Thankful Saturday, Ooooof Week Edition

 Oof, this week has been a doozy. A proposal, worrying about Luna, and then mom wound up in the hospital yesterday because she was really dehydrated. While this is not going to go in my top ten list of weeks in my life that I have enjoyed, there are still things to be grateful for.

1. I have amazing friends that checked on me all week and all day yesterday while we figured out mom in the ER. I cannot say enough good things about my people.

2. Health care and good nurses and doctors. They kept mom comfortable, even fed her in the ER, and were very thorough in figuring out what was going on (mostly dehydration).

3. Mom's care team at Sunrise. They communicated great all week and made the right call to take mom to the hospital yesterday. I know she's in good hands today back at Sunrise.

4. Fun coworkers. Its not fun to be working on a proposal (or anything work related) all weekend, but we had a fun group chat as we reviewed everything, complete with many gifs and emojis.

5. Luna seems to be doing better. She's still not 100% herself, but she's mostly eating and sometimes walking.

6. Beautiful spring colors! Even in a rough week, it helps that everything is bright green and in bloom outside.

Thankful Thursday, Hard week edition

 This has been a rough week to be honest. Something is up with Luna and she doesn't want to walk or really go outside, so we are headed to the vet tomorrow. I have a proposal due at work next week, so this week has been full of meetings. I haven't been able to see mom in over a week because of busy-ness like work and taxes. Someone I know just entered hospice and another friend might be saying goodbye to a beloved pet. And its April 16th, and the memories of the Virginia Tech tragedy linger, with the addition of the terrible news of the former lieutenant governor of Virginia killing his wife and then himself late last night. Its a lot. 

In the midst of all this, there are still things to be grateful for, and I do try to look for them even when I'm sad and overwhelmed.

• - My azaleas are blooming spectacularly, a blaze of color in my yard.
• - It's been really warm the last few days and I had a lovely evening reading in my hammock tonight
• - I think I really like Terry Pratchett. Mort is the first book I've read in Disc World, and I'm excited that there are so many others to read. 
• - I got to volunteer at an indy bookstore in Annapolis last Saturday, helping them sort and shelve books for several hours. 
• - I had a really fun evening with Garth and Karen and Kate and Garth's friends on Friday night celebrating his birthday. I think we stayed at that whiskey bar for 5 hours lol
• - I got some short hikes in with Luna on Friday and Sunday. I hope I didn't injure her in the process, but at the time we both enjoyed the warm but not hot weather that was perfect for hiking.

Thankful Thursday, Weird Week Edition

 This has honestly kind of been a weird week for me. It's had some great highs and some low lows. In some ways, it was really hard to think of things I was grateful for on Tuesday, when I was so worried we might bomb Iran again. But honestly, remembering that I have so much to be thankful for helps when I'm feeling low, maybe even more than when I'm just having an ordinary day or a great day. 

So this week I'm thankful for:

1. Old friends. On Friday I went birding with Kate and we talked for like 6 hours. On Saturday I saw my friend Andrea from college and we also talked for about 4 hours. Then I had dinner with Babs... and talked for 2 hours. I've known all 3 of these women for over 20 years and its just so fun to hang out, talk about our lives and randomness, laugh, and just be. I really hadn't seen Andrea in at least 8-9 years (we were trying to figure that out), so meeting up in Harrisburg was great. Rats for forgetting to take photos!

2. My favorite bookstore, Midtown Scholar in Harrisburg. On one hand, its a bummer my favorite bookstore is 2 hours away. On the other hand, it's probably a good thing because I'd be there weekly buying way to many books if I was local. It's got new and used books, a huge history section, and this cool underground part that goes on forever of rare books. 

3. Birds! Spring migration has started, and Kate and I walked several miles around Huntley Meadows looking for birds. We found what we think was a Coopers Hawk in a nest, red-headed woodpeckers, and tried our hand at identifying lots of sparrows.

4. Easter! Easter service at our church was such a wonderful celebration. We had a full house, great music, and dang, can Joshua preach. 

5. Girl Scout Cookies. I was silly and gave up sweets for lent, so I've been enjoying my stash of girl scout cookies this week. 

6. Conversations with mom. Alzheimers is a tricky thing, but on Friday mom was in a good mood and we actually chatted about a few things. I think she was following the conversation pretty well as I tried to reminisce about things she might still remember (but not too many things or I'd confuse her). We laughed a lot, and that was wonderful. I miss being able to talk to her about things, and this was a lovely small dose of her that's still in there.  

