Thankful Thursday | one essay
This week, I am thankful:
that only one essay stands between me and the end of this class
I have to write a 3-4 page paper about how this class has helped me grow and how it has improved my writing. Ahahaha.
I don't think it has helped me very much, so this essay is proving to be a challenge. Luckily, I have three pages of it done, so I am nearly there.
It's not due until next week, but I will probably submit it this week, and if I do, I will have one school-free week before my next class starts. It can be my pretend summer break. 😉
that I got my house put back together
It had gotten to be a lot messier than I prefer, but I had three days off (Saturday-Monday), and I got it straightened up.
This is good, because I'm in the midst of an eight-day stretch where I will only be off for two days. At least my house was in order beforehand!
that there are only two more residency meetings left
We had our May one yesterday, and Brittany and I presented our evidence-based practice poster.
Anyway, all that's left are the June and July meetings, plus an early August graduation ceremony. Yay!
that it's daylight when I commute
It's broad daylight when I go to work now and also when I leave, which is lovely.
for my short commute
Every day, I am so grateful for my ten-minute drive to work. It makes the long shifts so much more doable!
for the joy of outsourcing my mowing
I came home from work yesterday, and my yard was trimmed and tidy. Yay!!
I am thrilled I don't have to think about that this summer; truly a good use of my money.
for how incredibly good bed feels after a shift
I have long been a fan of going to bed; I don't relate to people who view it as a punishment, even as an adult. Going to bed is a treat.
But going to bed after a crazy work shift at the hospital is an especially large treat. It feels so, so, so good to shower and then rest your clean, exhausted body on a comfortable bed.
Heaven.
What are you thankful for this week?
(And does bedtime feel like a punishment or a treat to you?)
Going to bed is a treat! I might not sleep well, but copying up wrapped in a blanket with a few more on top feels so good. I don't sleep well many nights, but the first hours in bed are so nice.
Thankful for : fuzzy cats, hot showers, and end of the semester.
Like you, I love going to bed but do not sleep particularly well these days.
I am thankful I heard from a friend yesterday. She has been undergoing cancer treatment and it has had a very rough several months. She has had little energy but she wants me come for a short visit today.
I am thankful for spring weather even with our roller coaster temperatures.
I am thankful I will be able to take a friend out for lunch for her birthday today. She doesn't want anything fancy and that's fine with me. We will eat at a local cafe, which I love supporting.
O, I love going to bed!
Especially when the mattrass has just been flipped and the bed has been freshly made.
Thankful for magpies. I do not like that they take first pick from the bird feeder every time, but they so courageously chatter away the local cats from their young! They are smart and strong and have beautiful feathers.
For birds generally. The sight of the fluffy young sparrows begging for food is so sweet.
For our solar powered "fountain" where the birds like to take a sip.
For the jasmin and rose that provide a green screen on the terrace, like a small private green chamber.
For less pollen today, so I can go outside and enjoy the lush green of May.
I am grateful for my wise, hard working teenage kids, who rather need stoping than a kick in the butt, and who delight me with conversations. Also both are not on social media by their own choice which I find inspiring as I struggle to come off them.
I am grateful for my job, which challenges me but also gives me a sense of self in a struggling relationship. Being my work self shows me that I am so much more than just a spouse.
I am grateful for the long days, and the spring that is absolutely gorgeous. I am grateful for my short walks in the countryside which is so close to my home.
I especially enjoy going to bed when I’ve just changed the sheets. And burrowing in when it’s around 65 in the house… we don’t set our A/C that low, so that only happens in winter.
Thankfuls:
*RAIN! Our area is in a severe drought and we had rain for a couple hours yesterday and it has rained all night. Not enough to take us out of the drought, but it will green up the grass for awhile.
*Our granddaughter interviewed for and was hired for a great summer job.
*I had two routine medical appts this week and all reports came back good.
*The tech who drew my blood was so gentle, I felt nothing.
*And at both appointments, I was in and out without waiting! Not sure if they have changed their systems a bit or what, but that is not the norm!
*RAIN! Did I say rain?? 😊
Your tidy yard looks great! What a treat, and a worthwhile investment! We are spending many, many hours per week mowing two yards, and while we love making it look nice, and we enjoy outside work, it feels like it's all we do after work in the springtime. Oh well, summer will soon be here and the growth will slow up a bit.
Today I'm thankful for:
-the company I work for rents space in an industrial park. Twice per month, we can go to the Starbucks in the park and get a free drink...on the landlords. Yay! Today is the day. It's my first time participating and I'm looking forward to it!
