a Good Things post
Because heaven knows we all could use one.
America is a mess, the world is a mess, and we are probably all individual messes too.
So, it seems like a very good week to not skip a Good Things post. In the messiness and brokenness, there are good and encouraging things still happening, and there are still things to be grateful for.
I'll list mine and then you can join me in the comments.
I've seen lots of people listening and learning.
There are plenty of dumpster fires in the comment sections of social media, but I do see some people humbly letting their minds be changed instead of digging in.
And I see a lot of people's eyes being opened to the privileges we didn't even know we had.
I see a lot of white pastors addressing racism and white privilege.
When I was a kid, this is not a thing that would have happened, and I am really encouraged to see my own pastor and others thinking about and talking about racism.
Pastors are just people, I know, but they are in a position of leadership, and them talking about these issues is going to help normalize it in congregations.
My mastermind group is so encouraging.
At last week's meeting, we scrapped the agenda and just discussed racism and privilege.
Ken from The Humble Penny and Nicole from Frugal Chic Life are both in our group, and I have just so appreciated hearing from them.
The things they share are really eye-opening for me, and I'm glad to be in a group that wants to share, hear, learn, and grow so that we can do better.
Virus metrics are improving where I live.
It's been a few weeks since restrictions started lifting, and numbers are still on an encouraging trajectory.
And even NYC is still seeing improvements. I'm really hoping that continues.
Sonia has a learner's permit test scheduled!
The DMV was closed for a long time, but they are allowing appointments now. I hopped on as soon as the scheduler was opened up and we got an appointment with just a one week wait.
Driving practice is a great thing to do while social distancing! I think Sonia and I can knock out a lot of her required hours this summer.
On a related note...
The driver's ed. school opened.
Sonia's classes will be online (sad sigh for my social girl!), but at least she can get the many hours of classroom instruction done during the summer rather than during the school year.
The weather this spring has been so lovely.
At least for someone who doesn't love hot weather, it's been lovely. We've had a lot of unseasonably cool weeks, and I am here for it.
My daughter and her husband have both gotten great jobs in the last few weeks - one with a college degree and one without. We were scared for them, but God answered those prayers.
Our oldest son is taking two summer school classes, both 300 level Biology classes so his final semester in the spring will be lighter. He's also trying to start an online business to help pay for Grad school.
Our youngest, who will be a college sophomore this fall, is a homebody, so this is his idea of heaven.
Even with the challenges going on around me, I tend to focus on family and my local surroundings. The rhododendrons are still blooming and the weather is beautiful, I can't ask for much more.
I spent yesterday on a Zoom call with all my scrapbooking buddies thanks to someone who pays the monthly fee on Zoom foe her calls and family. It was so nice to see everyone even if we didn’t get a lot done. I haven’t seen some of these women since Oct or January, so I was happy to participate. And we all agreed, we will so it again. We usually get together on a ballroom at a hotel or at someone’s house so this was really a nice way to reconnect.
NYS will re-institute in-person early intervention therapies for pre-school children this week. My grand daughter has been missing her therapies and viewing from a computer is hard for a little kid. This will help so much. And it will continue all summer long!
The best good thing for us: in our family very young parents with 2 children was split up last year and trying to work it out. Both were laid off during closure and have spent all the time together mending. (So thankful they receive unemployment) parents doing well and tots are thriving.
We attended a drive through open house for one of the kids in our youth group. He has had many challenges in his short life and we were glad he achieved his diploma and that we could celebrate with him.
We had picture perfect weather this weekend and enjoyed time outside.
I got to see my mom twice in the past week via window visits. Tomorrow I am taking her to an appointment and will see her in person. Glad she is doing well after being in rehab. Technically I am probably supposed to take her to and from the appointment only but I plan to pick up coffee and muffins from our favorite place and will sit with her in the car at a pretty park to give both of us a chance to be together in person. Call me a rebel. I miss seeing my mom. Yes, we will be as careful as possible!
A Monday of gratitude:
1. In the big park near our home today ,we walked around the lakes and we saw a couple of groups of sports teams, a girl’s soccer team, and a fitness group, getting exercise but still social distancing and generally keeping active and safe.It made me smile to see people still keeping healthy and for our kids to have things to do safely outdoors.
