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Ten Things of Thankful: Look, We're on a Roll! Edition

Another Saturday, another race.  That makes me sound like a hard-core runner, but don't be fooled.  I'm not a real runner, I just play one in real life.  :-)  

Honestly, do I look like a serious runner?  No!





This week, I'm thankful for:

1. A local Color Vibe run.  It's nice to have such a fun run so close to home.  As the race progressed, the winds picked up, and runners dodged kamikaze tumbleweeds.  Clouds of color trailed runners with every gust.  Just another colorful day in the desert.  

2.  The fact that colored cornstarch is washable.  That stuff soaks through clothing; can you tell what part of my running shoes is made of mesh?



Skin fares no better.  Can you guess where John's watch was?




3. A card in the mail.  January's mail usually is Important Tax Documents, along with the regular junk, so it was especially nice to see a good, old-fashioned card in the mail from Christine.  (And her beautiful handwriting makes me want to go practice my cursive!)  

3.  Goofy dogs.  I just can't seem to resist taking (and posting and reposting) photos of Drexel and Willow when they are sleeping. For one thing, they are less likely to move and blur the photo, but also, they are just so cute together!  




4.  Shopping bargains.  Clearance combined with coupons makes cute presents affordable.  Starting a stash for next holiday season!

5. For how conscious decisions can take hold, even in the subconscious.  I've had some interesting dreams lately.  In one of my dreams this week, our house was experiencing some major flooding  (In real life, our desert area has received 3 and one-half inches of rain since July 1st, after all!) and I noticed a baby alligator in the bathtub.  As John was capturing it to take it (outside? to the animal shelter?), I suddenly thought to get a picture for the blog.  I also was thinking how this would be a great item for a TToT post.  You know, "I'm thankful the alligator in our tub wasn't bigger."  I also had several other thankfuls in my dream, which of course I do not remember now.  I do remember being a bit disappointed when I woke up when I realized I did not, in fact, have my post completely composed. (Of course, I was also happy to know that the house wasn't flooded.) Yet look how I still managed one thankful out of the dream!  It is a good thing when I can look for the good in a bad situation even in my dreams.  

6.  The appearance of bare root plants in the nurseries and seed catalogs in the mail.  At this time of year, hope springs eternal.  I'm considering, once again, the purchase of raspberry canes.  If I truly loved raspberries, I would not sentence them to death like this, but every so often, I hear a story of some mythical person here in the desert that can grow raspberries.  That urban legend makes me think, "Well, if she can, I can! After all, no one loves raspberries more than I do."  So far, though, my best plan for growing raspberries is to move back to Washington state.  I might just need to plant something that grows easily here, though I'm not sure where to get tumbleweed seeds!  

7.  Family history.  For Christmas this year, John (and those of the kids who hadn't already) received Ancestry DNA kits.  The results are starting to come in, and it is interesting to see how the different genes compare.  For example, John shows 4% Irish, I have 3% Irish, yet one of our sons (yes, the redhead) comes up 8%.  We've got a spreadsheet started, and we're looking forward to adding to it as more results come in.  

8.  Children who inspire me.  For example, my oldest daughter recently told me she is taking an aerial silks class.  I had no idea what she was talking about.  The other day she sent me this photo text: 






Basically, my daughter is taking an acrobatics class.  What a fun way to exercise!

9.  Sweatshirts.  We keep our house on the cool side in the winter (and on the warm side in the summer, go figure), so it's nice to be able to regulate temperatures with comfortable clothing.  The howling winds outside make it sound like it's necessary to really bundle up!

10.  John.  Just today, he was remarking about what a good pair we are.  It's true.  We genuinely enjoy each other's company, whether we are shopping for toilet seats (part one of our date last night), or catching a movie together (part two of our date last night).  We laugh together, we plan together, and we willingly get pelted with colored cornstarch together!  


As always, come join the party!  Just think, if you keep thinking about thankful things, you too could dream about the good in finding an alligator in your tub!  





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Comments

  1. You know what they say... a couple who can shop for toilet seats together...
    I love the dream sequence here today too! and the dogs asleep . I wouldnt be able to resist either. I just hope there isnt a flash to wake them up!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Frist! :-)

      We're regulars in the home improvement store, though we realized yesterday it had been a while since we had browsed. There were lots of new choices for flooring. I don't know if there were new choices in toilet seats. Definitely not as exciting to shop for!

      Delete
  2. I love a good old fashioned hand-written card or letter. And I loved #5. Too bad your post wasn't dream-written, but yes good that the house wasn't flooded and there was no alligator in your tub.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's a bright side to everything, right? :-)

      Delete
  3. I'd be thankful there really wasn't an alligator in my tub. But in that semi-dream state, I am a brilliant writer with wonderful words and ideas and then I wake up and it vanishes like the wind. I too, am anxiously awaiting Spring.