Thankful Thursday, Holy Week Edition

 This week I'm thankful for:

1. My hammock. I got my first 'lay in my hammock and read in the sun' day of the year this week and it was glorious. 

2. A moving Maundy Thursday service at church tonight.

3. Board games with Karen, Garth and Kate on Sunday. 

4. I learned a new board game called 'Age of Comics' and it was very fun.

5. I've gotten more stuff out of my house! Trips to the recycling center, used bookstore, Goodwill, Interfaith clothing, paper shredding and police station (expired meds) all happened this week. 

6. A big AC unit for my not so big house. I finally gave up and turned the AC on this week when it was 76 in my house; it was 85 outside on Tuesday! 

7. I've made an appointment with an allergist. Stay tuned to see how many dozens of things I'm allergic to lol.

Thankful Friday, Decluttering Edition

 Well I figured out this week after going BACK to the doctor that I don't have bronchitis, I just have insane allergies. So I have finished my antibiotics, am not contagious, and have a referral to an allergist. All in a week's work?

I'm thankful for:

1. Cherry blossoms! We hit peak bloom this week, and I was able to drive mom around Kenwood yesterday to look at them. 

2. Dinner with mom. I hadn't seen much of her in the last 2 weeks when I was sick and then thought I was still sick. Now that I know I'm not contagious, I was able to take her out for a belated birthday dinner at Not Your Average Joes. 

3. Allergy meds. I'm double dosing Zyrtec at the moment (under doctor's orders) and I don't feel terrible anymore. I still have a terrible cough, but I'm very happy to be rid of the sinus pressure and headaches, hopefully for good.

4. Everything is turning that lovely shade of light green. I love that shade of early spring green.

5. My friend Susan helped me declutter my guest room for almost 5 hours today! I have a load of stuff in my car to go to recycling, another load prepped for Goodwill, and a few boxes that need to go to really specific places like an antique shop or a certain friend. 

6. I'm so happy to almost have my guest room functional again! It's been 3 years since I moved mom to assisted living, and I've been chipping away at the boxes of things I inherited in that process. I'm getting much closer to keeping the number of things I actually want to keep.

7. My work hours are going up to 80% for the next 2 months, huzzah!

8. The bell choir I'm in. We had a particularly fun rehearsal this week with lots of laughter, and its just fun making music with those folks.

9. A gorgeous day to do a short hike with my Girl Scout troop on Sunday. 

Thankful Thursday, In the market for new sinuses edition

 I still have this stupid cold/sinus infection and I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. That said, I'm still thankful for:

1. The antibiotics I just got- hoping they can help me kick this crud!

2. The sound of rain on my roof as I snuggle under my covers.

3. Mom is doing well. I hadn't seen her in 2 weeks, but I stopped by tonight (masked) to check in and had a good short visit.

4. The weather is warming up- I walked Luna in short sleeves several times this week!

5. A new good book- The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks

Thankful... Monday? More March Edition

 I'm surfacing after a having a cold that wanted to be a sinus infection. 0/5 stars.

There's still a lot I'm thankful for, including:

1. My immune system. Being sick sucks, but I'm glad I eventually bounce back.

2. Masking is socially acceptable. I was able to take Luna to a vet appointment on Friday while masked, so I (hopefully) didn't pass my crud onto other people.

3. More good books. I finished 'The Last Runaway' by Tracy Chevalier while recovering and started 'Born a Crime' by Trevor Noah.

4. A new season of Top Chef! 

5. Livestreams of music. One of my favorite bands from Ren Faire, Piper Jones Band, was playing at a club in Houston on Saturday night, and there was a livestream to watch for free.

6. A clean bill of health for my teeth, at least for another 6 months.

7. Bell festival was so much fun. We had a great conductor, good music, and it was at the beach, so who can complain? It was fun to go to a new beach too, I'd never been to Rehoboth before. 

8. Wondering a new wildlife refuge before bell festival, Prime Hook. A windy day for birds, but a lovely walk, and I did see a bunch of forest birds.

9. My friend Kris that let me stay at her house for festival so I didn't have to pay for a hotel room.

10. March weather? We've had 2 85 degree days and then the next day it snowed. I'm here for the warmup and will stay for the crazy back and forth (which we might have again tonight.)