Thankful Me

  Drexel the yellow lab points his nose up toward a bowl of banana bread batter Though I haven't done much baking recently, I made Drexel very happy by making some banana bread the other day. You might recall that Drexel used to be a guide dog puppy in training, but he "career-changed" due to scent distraction--and one of the scents he enjoys most of all is bananas! Even though gingerbread or peppermint might be more traditional, I think that the scent of bananas might evoke a feeling of Christmas for Drexel. I'm thankful for Drexel. Christmas has a different feel for me this year. Our place here is perfectly small for the two of us, but doesn't lend itself for entertaining big crowds, so we will have a quiet Christmas morning, then head to the grandchildren's house for the day. Later in the week, we'll visit our son and his wife, then our oldest daughter will come here for a few days. We will miss seeing our two youngest children, but know we will be back...

Orange poppies bloom on a hillside in December in California. White wispy clouds punctuate the blue sky. I've put up a small tree and a few other decorations. A wreath is on the front door and Alexa is playing carols. By the looks and sounds of things inside, it's nearly Christmas. Outside is another story, as you can tell from the photo above. The poppies are blooming (!) and I've traded my sweaters and boots for short sleeves and sandals. While I'm not a fan of the summertime million degrees temperatures (OK, I might be exaggerating a tad on the number) , I really can't complain about "winter" weather here.  I'm thankful for shirt-sleeve weather and mixed-up flowers.  Even though we lived in this general area of California for quite a few years, we didn't live in this rural community. When we moved to Utah, I noticed differences between California and Utah , and now that we're back in California for a while, I'm noticing differences again...

  An orange sunrise in California marks the beginning of a new adventure Thanksgiving was last week, and I missed the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop! I was certainly thankful, but we picked last weekend to move from Utah to California, and even though we didn't actually move that many possessions, a move is still a move and so the blogging got delayed. But now we're mostly unpacked and settled in and it's time to return to blogging! We spent Thanksgiving day with John's family. The "kids table" was filled with adults, and for the first time, my sister-in-law didn't lead children in making apple and candy turkeys. With age comes perspective, though, and it was nice to gather together and reminisce.  I'm thankful for family. Friday morning, I woke up to a winter wonderland.  Even though I doubt we'll have a white Christmas in California, it was nice to see snow before leaving Utah. Snow blankets rooftops, trees, yards, and the street in my neighborh...

  a beautiful double rainbow crosses the 1-15 freeway in Utah This past week, John received notification of his start date for his new job. He'll be starting the week after Thanksgiving, which means that we have this upcoming holiday week to finish our preparations and move. While moving out of state during the busy Thanksgiving weekend when everyone and their dog (including ours) is on the road perhaps doesn't seem ideal, I'm thankful (1) we aren't in limbo anymore and we can make specific moving plans. Our rental house isn't available until the day John starts work, but I'm thankful (2) that we could find an available hotel room that accepts dogs and (3) that our new landlords will allow us to park one of our cars (loaded up with our boxes of stuff) on their property until we move in. I'm also thankful (4) that the hotel does offer late checkout, so hopefully I won't need to spend too much time (if any) driving around with Drexel before moving into the...

  The setting sun is shown through a Celebrity Eclipse life preserver As I mentioned in my last post, John has taken a job that will last for about a year and we will be relocating temporarily to California. However, before this job offer came, we had booked a cruise to Cabo San Lucas, so I spent the last week practicing "living in the moment"--which is not easy for a planner like me, especially when we have an upcoming out-of-state move! But I am definitely not complaining, and I was certainly glad John had the chance to relax before beginning his new job.  As relaxation week is over, I'll jump right into the Ten Things of Thankful list: 1. I'm thankful that on the way to port, we got to visit with our daughter and grandchildren. 2. I'm thankful we got to stay in the rental house that we will be living in shortly. It's even better than we realized from the online photos. 3. As an example of #2, I'm thankful the house has an installed doggy door leading to...

  Families stand in front of two covered wagons I have always loved the above photo. The youngest child is my grandfather. I don't know who the woman in the right of the photo is. With her hands on her hips, and staring at the back of the man in front of her, she appears to be none-too-happy about the situation. And what was the situation, anyway? Were these people relocating, or simply out for a picnic?  Change is hard. It takes time to wrap our heads around new things (just think about changing from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time--or vice versa!) Looking for the good in whatever situation helps us handle the not-so-wonderful parts. How can life be an adventure without change?  As you might have gathered from the title of this post, John and I have some imminent changes. He has decided to take a sabbatical from retirement for about a year and has accepted a new job in California.  There are things about this that make both of us relate to the hands-on-hips w...

  Four deer graze in my parents' front yard It's been a busy week for me, and I'm realizing that I need to hurry or I'll miss the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop. John and I have been road-tripping; we visited my parents for a few days, then drove up to the Olympic Peninsula, then visited our daughter in Seattle. We got home late last night.  The Pacific Northwest is my "fill my soul" place. When I think of hiking, I think of walking on damp (if not muddy) paths in cool temperatures, with a constant canopy of green trees above me, and a dense understory growing on either side of the trail. When I think of the ocean, I envision a rocky coast, not a sandy beach. Come with me to the temperate rain forest in the Olympic National Park! A picture is worth a thousand words, so obviously the following photos are worth at least ten items of thanks! John stands next to the world's largest spruce tree Moss-covered branches hang over a pond in the Hoh Rain Forest John...