2. Our mornings have been full of breezes and beautiful full moons... I love having coffee on the patio before everyone wakes up.
3. My neighbor across the street knocked on our door Sunday morning and said he was making a Krispie Kreme run, did we want him to pick us up some donuts!!!!!!!!!! Oh,yes!! We are 65/66 and our neighbor has looked in on us more than once.. a very nice thing.
4. Our young (35 yr old) niece has been undergoing chemo and had to be hospitalized a couple of days. With lot of prayer and love on her side, she bounced back more quickly than expected and was able to go home to her husband and her 3 year old last night.
5. I am grateful and happy that my spouse is my very best friend and the person I would most choose to spend a covid lock down with.
I am definitely a mess. BUT!
My parents drove from Tucson to visit us for a few days while my husband and eldest son were gone driving to NY, and the distraction for the other three kids was so appreciated.
Now my brother and his family are stopping by for the night on their way across the country to see my SIL's family. It's the first time they've been to our house, and I'm so excited to see them.
I had a snake encounter in the chicken coop yesterday, but VERY THANKFULLY, the hissing and striking was from a couple of feet away, and I'm pretty sure it was a non-venomous bull head snake and not a rattler.
There was a huge lightning-sparked wildfire that started just five miles from us on Saturday, burned thousands of acres and threatened a lot of families in our community. The entire southern horizon was a wall of smoke yesterday. The wind, however, was in our favor, so it didn't come closer to us. And I got so many calls from neighbors offering a place to stay if we needed to leave, or a place to bring our livestock. Or even just information. It was very much appreciated, as staring down a fire of that size so near our house with three little kids and lot of animals--and no other adult here--is worrying, to say the least.
It's still burning, although so far no lives lost and no great property damage or livestock lost. And the wind is still in our favor.
Glad y’all are safe Kristin!
God is in His Heaven and nothing can displace that fact. Though we are sinners in the hands of a angry God, there is Salvation in Christ alone.
In more Earthly news:
1.) My daughter is going back to Pre-K tomorrow. She's happy about it but I know it will be an adjustment for her. I'm sure seeing most of her friends will be nice. Sadly her best friend won't be there any more as she's off to Kindergarten.
2.) Went to work every day for the past several months. I never wore a mask, gloves, goggles, hazmat suit etc. I also never even got so much as a cold. Covid just wasn't a thing here and no one I know even had it.
3.) Getting used to my inhaler and it actually worked the other night when pollen was so bad I couldn't breathe.
4.) Watched a really funny movie with my wife last night.
5.) An acquaintance of mine was looking for a way to make yogurt and I sent her your instructions.
6.) A lot of people are learning that life is risky. Living is dangerous business. We were all so used to being left alone with our automatic washing machines, iPads and their 22.5% APR rates on credit cards. People have had to learn that life is hard; life is temporary and that normal life really isn't so bad after all, all things considered.
Battra92,
Well put.
I’m wondering what the really funny movie was??? I’m always looking for something really funny. Life is sometimes hard, and it’s great to lol...and just lighten up!!!
We got much needed rain in our area, without any damage from Cristobal. We kept our power, too. We were lucky!
Our weather has been abnormally hot, but our a/c came on without a hitch this year. It's always a question as to whether it will work each spring -- it's been hit by lightening several times since we've owned this home.
Seeing an article posted to my old hometown's FB history page, posted because it had military information about the poster's relative, but another part of the same article was about my late uncle's heroic service in WWII-Europe. What a nice surprise that was.
I'm glad to see my church gives us specific ways to help others in this difficult time; donate to specific needs in our community and elsewhere, write letters, volunteer. It's good to have it all laid out, including contact information, so I don't feel confused about what I can do to help.
Every time I look in my yard and see that big dying tree is gone, I feel happy!
Personal:
- Started the new job at same employer. The commute will be terrible when we eventually go back to the office, but getting away from a toxic office is well worth it.
- There is the possibility of my working from a "remote" office (one closer to home), at least some of the time. I need a "yes" from two people. Both are open to the idea.