-We got a little rain yesterday morning and overnight last night. The farmer in me remains tuned in to the weather...always! South of us it's extremely dry, so I pray they get substantial rain soon.
-my 15 chickens are laying 15 eggs per day!
-our daughter surprised us with a quick visit from VA on Sunday. It was so nice to see her!
-to live in a place where we see all 4 seasons equally. About the time we get tired of one season (although in my opinion, who would ever get tired of spring?!) another one starts. Seeing all the shades of green and beautiful flowers beginning to fill the landscape, and hearing the birds sing fills me with hope!
Bedtime feels like a treat no matter what time I end up going to bed. And after nearly a month or more I finally have my new CPAP machine (as of yesterday) which helps me sleep better.
9 months and "some change" and I will be retired. I will probably get a part time job BUT I really want to get off my feet!!
Bedtime is a joy—but lately challenging because I’m so wound up I have a hard time falling and staying asleep.
Thankfuls
-my knee is healing. I can walk on it! I’ve discovered I don’t do well with a broken body part. It’s good to be healing so eventually I can get back to what I like!
-good workmates. It makes a hard job much more fun when you like the people you work with.
-coffee. I love the warmth and flavor. And energy!
-getting to see deer outside my door pretty much every day.
Kaitlin, I'm sorry to hear that you're in the broken knee club with me. I'm so glad you're healing! Hopefully I'm not too far behind.
Going to bed is the best, especially when surrounded by all three of our feline brood. My husband often jokes that he has to make room to join all of us (I go to bed earlier, and the cats follow closely)!
I also love going to bed! Thankful for a good night's sleep in clean sheets, lovely blue sky and sunshine this morning, a work from home day, this semester is almost over, overnight oats make a delicious breakfast (I make mine with cinnamon and diced peaches)
I love that you and Brittany have a sense of humor and passed out tubular candy to go along with your poster presentation.
Thankful this week:
- Both kids and grandson came over for dinner last night. It's always a joy to have the family get together.
- We finally got rain, lots of rain, yesterday. It was much needed in our area.
- My commute to work is only 10 minutes.
- My new opportunity at work starts soon. I thankful I'll be in the same building so I get to keep my window office overlooking the lake and my commute will remain the same.
- Our daughter is pregnant and she is feeling good. Morning sickness is pretty much gone and her blood work all came back normal. Bonus is that she found out the baby's gender from the blood work and she's having another boy.
I too am thankful for a good bed, as well as for much improved sleep now that NDN1 is safely in assisted living and I don't feel as if I'm on 24/7 alert for her.
And I'm thankful for "King James," my indispensable yard and snow guy since 2017, as noted earlier in the week. He's not cheap, but by golly, he's there when I need him--including such occasions as the time when about a third of a tree in NDN2's yard fell into my yard and I needed it cut up and removed.
Finally, I'm thankful as usual for the birds at my feeder--and even more so, now that spring migration is happening. A female rose-breasted grosbeak stopped by two days ago, joined yesterday by a flamboyant male.
Have you see the YouTube movie Listers about birdwatching? It's hilarious and a very well made documentary. Here's the link:
https://youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?si=95CpScpZTKRtQ98s
I used to love falling into bed, but as I have aged, and I have aches and pains and insomnia, I almost dread the night.
But one of the things I am grateful for today is that I slept pretty well last night, and that was on the advice of my doctor -- to take two arthritis-strength Tylenol at bedtime, before the pain starts. It worked! Ta-da!
I'm grateful that my sweet grandson has taken his cousin under his wing. His cousin, my grand-nephew, just moved back to town after some rough years of constant movement, and he really needs some stability -- and friends! Already my grandson has introduced him to his circle of friends and is just making him feel so welcome.
I am grateful that my lipid panel, performed yesterday, showed no problems.
I am grateful that my PCP plans to practice another year before he fully retires. He is reducing hours, so appointments may be harder to get, but there are many doctors in the practice to step in if I need them.
I am grateful that I will get to see my BFF this weekend, even though the visit will be short because of Mother's Day.
I am grateful that my son is planning a Mother's Day celebration -- also that my DIL gets to fly out west to see my grandson (a different one) for the holiday. That will be so good for both of them.
I need a lot of sleep (I have an autoimmune disease), so bed time is a gift & I'm always excited about it! Sleep is very important to me, and I prioritize it.
Things I'm grateful for this week:
1) That I don't normally have to commute to/from the office. I have lots of early calls (6:30 or 7 am), so commuting before that is, unpleasant. Commuting also means I have no time to work out. Going four days in a week only happens a few times per year.
