Thankful Thursday, Productive Week Edition

 Here's to a week not trying to eat me (much) so I remember to post on a Thursday, huzzah!

I'm thankful for:

1. A productive week. I knocked a good handful of things off my personal to-do list, which feels really good. It also gives me motivation to keep working on the rest of things on the list.

2. It's also been a busy but good week at work. A lot done, good conversations, and I went into the office for the first time since that week in January where we all froze haha.

3. Luna is feeling much better! I'll spare the internet the details, but she's had a very unhappy tummy for about a month as we've been sorting out her pain meds, so I'm glad she is feeling better. I won't even complain that she's back to grabbing dishes out of my sink, because that actually IS a sign she's feeling better lol.

4. Some cool May temps. It's about to get hot I think, but having some 60s and 70s in May has been delightful for walking with Luna and driving with the windows down.

5. Spontaneous dinner with Ilana on Monday :o) We had a great time catching up over Panera; I was so glad she reached out. 

Thankful Saturday, good week edition

 I guess we know it's a good week when I don't remember to post until Saturday, rather than Thursday? 

This week I'm thankful for, in no particular order:

1. My friend Kate told me about Fanta 0, and it's great. Yay soda snack with no calories!

2. I went on a lovely hike yesterday in Patapsco State Park near Daniel's dam. It's always nice to hike a new trail, and this one was pretty easy to find, although not well marked.

3. I'm thankful for the AllTrails app on my phone. It made my hike stress-free instead of stress-ful.

4. I'm thankful for my house. She isn't fancy, but she's mine, and it's so nice to have my own space to flop.

5. I'm thankful I can pay my neighbor to mow my lawn. He's got a great business and I can spend my time doing other things!

6. I'm thankful for the TV show Top Chef. I don't watch a lot of TV, but this is one of my favs, and its fun to watch over chat with Meghan so we can livechat our thoughts.

Thankful Saturday, Calmer week edition

 This week has definitely been better than last week, although that was a bit of a low bar lol.

Lots to be thankful for!

1. I got to camp with my Girl Scouts after all! I was scheduled to camp with them Friday and Saturday nights, but mom in the ER meant that another parent went in my place for the weekend. As it turned out though, I was able to go Saturday night and had a lot of fun! The funniest part was our troop moving our tents into the Glen Shelters because it was going to rain.

2. Luna is walking almost normally now. We're still sorting out her digestive system (maybe too many meds?) but she seems in less pain and is excited to walk again.

3. I just read the book 'The War That Saved My Life' by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and it was so good. Historical Fiction set in England in WWII, YA. 5 star read.

4. I had a day of rest and small adventures. I slept in, made muffins for breakfast, checked out a new bookstore in Kentlands, went birding for an hour at the lake, and bumped into 2 friends there. I also went looking for owls in a different spot and discovered a new to me trail that I want to fully hike at a later date.

5. A Pileated Woodpecker basically posed for me while I was birding and I got some beautiful shots of a beautiful bird.

6. Two of my cousins have moved to Arizona! Their new place looks so nice and I can't wait to visit them.

7. Mom is doing better. Saw her Saturday morning and Wednesday for lunch and she seems like herself and can walk relatively normally (with her walker). 

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.