- A silver lining to the pandemic teleworking, is that it's a dry run for my working from a remote office. Doing a good job now will strongly bolster my case for remote office work.
Political:
- Much of the US seems to have passed the pivot point about taking seriously the problem of excessive use force by police (obviously not all the time and not all police force). I'm not sure how much this is getting into police force audiences, though. My law enforcement friends tell me that while many departments are recognizing the protests (good), many are also not being explicit about the police misuse of force and police impunity that are the cause of the protests (not good).
- Seeing protestors stopping others from vandalizing. This is gold, people, whatever you think of the subject of the protests.
- Hearing discussions of relieving non-policing burdens from the police. Armed law enforcement officers are not the right people to, for example, talk down a middle school student in crisis. Police are increasingly trained in forceful responses, not active listening and validation.
- That the pandemic, the US's response, and the protests are leading to an increase in voter registration. I don't care about the new voters' party affiliation or stance on issues; voting and citizen engagement are at the heart of a successful democracy. The more, the better.
We all definitely need some good news these days! I enjoyed reading through everyone’s comments.
This is our last week of at home learning for my kids. Hooray!! This has been incredibly hard having three kids, bad technology, and a special needs kiddo that needs constant help even just to read. However, we made it!!
My expanded garden is doing great. I go out multiple times a day just to look at it since it brings me such joy.
Our extended family will be together this week and I am excited (and a little nervous) to see everyone. It will be the first time we have been around people since March 13.
Finally, I was happy my 15 year old son went to a local March yesterday with my husband. He is Hispanic (we adopted him) and we have already had many race talks, specifically how others including police might treat him different. Being raised by white parents have kept him somewhat isolated from this but as he is getting older it could be more of an issue and he needs to be aware of how to react. I was happy that he took it serious enough to go to the march.
I agree. America is a mess. Let's see what's good anyways...
1. I happy houred last night with friends. One friend shared that her Mom contracted COVID19 and did spend time in the hospital on oxygen. However, she never ended up on a ventilator and continues to improve.
2. I also learned that another friend is fostering a new cat who was in a home where she wasn't being fed/fed right and was skin and bones. I can't even imagine. Such cruelty. But the cat is gaining weight and doing well although she suffers now from serious food anxiety issues. Hopefully with time they will decrease.
3. The online summer writing class I teach started today and I look forward to meeting all of the new students on Zoom this week.
4. I can share my parents' central air while I stay with them! It is in the mid 90s today which is hot for MN!
5. Mom and I have been finding tomatoes which have been coming up on their own from last year. We have been transplanting them to safer spots since they are from heirloom tomatoes, not hybrid, and hoping for a bumper crop! I think we have about 8 tomato plants so far!
And I should say that I happy houred VIRTUALLY!
I hope your students are as engaged and eager as mine are. It's such a welcome change from past summers. 🙂
I, too, am encouraged by the largely positive responses that I'm seeing online. I am stunned by the voices speaking out against racism and police violence. Though I am still saddened to see the ugliness perpetuated by some, I am more hopeful than I was last week at this time.
I'm so happy to see white people, myself included, stopping to think about why they feel defensive before responding to criticism. I haven't really ever considered what it means to have a 'broken and a contrite heart' (Psalm 51:17), to be humble and open to growth, when it comes to confronting social issues. It means that my heart has to recognize that other people can teach me and I have to be prepared to accept that teaching. Especially when it comes to making the world a safer place.
On a more personal note, I am so grateful for a husband who sees the injustices that I see. I haven't had to spend a single second trying to convince him that this is a real issue and that change must happen NOW. I know that I am incredibly fortunate.
I'm grateful that my summer students are engaged in their coursework. I've never had such an active group of learners before!
Thank you for this post especially, Kristen.
Good things: a relative's postponed NJ wedding was performed outdoors yesterday, after a couple of months' isolation of bride from groom. It was available for viewing on Zoom.
My grandkids could not go to Yellowstone with us as planned, but they went with their parents on a camping trip, and they are excited about that. Easy to please kids are great to see.
Publix is till doing a terrific job delivering our groceries since we are vulnerable for a couple of reasons.
Our small-town protest march last evening was peaceful. And moving. And needed--we are in the old South.
