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| A photo of a temperature display on a car dashboard, which reads "OUTSIDE 107 F" |
Fall officially starts this month, but summer temperatures are not going away without a fight. And as long as the weather wants to be ridiculously hot, you will find me trying to stay cool, whether that means a trip to the beach, or just a shopping trip to Costco to walk through the refrigerated produce room.
The Friday before Labor Day, I attended the funeral of a mother of a friend. My friend and her family had moved away from California around the time we had moved to Utah, so I hadn't actually seen her for quite a while. One of her daughters was my daughter, too, when John and I were Pa and Ma to a bunch of teens on a pioneer trek reenactment years ago. The funeral was a nice tribute to a amazingly musical woman, and it was good to reconnect with her family. (And if I'm not mistaken, one of the musical numbers had theremin accompaniment!)
1. I'm thankful for the chance to celebrate the legacy of a talented woman.
2. I'm thankful to reconnect with old friends.
That evening, John and I drove down to the Los Angeles Temple. As we were walking in, we happened to see some friends who were just arriving, too. Once inside, we saw other friends as well.
3. I'm thankful for the peace found in the temple.
4. I'm thankful for friends.
After we left the temple, we drove up the coast for an overnight getaway. Saturday morning, we went on a whale watching trip out of Santa Barbara. We spotted one minke whale off in the distance, but we saw lots of dolphins and also got to see the mouth of Painted Cave in the Channel Islands. (Video of dolphins leaping through the water behind the boat.)
5. I'm thankful for the beauty of nature.
We drove back inland Saturday evening, attended church on Sunday, and thought we were going to have a routine week. Then we were asked if we could take our youngest granddaughter (Baby-baby) for most of the week. Of course we said yes! We had a fun-filled "Grandma Preschool" week, finishing up our unit on apples. We poked toothpicks in apples to make hedgehogs, made caramel apples, and painted fingerprint apples on a paper letter A. We read lots of books and attended story time at the library. On Thursday, to escape the heat, we drove to Santa Barbara and enjoyed a few hours at the beach.
All of our focus on reading and learning about the letter A has increased my granddaughter's awareness that letters are all around us. As we drove to the beach, I would occasionally hear from the backseat, "GRANDMA! I SEE AN A!!!!!" As my heartrate returned to normal, I would reply, "You're right! Good spotting!"
I'm all for encouraging literacy, so when we were walking along the beach and my granddaughter said, "Grandma, the sign says it's ice cream day!" I had to concur. We went in and ordered ice cream cones, even though we hadn't eaten lunch yet.
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| Granddaughter stands by a sign of a picture of an ice cream cone |
6. I'm thankful for how exciting life is, when viewed through the eyes of a 3-year-old.
After ice cream, we walked along the beach. WE MADE FOOTPRINTS!!!! Baby-baby tossed many rocks back into the water. A sea lion splashed and swam close to shore, and brown pelicans floated in the water. We had a pleasant escape from the triple-digit weather inland.
We left the beach early in the afternoon and started the drive home. I think my granddaughter was awake for about 30 seconds before falling asleep. She slept almost all of the way home. Even better, she slept through the night every night she was with us--something she didn't used to do.
7. I'm thankful for sleep. It takes a lot of energy to experience this wonderful world, especially when everything is new. It also takes a lot of energy to watch someone who is experiencing new things all the time, so I'm thankful that both of us got rest each night.
Yesterday, I took Baby-baby back home to her house and I have been trying to catch up on some things (like this blog post) that take more uninterrupted time than I've had the rest of this week.
8. I'm thankful for down time.
Today, we went to church. I substituted for the organist. That is always an adventure, as most of the organists in the congregations I've been in--including myself--are pianists who are willing to try something new. Even after all these years, I am not confident in my ability to figure out how to get the sound I want out of the organ, and rely heavily on presets. Today, though I was using presets, I got brave and hit some additional buttons mid-song and it actually improved the sound. Whew!
9. I'm thankful for church, and for the hymns. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in the process of compiling a new hymnbook. Though the book isn't ready yet, they have been releasing batches of new hymns periodically, and another batch is scheduled to be released this coming week. I'm looking forward to seeing what hymns will be in this next batch.)
This coming week, we will be taking a short trip back to Utah, as we need to renew another car's registration. I've been gathering items that we won't need here anymore so we can move them back. Our time here is drawing to a close, and anything we can do to make the ultimate move back home easier will be good.
10. I'm thankful for John and the many hours he has put in this past year (and over many previous years, as well). I know he's looking forward to retirement, take two.
I'm looking forward to that, also--as well as cooler weather!
What are you thankful for this week? Leave a comment, feel free to link up your own blog post, and go visit the other Ten Things of Thankful blog hop participants!
Such a wonderful, special week! It's a joy to teach those open, willing-to-learn minds, isn't it.
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