Gratitude at the End of November

It's that special time of the year - yes it's officially the Christmas season.  Many of the things I am most grateful for this week revolve around Christmas and getting into the Christmas spirit. Of course, I am linking again with Susanne and friends over at Living to Tell the Story, so let's get going with looking back at the positives.  

😊 So far this shopping season, all but three gifts have been purchased online.  I don't love shopping and I certainly did not miss getting up early to be first in line at the mall or a big box store for Black Friday specials.  I took full advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales and specials and got a significant amount of my shopping finished.  I love the fun and convenience of finding just the right gift while still on my couch at home and then having gifts going far away delivered without having to go to the post office.   I am grateful for all the ways that technology makes the holiday a lot less stressful and a lot more merry.  

😊  I'm always grateful for the opportunity to give to others, especially at Christmas. One group at our school is doing a book drive for a children's hospital in our area, and I am so glad I can participate.  If you remember some years back, one of my grandsons was diagnosed with cancer and spent a significant amount of time in a children's hospital, so I know how important little diversions like fun books can be to a child trying to get well.  I am also an English teacher and avid reader, so anytime I can give away books to kids, I'm all in! I am so thankful that I can participate in this book drive for the children's hospital.  

😊 I'm also grateful that sending and receiving Christmas cards are part of our family Christmas tradition. I've started, but have not finished and mailed this year's cards, but my goal is get them out within the next few days.  I know that sending Christmas cards is not in vogue any more, and lots of people have stopped sending at all, but we love to keep in touch with family members and special friends we have made as we have lived in so many places across the country.  If you want to be on my Christmas card list, email me your address.  If you already receive a card and family Christmas letter from us, please know that we are grateful for you and we value your friendship! 

😊 I finished reading and marking the New Testament this week. The New Testament has been our church's Come Follow Me scripture study for 2023. I am grateful that I achieved the goal of finishing The New Testament a month early.  I am also very grateful for The New Testament and all the scriptures.  My daily Bible reading boosts my faith and brings me hope and peace. 

😊 Wednesday morning, I got an unexpected text from our daughter, telling us that our granddaughter's basketball team was going to be playing at the high school where I teach.  Most of our granddaughter's games are in late afternoon in Utah county and it would be hard for us to get there to see her play after school.  It was so great that she was playing at the school where I teach (against my school's team) so of course, we are very grateful that we could go and support our granddaughter and her team.  I am also grateful that she has at least two more games in December that are in our area that we will be able to attend. 

😊 Thursday, I received a package with this lovely Christmas nativity ornament from my blogging friend Faith over at Gold in the Clouds. I am so grateful for this thoughtful gift and for the many friendships I have made through blogging over the years.  

😊 Thursday after school, Charly and I went downtown to meet with a financial planner at the Utah Retirement System office.  The man we met with was very kind and helpful and we ran through several retirement scenarios to help me decide when I am going to retire.  The good news is that once I hit the big 6-5, I have lots of options.  Financially, I would still like to complete two more school years after this one, so essentially two and a half more years of work.  We shall see.  I am grateful that I have a pension and lots of retirement options, and I am grateful for the financial planner who patiently went through everything with us and answered all of our questions.  

There is always much to be grateful for when we just stop, think and look around us. There are truly blessings everywhere.  Thanks for stopping by.  See you again soon!

Until next time,

🤶Deb🎄

"Our attitude is one of the few things this Christmas 

that is ours to control. 

You can be grateful for what you do have, 

even amidst all that you are missing. 

You can choose to see the beauty 

and kindness around you."

~Tania Miller

 

The Weekend After Thanksgiving

Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we woke up to snow and ice on the ground. There wasn't a lot of snow on the ground, but there was a layer of ice underneath it and it was bitter cold out.  

Charly and I dropped my car off for an oil change and then went grocery shopping in his car. 

While we were shopping, we got a darling Thanksgiving Marco Polo from our granddaughters.  It was so fun to hear from them as they told us about the fun time they were having at their other grandparents house in Tucson, Arizona. 

We also stopped at our empty condo, which has been under contract twice, but remains unsold because the people who wanted to buy it couldn't sell their homes to buy the condo.  We go over every few days to make sure that everything is OK there.  Because it has been so cold, we wanted to make sure that the furnace was on and working properly. 

When we picked the car up, we were told that in addition to the oil change (which was finished) our vehicle needed new brakes and new tires.  What??? That was unexpected. We decided to take the car to another mechanic we have used for a second opinion. 

We went to another repair shop we have used right across the street from the first place and after looking at the car, they confirmed that we did need new brakes, and also a new battery.  We left the car to have the work done, and weren't able to pick it up until right before the place closed at 6pm. We had literally spent the entire day with car service and repair.  

Saturday morning, we got a call from the repair shop that did the brakes confirming that we also needed four new tires.  We got a quote on the price then went back across the street to get a bid from that place. We ended up getting the new tires at the place that did the oil change, and we had another full day with one car in the shop.  It was a very expensive weekend with car service that we really weren't expecting - new brakes, new tires, new battery, an alignment and of course the original oil change which was the only repair we were really planning for.  We are grateful that we were able to get these repairs done, even if they cost way more than we were planning to spend on our car this weekend.  