Sunsets of late have been fiery red and breath-taking. Different view every evening.
I discovered a writer who was permitted by the Agatha Christie family to write Hercule Poirot novels! I am so pleased to have my favorite kind of writing. The books are so clever, too.
Cherries are in season.
Frugal Girl is writing often.
Can you give us the name of the author who is continuing the Hercule Poirot novels?
Sure: Sophie Hannah. Enjoy.
Like many others I've been encouraged by the number of people listening and making an effort to change how they think, speak and act. It gives me hope.
A friend of my daughter has been making bread and dropped off a loaf for us--no contact. It's delicious.
That same daughter has a job interview coming up. I'm crossing fingers and toes.
The library is open!
I still believe that there are more good people than otherwise in the world. I am thankful I see evidence of that. Local peaceful rally is being planned for my small town.
I am thankful for the list of black bloggers you posted last week, (not all are American, so not African-American). Every few months I get antsy to find some more frugal sources to read, and found some there, thank you! As the values of writers show in their writing, I choose carefully.
Lovely weather here. Flowers blooming. Health not bad. All sorts of good stuff.
There are lots of good things among the mess.
The protests in the Mid Atlantic city that our suburb is near have been peaceful. The city has closed roads to allow the protesters to travel quite a distance. There also was a protest in a further suburb the other day that some of my older friends participated in.
The Covid-19 numbers in my state have been trending down. More things are open but we are being cautious. I have joined more friends for outdoor, physically distanced meetings. We are ecstatic to be together.
My husband built an awesome latticed wall around one side of our patio. We were tired of seeing the neighbors on their pool deck.
The weather the past two days has been gorgeous. I have had windows open.
All the protests in our neighborhood have been peaceful. The ones downtown, not so much, but at least the ones in our backyard have been so.
My husband is amazing at the grocery shopping, and always finds a new-to-me gluten free something he knows I wouldn't get for myself. Today he treated me to Canyon Bakehouse gluten free bread--so delicious!
Our church is having Mass again.
The weather has been beautiful, we've been going for runs every day, and kickball yesterday (kids vs parents) and the kids won! One kid who hasn't found it easy to get runs in scored a run!
Thank you for this post, Kristen. It strikes me that my "big news" may be better suited to this format than to FFT:
Effective August 1, I am retiring from the telecommuting editing job I've held for the past 36 years, and I've filed for SS and Medicare. Specific points of gratitude:
(1) I'm incredibly grateful to have stumbled into this job and to have had it for this long in the first place.
(2) Although there are aspects of the work I will not miss, I will definitely miss my employers and colleagues, who are absolutely ace human beings. The early farewells I'm receiving reflect not only respect, but genuine affection.
(3) And I'm glad there is still enough of a government safety net that SS and Medicare are still there. Although we have a modest nest egg and no debt, I'm happy that the net exists.
(4) I'm looking forward to being able to spend more time with DH before he slips completely into the abyss of Alzheimer's. "Sitting at two weddings with one fanny" has been getting harder and harder--and when push comes to shove, I need to be with him.
(5) And I'm also looking forward to a lot of household, gardening, Literary Society, and other projects I've been postponing till retirement. Of course, how far I get to pursue these in the next few years will depend on how the cookie crumbles with DH. But I'll still have more time for them than I do now.
I wish you the best as you turn the page to new things. I am 49 and have been at me company for 25 years already so I can imagine how this is a little bittersweet! Us “lifers” are rare these days! Congratulations!
Congrats on your retirement! After some time reading your various posts, you sound to me like a person who was a joy to work around and your colleagues will probably miss you as much as you miss them! On to the next phase of life...
I agree with everything Lindsey said!
A. Marie, congratulations on your well-deserved retirement! I'm not surprised at your colleague's reactions of respect and affection as your comments here and on The Non-Consumer Advocate have always exuded the same qualities. Wishing you all the best!
So much weight in the world right now. It's hard to deal with, even for a Polyanna like me, but calling out the good and the things that bring joy really make it a lot easier. Thanks for encouraging us all to do this, Kristen!
1. So far our plants have sprouted two tomatoes, three pomegranates, and five carrots! And our lemon tree continues to be prolific. And we have so many different flowers cycling through in different parts of the yard. Given we don't go past our small yard very often, this has brought us so much joy.