2) For amazing friends. My BFF lives close to where DS19 went to college, and she & her daughters were so incredible with him this year. Checking on him when he was sick, taking him camping when he was having a bad week, feeding him, letting him store his stuff in their garage, having him + friends over for dinner. I'm ever so grateful.
3) Grateful to have DS19 back for the summer. He's the biggest social butterfly, and we've already had three kids stay with us. I never know who will be home when I get here. I love that he enjoys people so much.
4) That DS19 & DS20 both have jobs for the moment. Summer income is always a good thing.
5) That I've gotten free lunch 3/4 days this week, and only had to buy once. (Bringing my own on the other day wasn't an option).
Thankful that Ted Turner, who was not only a media mogul but also a committed conservationist, acquired and preserved 1.1 million acres of land in New Mexico to restore native ecosystems and species like bison and Mexican wolves.
I didn't know this- thank you for sharing. For some reason that really brightened my day today.
Yes, such a wonderful thoughtful gift.
Ted Turner, aka "Captain Outrageous," was one extremely mixed bag of a human being. But on the whole, I think his better instincts outweighed his less-good ones. (Incidentally, he attended the same prep school my brother did--and they both hated the place, for different reasons.)
RN for 54 years. Bed is absolutely a treat !
I love the quilt on your bed! I'm not very good at getting out of bed in the morning and I love reading in bed before I go to sleep...yet somehow I still struggle to get there. I think because it's the end of my free time before work the next day.
Thankfuls:
1. Top of the list is the plumber who came and fixed my water issue this week!
2. I am very thankful for antihistamines in the midst of hayfever.
3. I'm thankful that I motivated myself to go to the gym before work the other morning, and then go for a run after work when I got back! Hopefully I can motivate myself to do the same tomorrow!
4. I managed to pick up some dresses at a charity shop the other day and also enjoyed an afternoon at the beach nearby. I'm thankful to live so close to water!
5. I'm going to see The Devil Wears Prada 2 with a friend tomorrow which should be fun!
thankful for you, that my m-i-l is still around, that a stock i bought for $262 in 2017 is worth 8k as of yesterday. that my zozo is getting to school mostly on time and her grades have improved significantly, that my son Noah went to his first ever baseball
game at yankee stadium last night. his friend invited him to a box seat that the friend's mom got through her job. there was food included. noah was beyond thrilled. this was the same family that took him sunday to six flags for the friend's birtthday. noah has been to six flags more than four times for his friend's birthday
celebrations. at the end of may, zozo will go to six flags for the first time. a senior trip.
I live in Texas about 100 miles from the original Six Flags in Arlington, Texas (in between Dallas and Ft. Worth). My parents took me there the first year it opened. Six Flags didn't have a whole lot of rides and attractions in 1960 (? I think), so they'd get marching bands to come through the various areas and perform; that filled in the gaps. A summer just wasn't a summer without a trip to Six Flags! Later, as a teen, I got to go with church groups or youth organizations and that was great fun, as well. When I was 18, two high school friends and I got to take their parent's brand-new Ford LTD, a big luxurious sedan, to Senior Night at Six Flags right before graduation. We got to stay at a motel and then go on the rides until very late at night and we had a blast! Our first official "adult" trip, no chaperones; we were good girls and our folks trusted us. (Our high school principal, aka "Col. Klink," declined to make it into a school-sponsored event, no field trip for our class -- but Six Flags let kids attend by themselves.) We slept until noon the next day. Ah, the memories!
A box seat in Yankee Stadium, Anita? Even I'd go to a Yankees game for that! (I must admit that I come from a long line of Yankees-haters. When the Yanks beat the Cincinnati Reds in the 1961 World Series, my great-grandfather wrote in his diary, "The Yankees have won the World Series AGAIN. Can nothing be done about it?")
I love going to bed, especially with flannel sheets. As a kid, I'm sure I did whatever I could to delay my bedtime, but like so many things, I do the opposite as an adult.
I'm definitely a bedtime fan.
I'm grateful that my knee is slowly getting better.
For the chance to spend two days with good friends I haven't seen since last August.
For a heavy, wet, snow that brought a lot of much-needed moisture to our state -- and is melting fast.
That my husband did such a great job replacing our deck railing. It looks great and he saved us thousands of dollars doing the work himself.