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  4. Oh if you all only knew how much trouble I got in for poor handwriting when I was a kid! It makes me laugh every time someone says I have nice handwriting. For those who want to improve their writing, I suggest teaching it to a bunch of 8 year olds. That's what turned mine around. :)
    I have often thought, when reading your posts, that you and John are perfect for each other.
    I'm so glad you didn't know what aerial silks was either. :) Good for her, though! That looks like so much fun when it is only a foot off the ground! Have you seen people do it way up in the air? "bout gives me a heart attack just to watch them.
    I'm pretty sure you are more runner than I am farmer.
    You've been having some doozy dreams lately! An alligator in the tub, huh? And flooding. Would John actually take care of that alligator if it were to happen in real life? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My handwriting was good in grade school, and then went downhill from there.

      At first, I was thinking she was talking about some silk-screened Little Mermaid shirt! She read your comment, by the way, and wanted me to let you know that when she gets good, she'll be higher up in the air! I think I would be a nervous wreck watching her then, too.

      It's not a competition, but if it were, I'm pretty sure your fake farming would beat my fake running any day!

      John is an excellent alligator wrangler. The alligator in my dream was quite small; I'm sure that John would be able to handle it in real life! :-)

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  5. excellent dog photo! (there is a lesson in the photo for us humans, something to the effect that sharing is not about one ending up with less, but at the same time, one might have to be a foot rest for a bit of the time).
    clearly you have passed on some sort of athletic genes to your family!

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    Replies
    1. I'm still trying to convince myself I'm a runner; I don't think I'm ready to believe I'm athletic. :-)

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  6. You are a good pair! What an excellent picture of the 2 of you! I have to agree with Ivy - if you can shop toilet seats together....:)
    You certainly make running look fun.(I am so not a runner) And when it looks fun you think it's easy. You and John make make running look fun and easy.
    You go ahead and post and re-post photos of Willow and Drexel. I never tire of looking at the 2 of them. Cute is an understatement!! You can tell by pics like this one that they are very fond of each other and great friends:)
    Dreams are amazing. Or should I say the mind is amazing? There you are having a dream about, for the most part, regular stuff (except for the baby alligator in the bath tub) and real life things imbed theselves in the dream. Fascinating when real life intermingles like that in dreamland..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, maybe that should be some sort of marriage prep activity: go shopping for toilet seats! (And if we have fun with that activity, why not have fun running together?)

      I'm not sure what to think about my dreams (or mind) of late, but my dreams have certainly been interesting! :-)

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  7. Wonderful week I love how my Teddy sleeps too it is so peaceful - wonderful surprises in the mail are great- awesome job on running you both are getting healthy in more ways than you both can imagine -

    dreams are awesome - crazy dreams are great

    Great tens have a lovely week,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely been having some crazy dreams here lately! :-)

      Hope you have a great week, too.

      Delete
  8. Aw...Drexel and Willow are so CUTE!!!! Cloudy says hello. And it looks like a great week!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I'm sure they would make room on their bed for a friend. Say hello to Cloudy!

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  9. Ohhhhh but your colour run was BEAUTIFUL! And I really want to try one, one day, but they seem to cost quite a lot round here! I'm glad you had such a fun time.

    Your dream was bonkers! A baby alligator? There is a stately home near here, and they've recently done up the servant's quarters to be shown to the public, and they have a gigantic paper-mache crocodile in the tub in the bathroom, just for fun, for the kids.

    Christine's handwriting is STUNNING isn't it? One of my favourites.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here, the earlier you register, the less the cost. Hopefully you can find an affordable run--maybe when you come on your 1000 Voices promotional tour you can squeeze in a color run! :-)

      Yes, there is no explaining my weird mind. A paper-mache crocodile in the bathtub? Seems like that would be awkward to move any time the tub was needed, but what a whimsical touch!

      Delete
  10. I keep thinking of walking in one of those color runs.

    And yes....There is something about sleeping dogs....no matter how mad I get at ours he just melts my heart especially quickly when he is sleeping.

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    1. Oh, you should! There were probably more walkers than runners. We walked a bit, too--I seem to be coming down with my stupid cold again.

      Sleeping dogs are adorable, aren't they?

      Delete
  11. Your date nights sound a lot like ours :)
    There can never be too many pictures of Drexel and Willow sleeping together.
    I think a person who runs 5 and 10k races on the weekends is, indeed, a runner.
    I believe I would be more relieved if I woke up from your dream that there wasn't really an alligator in the bathtub than that the house wasn't really flooded.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe we should double sometime? :-)
      The alligator of my dreams was small--more the size of an iguana. The flood, on the other hand, resulted in little rivers through my rooms!

      Delete
  12. Love your color run photos and I think it is awesome that you do it together! Thanks for reposting Willow and Drexel!

    ReplyDelete

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