2. We tried a new 4 ingredient recipe that used up some almond flour and some of our lemons and 3/4 of us loved it.
3. Costco has white nectarines again! They're not inexpensive but they bring delight to my daughter and husband.
4. I'm on day 35 of my workout routine - I feel proud that I've stuck with it.
5. I've been finding homes for things that we no longer use - less trash produced, less clutter in my home. Hooray!
Just felt some more:
6. It's a breezy day here in SoCal. The tallest palm trees on our street sound like the ocean when the wind blows through them. I just stood and watched and listened and now I have a smile on my face.
7. I facetimed with my oldest/dearest friend. I haven't seen her face in almost 3 years. It felt like no time had passed at all except that we're getting grayer and more saggy. 🙂
8. My nephew called me to ask my advice about college preparation. I am so proud of his articulate, bright, hardworking and kind mind. Honestly, kids like him give me hope that all is not lost.
I love dry, breezy days! So much nicer than still, humid air.
I have personally learned a lot. I have ordered a book in order to learn more. This is good. We live in a beautiful part of the world and we have offered our home to families who might need a break.
I have sold some things in my newer Etsy shop. I can get discouraged, but I keep trying. Isn't this what I told my kids all along! I love having a place to put all of my new ideas.
The weather here has been really nice too. Only a few hot days. I prefer cooler days, one of my kids thinks 'the hotter the better!'
Our kitchen reno is underway! We did 2 days of demo ourselves, saving that bit of money. And all the cabinets have arrived, which really is miraculous these days.
Thank you for the prompt to share the good!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/FabricSpeaks
1 talked on Facebook with friends not seen in years. 2. Helped give money on pay pal to a 1950s girl scout buddy who has an old house needing a roof. Sent her thrifted building book and red zinnia seeds too. 3. My flowers are gorgeous...lilies. 4. Realized an old friend wrote a love song about me in the 1970s 5. Masked up went into t j max and grabbed a great $20 dress and box of notecards . Felt almost like the good old days. Talked to ladies in line about the disco music playing overhead
I really enjoyed The Humble Penny and added it to my must reads. The Frugal Chic Life also had some great posts.
It is hard to think of anything good. I personally see little hope of our country every being united, and I am very sad about everything which is unusual for me. So I’m digging deep to come up with good things.
1) The outer bands from Tropical Storm Cristobal brought 36 hours of continuous rain to my part of Florida. However, we really needed it. So even though it did not help my blue mood, it was a blessing.
2) My eldest son invited my husband and me to dinner Friday evening. He had many of his friends over - most of them I have known since they were children. We loved seeing the kids and stayed out much to late.
3) My daughter is coming home for a two-week visit later in the month before starting her PhD. She has not been able to spend that much time with us in quite a while.
4) I gained 5 lbs during quarantine and have been working hard to take it off. I’m half way there. It is surely difficult to take it off after 50.
5) I took a nice hike with friends to one of my favorite spots.
It is amazing how much better that exercise made me feel. Thank you, Kristin,
1. All 5 stem from the fact that my daughter was finally able to go back to her college and get her dorm cleaned out - they hadn't been able to get back since they left for spring break in early March! She also got to see her amazing boyfriend while she was there.
2. Daughter and husband drove halfway to her school and were able to spend the night at my parents' house(they'd left that morning for their cabin) and my niece asked if she could leave some yummy food at the house for them. She did and it was incredibly thoughtful of her.
3. To continue the incredible thoughtfulness theme, daughter's boyfriend texted me before they got to town to ask what ingredients would be safe for my husband in a smoothie(sooooo many food issues!) because he wanted to surprise them after they unloaded her room. (Only 2 people were allowed in the dorm, or he definitely would have helped.) They were delighted with the frozen treats after packing up in 100 degree heat! THEY were thankful that she was in a suite so they could get showers before they left!
4. Daughter and husband made the 600 mile round trip safely.
5. I got to have a day (almost) to myself. My son keeps himself to himself, so the day without my husband and daughter home was almost like a day alone for each of us, which we desperately needed after 3 months of all 4 of us home together.