Thankfuls: We're bringing home our daughter from college today! She's only here for a few days until she starts her summer internship, so we'll be packing a lot into a short amount of time. That my son has a "soft" job offer (pending a background check) for a full-time, permanent, with-benefits job!!! For a nice birthday, with lots of freebies (inspired by Kristen). For getting out on my bike. For my sweet hubby.
I love to go to bed, especially with clean sheets!
I am thankful that my sliders were a hit with the Elections Day crew on Tuesday. I have struggled to figure out what they like.
2) My husband is making breakfast!
3) I have a wonderful sewing room and lots of fabric.
4) The community choir I sing alto in had a triumph last weekend. We aced Brahms’ Shicksalslied and Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna!!
5) The silicon shots in my bum knee help so much with my mobility. I got a shot yesterday and can almost walk normally for now.
Lux Aeterna is so lovely, isn't it? My community choir sang that for a concert last year.
My 91 yo Mom took a fall on Tuesday. She fractured the humerus in her right shoulder. Sigh!
I am grateful of the excellent nursing care she has received. Mom is the type everyone falls in love with anyway but every nurse has been personable, professional and thoughtful. We had an unbelievable experience of mom's roommate verbally abusing her when several of the nurses and the occupational therapist had request the roommate turned down blaring explicit video language that was preventing the professionals from hearing Mom during cognitiveassessments. I insisted Mom be removed from the room. It took five nurses and orderlies to get my mom out of the room what I feel was safely.
As I teacher, I know what it is like to have to deal with oppositional defiant students. We cannot simply make them disappear. Although I wish the staff had removed Mom the night before, I am gratefully they moved quickly on my request.
So I am grateful I have developed skills to advocate for myself and my loved ones, that I have compassion for those trapped in a cycle of mental illness. I am grateful for those in professions who have chosen that often thankless task of serving very challenging populations. These people are the true reformers in this society.
Family. My cousins have lost all of their parental units, so we have banded together.
The riotous roses blooming their first bloom.
The baby birds. So cute!
Strawberries are just starting to set.
1. I'm thankful for getting another desktop computer that is fully functional, after many months of having to make do with a cell phone. It's so much easier and faster to type on a keyboard instead of having to use my fat fingers to write things for this blog and for NCA. Too many times, I hit the wrong button and all my comment was erased.....after several minutes of writing. No more! My $9 used but like new Goodwill monitor and $6 Salvation Army used keyboard and $23 cord from Office Depot (the only part that's brand new) plus gutted part from the refurbished computer I bought online (forgot the price, but it was cheap) put into my old CPU -- and I'm back in business! Bonus: also got the $85 used laptop going. The tech guy charged me $300 but I supported his small business, not a large chain.
2. A certain snuggley-wuggely Rottweiler dog who has been with me one year now. Snuggles and I celebrated our anniversary this weekend. Or at least he did: he got the big juicy dog bone and a T-bone steak flavored dog food dinner. I only got a Junior Whopper -- and a puppy dog's slobbery kiss.
3. My bedroom is all fixed up thanks to a new washable rug from Aldi; and some sets of bedspreads and curtains from Temu. It's light blue-gray with big white flowers and the inside of the flower on this print matches my pink walls. I folded one bedspread and used some curtain clips to make a "door" for the doorway opening into the dressing room part. This keeps the AC and heat in the part where I sleep and is a nice decorative touch in addition to being an energy saver. Also did this on one of the windows that leaks cold air all winter long.
4. I got to see President Obama on Colbert the other night. It was must-see TV!
5. Free entertainment: iWin games, Boatload crosswords and jigsaw puzzles online. Plus over the air TV. And library books. Life is good!
Giving yourself breaks is important. When I had to earn 6 credits every five years to maintain my teaching license (I'm retired now, and I hold a lifetime license), I would take online courses and pace myself. That pace included time off to refresh.
Daisy, be glad you got a lifetime license. I came late to the party and my teacher license expired. Renewed it once or twice, but being in my 70's, what's the point anymore?
I love going to bed. I heard Amy Poehler say she thinks about going to bed all day, and I relate! Sometimes, after a particularly hard day, I’ll pause at the side of my bed for a few seconds - my fiancée will ask what I’m doing, and I’ll say I’m just savoring the moment because I’m about to get into my favorite place. That, and my first sip of coffee in the morning are highlights of my day, every day. I often go to bed looking forward to my coffee in the morning 😊
— Looking at the news this morning and seeing tornado damage in south Mississippi, I’m grateful it missed us. The last two days we’ve had terrible weather with the threat of tornadoes hanging over us in the evenings. Even though we’ve needed the rain, we don’t need bad weather. And I’m always thankful when they don’t happen. But I’m sad for others that have to go through frightening weather and storm damage.