While we were waiting for our car to get new brakes and tires, we did some chores at home and also went to Walmart for some things we needed.  I wanted the white "fake snow" tree skirts for our little Christmas trees and I also added some stockings hung by the fireplace to our decorations.  I found the old Christmas stockings our children had growing up, but they were in such bad shape that I got some new ones. There are new stockings for Charly, Josh and I - the three of us who will be here for Christmas morning.   I was planning to do a little in-person Christmas shopping, but with all the car repairs, my Christmas gift shopping was pretty much all online. 

Saturday was super busy with lots of time spent on household chores and cleaning, laundry, and of course car maintenance and repairs.  I am grateful that I had a nice chatty phone conversation with my son Josh in the evening after dinner, and also that I had a few minutes to relax and read before going to bed about 10:30 p.m., completely exhausted. 

Sunday morning, I was up before 7 a.m..  I ate breakfast, read scriptures, exercised on my Health Walker and got ready for church.  We are always among the first to arrive for services and this is what the chapel looked like when we walked in. There was one other person in the pews and some young men preparing the Sacrament (communion) at the table on the right hand side of the picture. After our main service, Charly and I attended the separate mens and womens group meetings.   The women's group (Relief Society) had an excellent lesson and I am very glad I was there to hear and participate in it. 

After church and lunch, I baked some banana/nut/chocolate chip bread. 

Here's the recipe.  If you click on the picture, it will get bigger and easier to read. 

While I was waiting for the bread to bake, I did some indexing of Montana school census records from 1944.

Even though it was Thanksgiving weekend, we had summer food for Sunday dinner - cheeseburgers on pretzel buns, baked beans, loaded potato salad and chips.   It was good. 

After dinner, Charly and I watched a documentary on Netflix called The Volcano:  Rescue from Whataari.  It is the true story of tourists trapped by an erupting volcano on an island in New Zealand back in 2019.  It was Charly's choice and is pretty interesting.  After I post this, I will get ready for bed, then do some reading. 

Weekend Gratitude:

• Having a nice Thanksgiving.
• Hearing from our daughter, son and grandchildren.
• Getting needed car maintenance and repairs done. 
• Having our battery die right in front of the car repair shop. 
• Completing all weekend chores and household tasks.  

Coming up this week:

Monday - back to school after the long weekend.

Tuesday - after school appointment.

Thursday - retirement planning appointment after school.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope that you all have a good week. 

Until next time,

🎄Deb🎄

“Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.” 

– Dale Evans

Thanksgiving Week Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving to my blogging friends in the United States.  Thanksgiving, of course, is the official day we have to remember all that is good in our lives, but I am part of a blogging community hosted by Susanne over at Living to Tell the Story that links up at the end of every week, to remember the positive.   Here are the things I am most grateful for as this Thanksgiving week ends. 

😊 My Thanksgiving cactus continues to bloom and it brings a little bit of beauty to my home, which I am grateful for.  

😊 On Tuesday, our last day of school for the week, we received a catered lunch from Chick-Fil-A.  I am grateful for this yummy lunch that helped us celebrate Thanksgiving a little early. 

😊 Although snow is in our forecast for this weekend, I am grateful that the weather was good enough this week that Charly and I were able to take some nice walks and enjoy some exercise, sunshine and good conversations. 

😊 Because our daughter who lives in Utah went to Arizona for Thanksgiving (where her in-laws live) and Josh stayed in Idaho to work over the weekend, Charly and I found ourselves alone for Thanksgiving.  Friends invited us to go out and eat with a group, but we opted to stay home and fix our own dinner.  I'm glad we did.  Our ham Thanksgiving dinner was delicious.  I am grateful for a nice Thanksgiving at home with my husband.  

😊 I am also grateful that Charly made his delicious pumpkin pies this year.  This is his own, original recipe and his pies are so good.  I am glad they were part of our Thanksgiving this year.  

😊 I don't do a lot of outdoor Christmas decorating, but this year, I decided to put some lights on our front porch railing to go with the LED lights in the windows.  I am grateful that I was able to accomplish this quickly and easy so that we can enjoy having our home festive for Christmas. 

😊 I'm also grateful that I was able to get our living room decorated for Christmas.  With our home decorated, I am ready to enjoy other aspects of the holiday. 

That's it for this Thanksgiving week of gratitude.   I hope that my American readers had a good Thanksgiving and that all enjoy the coming weekend, and the Christmas season.  

Until next time,

🎄Deb🎄

Currently on a Wet Weekend

 

Hello and Happy Sunday. Here is what is going on in my world this Sunday before Thanksgiving. 

Outside my window it is dark now, but earlier, it looked like this. 

The temperatures were in the low 40s and it rained all day.  

We have had a wet weekend.  It rained almost all day yesterday and all day today.  The mountains are getting quite a bit of snow (up to 15 inches) and I understand that there may also be a little snow in the valleys before the storm moves one. 

