove down to southern Utah and spend a few days exploring the area. We visited Cove Fort and Silver Reef, hiked a short trail at Pioneer Park, and viewed petroglyphs in Parowan. We watched a movie (Wicked), enjoyed the hot tub at the VRBO house, and played board games. It was a relaxing, enjoyable time.  Friday, Drexel had his yearly appointment with the vet. Drexel's heavy Labrador retriever tail thump-thump-thumped the whole time. He loves going everywhere! Yesterday it snowed off and on (mostly on) all day long. I was able to give a ride to the grocery store to a friend whose car wasn't up to the snowy roads.  Yesterday evening and this morning, John and I attended stake conference. (Stakes are comprised of several wards. Wards are local c...

Drexel, the yellow lab, relaxing on the kitchen floor The view from my back door: freshly-fallen snow covers the steps and yard, while the foothills behind have a dusting of snow I usually sleep very well. I know not everyone does, so I consider myself fortunate. Last night, for no reason at all, I decided that 1 a.m. was an acceptable wake-up time.  I played Wordle (and Quordle) on my phone as well as the mind game of "Do I really want to walk downstairs to retrieve my Kindle?" for way too long before deciding that yes, reading a book in bed is much preferable to aimlessly scrolling down a Facebook feed. I did manage to fall back asleep eventually, but woke up to freshly-fallen snow and about zero motivation to do anything other than read or write, so I'm indulging in a rather lazy morning today (which, according to the clock, has now spilled into the afternoon.)  1. I'm thankful for having the luxury of minimal demands on my time. Some days, weeks, months, years, or...

  A group of king penguins congregate on the shore, while one stands alone in the water Hello! I have missed blogging the past few months, and am happy to be joining the party again today. Of course, I've had more than ten things I've been thankful for since I last joined the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop, but if I tried to list them all in detail, this post would become too long to read in one sitting. I'll do my best to catch up, but I realize that I will probably forget something--and I'll try to avoid letting so much time pass between posts in the future. I'm coming to understand that regularly taking the time to write down things that I am thankful for helps me slow down and stay grounded, which is particularly helpful when life gets busy.  And life has been busy! The last time I posted, one of our cars had just died and we were still living in California, but preparing for John's retirement and our move back to California. Here has what has happened sinc...

  Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS streaks across the night sky My time here in California is coming to a rapidly approaching end, and I'm busy trying to cram in all the things to do before moving (including going outside to view a comet). I don't want to neglect writing a Ten Things of Thankful post, though. Time to jump "write" in! Last Saturday, John called me to tell me that as he was driving home from work, the car made a knocking noise, then there was a big boom and a sudden loss of power. He was able to get the car to the side of the freeway. A man in another car pulled over behind him and excitedly reported that John's car had been shooting flames out the back! The car has 215,000 miles on it and is 16 years old, so we decided that given the circumstances, we'll call it a DNR.  1. I'm thankful that John is OK and that the car's death didn't harm anyone. 2. I'm thankful that we hadn't gotten around to replacing the tires yet. 3. I'm thank...

  The congregation on both sides of the aisle leading to the Conference Center platform. source  Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that I look forward to every April and October, when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds its General Conference . While I am thankful about many things from this past week (more time spent with my oldest daughter, a beach day with my grandchildren, etc.), I thought for this Ten Things of Thankful post, I'd share 10 quotes that stood out to me in General Conference.  1. "Divine love never runs dry, and we are each a cherished favourite. God's love is where, as circles on a Venn diagram, we all overlap. Whichever parts of us seem different, His love is where we find togetherness." --Elder Karl D. Hirst 2. "Whenever we seek to bless the lives of others, the Lord takes mercy upon us even more; He strengthens us and helps us in our lives." --Elder Gregorio E. Casillas 3. "We need to avoid c...