This is off topic but I'm hoping for your yearly Summer Bucket list post soon. It's definitely going to be a different kind of summer so I'm looking forward to getting some inspiration from you.
Oh, you are right! I completely forgot to make one, what with how crazy the world has been.
I'll put it on my to do list. 🙂
I'm thankful for the stability of God and assurance of Him remaining the same.
I'm also thankful for the hope of heaven without anymore sin...all the bad in the world makes the hope of heaven even more desirable!
Amen, Katy!
Thankful:
1. that my garden is doing very well. Working in it is good for me and it really helps with bringing down food costs in July and August.
2. that our town has no virus cases, which is saying something since we are the second largest place in Alaska.
3. that the husband is very colorblind so he does not care (because he does not see) that I am painting the new shed a cheerful yellow.
4. that our animal shelter rescue refuses to leave the yard even when tempted by other dogs. He had a pretty traumatic life so seems happy to be with two old folks who work from home, feed him, and let him lie on the couch with us to watch videos and get scratched. The down side is that one time we put him in the six foot fence backyard and took off in the car, only to see him racing after us in the rearview mirror---he had jumped the fence.
5. that the husband still thinks I am funny.
We had an answered prayer, in that we got to see our son (who lives in a group home) on Saturday. We had not seen him since March 26 due to the Covid 19 no visitation rules that the group home put into place, even though we are the only people that visit the house. We just brought him over to OUR house-we live less than a mile away. It did us and our son a great deal of good to just be together, have his favorite foods, read a few books together and just "hang out". I even gave him a badly-needed home haircut! Hoping they will continue to let us see him once a week, especially since his day program is temporarily closed, and he has very little to do.
Aww, that is so hard that you weren't able to see him for that long. I'm so glad you finally got to be together!
God is faithful and doesn't leave us where we are. (This is good!!) I didn't know a thing about implicit bias until a few weeks ago, but God is opening my eyes and showing me where I could have done better and can do better. I trust that he will continue to grow me and teach me how to love like Jesus.
My library is opening in 2 days! I appreciate that there are those who have written books (and put together book lists) so that others can learn, understand, grow, and change.
My church is opening in 2 weeks! They've been very thoughtful about the opening process and are doing a great job of creating a safe environment.
My peonies are in bloom. They're my favorite flower.
Our library's summer reading program started today. My 6yo is highly motivated (she had most of her minutes done by 8:30 this morning) and we enjoy reading together.
I took an implicit bias test (I can't remember where it was, but it was a reputable test from an academic institution) and gee whiz, my results were terrible.
Lots of work for me to do!
1. Our new home will be completed sooner than we anticipated so we can move in without having to worry about living somewhere for a week or two between homes. This is a HUGE praise!
2. Our son got a much-anticipated and hard-earned work promotion, which he is very excited about. As an added bonus: following the lengthy interview process, he received some great feedback from the senior management he had interviewed with. We are proud of him and very grateful!
3. We get to travel to see same son and his wife in just a few weeks. We are so excited to see them!
Thought of one more: our daughter is getting married in October. We had a dress fitting over the weekend, and the seamstress is going to be able to make some much-desired changes to her dress that really made her happy. It won't be inexpensive, but the dress was reasonable in the first place and the alterations made her SO happy, it was worth it to see the happiness on her face. Several wedding events (showers, bachelor/bachelorette trips) have already been cancelled and/or postponed, and we are trying to hold the wedding plans loosely too just in case, so it was fun to do something positive and see her so happy with the results!
It's been such a hard few weeks. I journal every day, to try & come up with three things I'm grateful for. It really does help to remind myself that, even in very difficult times, I can still come up with a few things;
1) school ends tomorrow! I have an 8th grader with ADHD, and online learning is incredibly difficult for him to focus on & not get distracted by other, more fun alternatives on the computer. He finished, and passed all of his classes.
2) We are heading to the Oregon coast this weekend. We have a vacation house there, which is amazing. But, we will also see family while we are there.
3) My parents will take our kids & entertain them for a couple of weeks, while we work. There are no summer camps, and my parents & the kids are all thrilled.
