Skip to main content

Ten Things of Thankful: Mixing up the Routine

 

John, my nephew, and my brother, all wearing masks, presumably smile for the camera before my nephew goes off to college

The past few days, I've been masked up in my own home, as my brother and nephew stayed here prior to my brother taking my nephew to college. Though it was strange to have visitors, and strange to wear masks inside the house, it was also refreshing to be able to spend time with family. My nephew has moved into his dorm, and I took my brother to the airport Thursday morning, so now I've taken off the mask and am getting back to the routine. I'm thankful:

  1. to have spent time with my brother and nephew. 
  2. that Moon's Rare Books is still open for business and I could share that amazing store with my brother and nephew. 
  3. for game nights. My nephew introduced us to Richard: The Lionheart, and we taught him (and my brother) Splendor. Together, we tried to save the world from Pandemic.
  4. for Rockwell Ice Cream. The honeycomb flavor is great, but I especially enjoyed their G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) flavor, which they describe as: "This flavor won best ice cream in America in 2019. It has a rich goat cheese base with blackberry, lemon jam swirls and honey rosemary roasted almonds." YUM!
  5. to be able to laugh together while watching Troll 2. It has it all: terrible premise, awful dialogue, and over-the-top acting. It inspired a documentary, Best Worst Movie. If you haven't seen Troll 2, pop some popcorn, sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," and get set to laugh!
  6. for texting. As I'm typing this up, my phone is busy buzzing next to me with a couple of different group text conversations going. Family reunion on my phone!
  7. for texting and phone calls. When the fire broke out in Vacaville, California, family members near there were able to reassure us that they are OK. 
  8. for firefighters, who work so hard to battle blazes.
  9. for the Division of Wildlife Resources, who this week were able to capture a sick cougar--not in my neighborhood, but not too far away. I know that I frequently chased coyotes out of my yard in California, but somehow I don't think I'd be so brave around a cougar. 
  10. for John. 

What is on your thankful list this week? 

Joining me this week:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Comments

  1. I am happy you had family time in this time of pandemic. I am starting to see more of that. Sometimes I see people getting together in small groups without masks and that makes me nervous. I would definitely want masked guests. That GOAT sounds yummy. I love goat cheese, and it's terribly addictive to me. With little use of my taste buds, it's one thing that seems to get past that. Yay! Must be magical! Hope you have a great week!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm more comfortable with everyone masked up, too. We only took the masks off for meals, and then they went right back on. The GOAT ice cream was really good!

      Delete
  2. Quite a week and cudos on making adaptation less than a burden. In a way, (some of) the effects of the pandemic offer a new opportunity to appreciate what we have...
    Have a good week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fortunately my brother's family is on the same page as John and I are regarding masks, and though I was admittedly a bit nervous hosting visitors during this pandemic, it all worked out great and we all had a great time.

      Delete
  3. I like the photo at the top. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations to your nephew on starting a new phase of life at college. It's great to get to spend time with family, no matter what accommodations we have to make.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I hope the ice cream place is still there by the time I am able to make another trip. :-)
    A cougar killed a deer just over and down the hill from us last week, and there have been a lot of sightings of a cougar mentioned recently. I don't know if it is one cougar or more than one since a cougar has a territory of 100-300 square miles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think the ice cream place is in any danger. I'll be sure to take you there when you come again. :-)
      Yikes on the cougar!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Things of Thankful: 39 Years Edition

A political map of the world circa 1987. The Soviet Union takes up a sizable portion. A lot has happened in the last 39 years. The Berlin Wall came down. The Soviet Union collapsed. The Twin Towers fell. Technology has changed: landlines and phone booths are practically extinct, and random questions can be answered in seconds by asking Google, Siri, or Alexa. No longer do drivers keep the Thomas Guide in their cars; navigation systems will give turn-by-turn directions, and recalculate when the driver doesn't follow the directions. Some cars don't even need drivers. While many shoppers do their shopping in-person, some simply log into Amazon and have their item show up on their doorstep--sometimes within hours.  I've seen pieces of the Berlin Wall. I've traveled to places that used to be behind the Iron Curtain. I've been to Ground Zero. I no longer have a house phone, and have looked up the answers to countless questions using my cell phone. I do not miss the stress...

Ten Things of Thankful: April Showers Edition

  A red peony bud prepares to open fully  After an incredibly dry winter, we had a bit of precipitation this past week, in the form of falling snow. We didn't have much, and it didn't really stick, but we'll take water however it wants to come. Fortunately, my peonies seem unaffected by the cold snap, and are ready to put on a show here soon. 1. I'm thankful for moisture. 2. I'm thankful the flowers are still going to bloom. I don't know how the colder temperatures will affect the fruit crops. The strawberries look like they are still planning to set fruit. We'll have to see what happens with the peach, apricot, pear, and apple. (The apricot only bears heavily every other year anyway, and I think this is an "off" year--though I could be wrong.) Strawberry plants in full bloom 3. I'm thankful for anticipated berries.  We continue to clear out and otherwise prepare John's parents' house for sale. I've been going through old photos and...

Monday Mentions: Equate Crutches

Have you ever needed crutches? I hadn't, until a week ago.  I'm pretty sure I strained a muscle while running a half-marathon.  (That sounds kind of cool, doesn't it? I'm not actually that cool; the last time I strained a muscle it was from carrying too many shopping bags at once.) In any case, I found myself in need of some crutches. I sent my husband to the store to get some. Photo: A pair of crutches leans against a wall  Not that crutches are all that complex, but because I hadn't used any before, I wondered if I could figure out how to adjust them to fit me properly. I shouldn't have worried. John came home from Walmart with their generic store brand of crutches, complete with instructions. First, I needed to take out a long bolt that went through the hand grip. Then I needed to find my height range, push down two metal pieces, and slide the crutches until the little metal pieces came up in the hole near my height range. (Having two people for this...