I've been reading The Beach House by Rachel Hanna, a "chick-lit" book which I actually finished a couple of days ago.  I am currently reading some Christian nonfiction books that I have been working on for a while - Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen and Daily Discipleship by Chad P. Conrad. 

I've been listening to this audiobook, I Can Only Imagine, which I finished yesterday.  It is the story of the #1 hit song from Bart Millard and the Christian group, MercyMe.  It was excellent.  I will review in my end of the month Reading Roundup. 

I've been working on hanging the rest of Mixtiles pictures in our living room.   I decided to hang only the Mixtiles in the areas of our home that have plaster walls to avoid damaging them, so this is what our living room looks like right now, and probably what it will look like until we move from here. 

In the kitchen, I made some slow cooker chili for dinner. 

Here is the recipe I used, from my favorite, well-used recipe book. 

I also made some cornbread and cinnamon muffins to go with our chili. 

Everything was quite delicious.   It was a good dinner for a cold and wet day. 

I'm enjoying these garden fresh tomatoes that a friend gave us this weekend.  I had one in my salad Sunday at dinner. 

I'm loving that I am getting some of my Christmas shopping done.  I was able to find these Christmas gifts for two of my granddaughters this weekend.  The 8-year-old will get the cute dark green dress and her 5-year-old sister will get the sweet Disney princess dress. 

I'm also getting Amazon's help with my Christmas shopping, and I love the convenience. 

I'm grateful that Charly and I got some walks in this weekend (Friday afternoon and Saturday morning), even though it was so rainy this weekend.  I love walking through the neighborhood with my husband. 

I'm also grateful that we were able to meet up with friends for a yummy lunch and a good visit on Saturday afternoon.  We enjoy getting together with friends. 

I'm looking forward to having five days off for the long Thanksgiving weekend.  It will be a quiet Thanksgiving for Charly and I.  Our daughter is going to her in-laws in Arizona for Thanksgiving and Josh is going to stay in Idaho.   It will be great to have some time to get stuff done around the house, including putting up the Christmas decorations, and getting our Christmas cards ready to mail.  

That's all for this weekend. I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. 

Until next time,

🍁Deb🦃

"Give thanks not just on Thanksgiving Day, 

but every day of your life. 

Appreciate and never take for granted all that you have."

~Catherine Pulsipher

 

Mid-November Favorites of the Week

This has been another busy week in my world, so I am happy to once again join with Susanne and friends over at Living to Tell the Story to recall some of my favorite things with gratitude.  God is good and this week has been full of blessings.  Let's get going with the good.

😊 This was a busy week with meetings and appointments almost every day after school.  I am grateful however, that Charly and I walked every day that we could.  My afternoon walk is often the best part of my day. 

😊 After a rainy Thursday morning, this was the view of our Mountains as Charly and I took an afternoon walk.  The clouds were super low and looked really cool.  I am so grateful to live in the midst of such beauty. 

😊 Because not only rain, but snow is in our forecast, I went over to a friend's house one afternoon and asked her if I could have some of the leaves that had fallen off of the big trees in her backyard. I wanted the leaves as winter compost in my garden.  She was happy to oblige and came out and helped me to fill five bags with leaves.  I am grateful for the help of my friend as well as the leaves from her trees. 

😊 I am grateful that I had enough leaves and that I got them spread out in my garden area before the rain started on Wednesday night.  I am hopeful that the leaves will decay and enrich the soil so that next summer's garden will be awesome. 

😊  I am super excited that my Christmas (or Thanksgiving) cactus is out in bloom.  I have been hoping it would bloom for at least a couple of years now. I love having plants in my home and I am grateful when they thrive and do well.  

😊 I came home from school this afternoon to more roses from my sweet husband. I am grateful for his love and thoughtfulness. 

😊  I received a lovely Thanksgiving card this week from my blogging friend and prayer partner Faith over at Gold in the Clouds.  I am grateful for kind and thoughtful blogging friends, of which I have many.  

😊 Our Operation Christmas Child boxes are all packed and paid for and they will be taken to the collection point Friday on my way home from school.  I am grateful to be able to participate in this wonderful service project to bless others with the love of Jesus. 

😊 We usually don't watch movies on weeknights, but this week, we made an exception to watch this excellent Christian movie - I Can Only Imagine, which is the based on the true story of Bart Millard of the Christian band, MercyMe.   This is a powerful film that I personally recommend.  I have loved the song I Can Only Imagine since it was released some years back, but I did not know the backstory of the song until I started listening to the audiobook and then watched the movie by the same name. Charly and I watched the film together and we both had our eyes water with tears a bit during this inspiring and touching movie.  I am grateful that my long-time blogging friend Susanne at Living to Tell the Story recommended the book and movie to me.  Bart Millard's story is an amazing testimony about the power of God to change hearts and heal relationships. 

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by to share the good from the last week.  Have a good weekend.  

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel 

to say your nightly prayer."

~Maya Angelou