Thankful Me

We meet with our realtor this week. I'm stressed out with the idea that I have 3 more days to fix every flaw, organize every cupboard, clean away every cobweb, and decorate every room to make it look like what every buyer wants. I know I'm being unrealistic, but I'm not listening to my reasonable side yet. I'll wait until Wednesday afternoon and then declare everything good enough for the moment. Meanwhile, today is Sunday. (1) I'm thankful for Sunday, because it is a day of rest. I went to church, I spent some time doing family history research, I talked with my daughter, I went to choir practice, and I'm now blogging. Monday through Saturday, I sort, organize, clean and pack. Sunday I take a break from that, and that break revitalizes me.  Now, I must admit that the first Saturday of this month, I had work of another kind. My brother told me he needed me to go to Disneyland to watch my nephew lead his high school marching band. Neither my brother nor his w...

I haven't yet learned how to stretch time, nor how to write well when I'm exhausted, and so this poor little blog has been neglected for the past month. The neglect is taking its toll on me. Throughout the week, I'll think, "I'm thankful for that!" but I miss the process of getting my thoughts out of my head and onto the screen. There is something very stress-relieving about listing items of gratitude. I noticed today that Dyanne has jumped back into the blogging world, and that inspired me to do the same. Thanks, cousin! (Dyanne and I used RelativeFinder.org to discover we are 11th cousins, and Christine is a cousin, too. If you'd like to see how you might be related, too, read the posts  here and here , then ask me about our Thankful Us group.) 1. I'm thankful for cousins. One of my cousins is currently on hospice care. Cancer has returned, and an infection has claimed an eye and her eyesight in the remaining eye. Her coworkers started a can dr...

Thirty: the age that 20-somethings dread.   Thirty: the length of many mortgage loans, which seems like an eternity of a time to be in debt. Thirty gets a bad rap, though, because: Thirty: the number of years John and I have been married. Photo:  John, in a grey tux, and I, in a white wedding dress, stand outside the Seattle Temple on our wedding day We met in Provo, Utah, while students at Brigham Young University.  We married in Seattle, Washington (the closest temple at the time to my parents' home). We lived for a few months in the basement of John's parents' home in Salt Lake City.  A job offer took us to Orange County, California.  We lived in a little apartment for a couple of years before purchasing our first home--a little upstairs-unit condo, with a view of the train tracks. Our family doubled while we were in California. With two children in the backseat, we moved to the Seattle area.  While in Washington, we added three more childr...

Time is short, but I'm still very thankful. 1. I'm thankful for Easter and all that it means. The events of that first Easter are central to my faith, and give meaning and purpose to my life.  2. I'm thankful that my oldest daughter was able to make a short visit home this week.  3. I'm thankful that she was able to go through the boxes of things she still keeps at our house.  Some items are still here, some she took with her, and others will be let go.  4. I'm thankful that there were some trips down memory lane, as we sorted through old papers.  Sometimes we were a bit confused, as with this old letter to Santa, but it sure made us chuckle! (If anyone can decipher this, we would love to know what she wanted for Christmas!) Photo: A letter to Santa, written in child's printing, which reads: "SAntA Plees Biging Me Pissse Wisging" 5. I'm thankful we were also able to fit in a trip to Disneyland while she was here. She is, hands-dow...

Last weekend, I didn't go to a church building on Sunday--rather, I watched General Conference from the comfort of my own couch. Twice a year, on the first weekend of April and October, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participate in a world-wide conference. We listen as the prophet, apostles, and other leaders speak to us.  I always come away from conference renewed, refreshed, and encouraged.  Today, for my Ten Things of Thankful post, I will share some of the quotes I heard. (For my friends who depend upon photo descriptions, each of the photos simply are memes of the quotes listed.)  Full transcripts and videos of all the talks can be found here:   General Conference I'm thankful for these words: 1. "No true teaching or learning will ever occur when done in frustration or anger, and hearts will not change where love is not present." (S. Mark Palmer) 2. ". . . for enduring faith and to have the constant companionship of the...

Spring has arrived.  On Wednesday, I took off for a few hours to hike.  The weather was perfect:  the sun was shining, the wind kept itself to a cool, slight breeze (as opposed to Thursday, when the sustained wind speed was 37.5 mph) , and the temperature was warm, but not oppressive.   My Ten Things of Thankful list this week will be mostly made of photos.  Each time I climbed another hill, or turned another corner, I was delighted with the new view.  Come along with me! The poppy fields can be seen from miles away. Photo:  The poppy fields turn the hills in the distance bright orange. Many other people had the same idea I had on Wednesday. The line to get into the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve was longer than I've ever seen it. Many cars turned around and decided to just park on the main street and hike into the reserve. Photo:  A view taken from the hill, looking down on the parking lot.  Cars were lines up nearly to the main...