4) I've deculttered the heck out of our house, due to staying home
5) We've gotten to know our neighbors so much more during the stay at home time here
The last few weeks have been horrible for so many. In Australia there has been much talk about the wrongs our indigenous people have suffered and that is a great thing. I'll leave that for now.
Our restrictions are slowly lifting. This means we can have 20 people at my daughter's wedding. When the numbers were dropped to five they cancelled their reception. This last week they have found a caterer who is willing to do a small function in their new home. I am so happy for them. Before my granddaughter was born I bought her a silk dress at a huge reduction. The dress fits her perfectly so the little flower girl is dressed beautifully for minimal cost.
On to other things. My boy is not a a snappy dresser and in fact gave his suit away as it no longer fitted. This week we bought him a three piece suit and it was with the minimal amount of fuss. He also works as a relief chef and has no work since Easter. Today he has his first shift. Just in time. Also the boy is hugely needle and dentist phobic. He has finally faced his fears and is seeing a dentist.
My granddaughter brings me joy in abundance. Being able to watch her two days a week means I can share in her world and see how she grows. Today was so much fun. We even cooked and that two year old is great at cracking eggs.
I pray that driver's ed goes well.
God bless us and keep everyone safe.
I loved the fact the the peaceful marches showed people from the whitest white to the darkest dark. All marching together for a change long over due.
1. Protests have been happening in relatively unexpected places - 90% white small towns, including Medina, OH, which has a relatively strong history of white supremacy (someone I know who grew up there said a KKK clan leader lived down the street from him when he was a kid). In our own little town, a group of high school kids organized a march that, despite some fear-mongers online, went off without a hitch.
2. Books about racism (How to be an Antiracist, White Fragility, Born a Crime, etc.) are selling out - people, especially white people, are educating themselves.
3. We've had some amazingly beautiful weather lately (I live in the greater Chicago area).
4. Living in our new house has brought some unexpected bonuses - I'm now across the street from someone who's willing to get up at 6am on a Saturday to do a 3-4 hour bike ride with me, so I've actually gotten out the last two Sundays!
5. Because we now live in a single-family home instead of a townhouse, we have a backyard in which to set up an 8' pool. With our local public pool closed for the summer, this has been HUGE.
Our new house is also now about half a mile from the public beach on our little local lake. While the beach itself is still closed, swimmers are permitted to go out in the open water to swim (it's a non-motorized lake, so you can swim the whole thing, though 90% of the shoreline is private property, so most people stay near the beach). The water has finally warmed up to the point where I can go swimming again - I've been without a pool since everything shut down in March, and I usually swim 1-2 days a week in the winter and 3-4 days a week in the summer, so this is the longest I've gone without swimming in decades. Cant wait to get back in the water!
Thankful for my health at 65 even through Pandemic.
Thankful my job paid me for 9 weeks off while Safe at Home.
Thankful for these beautiful days to enjoy my coffee on my balcony before work now that I'm back in the office. (And coffee! :))
Thankful for my family who I see and hear from regularly.
Thankful for God's grace and His presence.
Actually...thankfulness is an endless list!
continuing on your "good things" - NYC is officially in Phase 1 as of yesterday (YEAH! can you tell I live in NYC? 😀 ) - and I for one am looking forward to the upcoming weeks!
Yay!! I hope the numbers continue to improve for you guys.
so far so good 🙂
I got to see my dad who just turned 98 first time since end of March. We had a very short talk, he is hard of hearing and I talked thru a screened door but I picked him up a burger and made potato salad. My sister is caring for him at home so another thankful for him not having to be in a nursing home.
Another silver lining with all the Covid my son and dil delivered 1st grand-baby in Nov so they are both working from home. She is a school teacher so she is off all summer both enjoying all the changes the first year of life offers.
The county and world is in such a scary place. I hope we come out of all this in a better place.
Glad I have a doctor who takes my RA pain seriously and works with me to try new available options & old ones.
Future dil just got called back to work, she had only worked 3 weeks before things were closed down. She is super thankful to be called back. She is such a gem.
For the first time—ever—we have a wren in our birdhouse, finches in a fern, brown thrashers in a petunia, and cardinals in a holly! What a blessing it’s been to me during the quarantine ❤️