— I’m thankful that Aldi came to town. I love having another shopping option and I’ve found things there I like. I can get deals at another store now.
— I’m grateful that the mail carriers sponsor a food drive every year. It’s always the Saturday before Mother’s Day, this Saturday, and I have a bag of food to set out by my mail box. It’s an easy way to help others without leaving home.
— I’m thankful our neighbor invited us to visit a new development of tiny homes for the homeless near Little Rock called “Providence Park.” It’s modeled after a similar project in Austin, Texas and it was fascinating. It was impressive to see the idea and vision and made me thankful for my own home and situation. My neighbor is a local artist who is gathering from the local artist community and and hanging it in common areas at Providence Park. If you’re interested, Google Providence Park to see this amazing project that started from one woman’s idea to help her community.
I sometimes wake up and say "I am going to bed early tonight". After a 12, I put away my food containers, set the coffee up for the morning, and go to bed. I sometimes read first but most of the time it is straight to bed. I am lucky that I mostly work only one of those shifts but I do love going to bed
I am thankful for my mermaid pen. One of the nurses gave it to me last Nurse's Week and I use it sparingly so as not to use up all the ink. It makes me smile all day. Oh Happy Nurses Week btw! As my facebook post says "thank you for all the gross stuff you do". 🙂
Yup, I do very little after a 12 other than eat a quick bite, shower, and go to BED!
Hi Kristen, Congratulations for almost being done with your class! Enjoy your week off. I'm so happy you decided to outsource your yard care. Sometimes it's worth it to pay someone to take it off your plate.
Having to write a 3 - 4 page paper praising a useless class is just plain wrong. Hats off to you, Kristin!
I am thankful for:
A phone call from a daughter
Sharing pizza with family last night
The cool, cloudy, non-rainy weather this morning gave me energy for weeding an entire flower bed and splitting black eyed Susans.
Mr. Book Club who planted two bushes for me.
A new vehicle. I liked the old one so much for 12 years that I thought I would miss it. I don't.
You could write your essay about how it improved your ability to write on dumb, pointless topics! 😂
Just kidding, I know you’re almost done. Sorry to hear about your longer trajectory on your degree. Your reframe has some ideas in it that should help make it more bearable. It’s definitely time to make time for some more fun!
Bedtime is totally a treat! I have to fight to keep a good attitude about being kept up later than I want. 🙂
I'm going to be in the minority here. I really want to like sleep but I hate it. My most relaxing and productive time are after my kids got to sleep. I pay for it the next day by being tired though so that's a bummer.
This week, I'm thankful for ...
• A husband who is thoughtful and tries so hard to encourage me.
• My middle child who's so excited that she's finally got her drawing on the back her school's yearbook cover. I'm one proud mama.
• A free cake that I got. It's a tres dulce bar cake. We're planning on eating it on Mother's Day. Can't wait to dig in!
• The sight of birds perching on our trees outside. It's a sign of the start of spring and hopefully, the start of warmer steady weather.
• His mercies that are new each morning and the strength that God gives me each day.
I can’t wait to go to bed! I slip away as soon as I can, I can’t wait to not think about anything hard and to read read read!
I’m thankful for a really good dentist! I needed a replacement crown and while it was a financial hit it was painless and done in one visit and they were so solicitous of my well being that I felt very cared for. Also grateful that I had some savings to pay for it. I now think, eh, I don’t have enough money to replace my roof for instance but I do have it for a dental expense so consider me lucky!
I love that comforter!!
I am thankful I could be a stay at home mom and now grandma!! I never take it for granted because I know what a blessing that is
Bedtime is a treat! Especially if I have a good book to read before I fall asleep.
I am thankful for:
▪︎ Greek yogurt bowls- tasty, hit my protein goals, and no cooking.
• Dry heat. I am savoring every minute of it before rainy season kicks off here in Thailand.
• Thrift stores! I am so thankful I scored paperbacks for $0.62/each. I am happy that e-books are a thing, but...I don't like them hahahaha
• Running belt. I don't run anymore these days, but I sure do find it handy instead of carrying a purse. And...
• Dresses and skirts with pockets.
Thankful:
- That I took a personal day off yesterday!
- For the accomplished feeling of progress on a mountain of grading papers (I know, I know, it was my day off...)
- For going to the pool on a Thursday afternoon and a good workout there.
- That now heading into the weekend I have more free space for things I want to do.
- For the senior students whose last day is today. I'm proud of them.