Thankful Thursday | so satisfying

This week, I am thankful:

for my dad’s air compressor

Several of you suggested that I might want to blow out my second-hand fans, so I stopped by my dad’s garage and went at it.

As soon as I pointed the compressor inside the fan, chunks of dust began to fly out.

So satisfying! Right up there with power-washing in terms of immediate gratification.

Unbeknownst to me, my mom took a picture of me doing this. For your readers, she said. 😉

for the fact that humidity does not last forever

I’ve been trying to go for walks super early, and it’s still pretty miserable.

And the other night I tried going for a walk late enough that the street lights were starting to come on when I got home.

And it was still pretty miserable.

So, I have concluded that the best strategy is to just be thankful this is a temporary circumstance. I don’t live in a place where it’s hot and humid all year long, and I am super grateful for that!

always for interesting things to see in nature

It’s humid, yes, but there are still always new-to-me things to observe on my walks.

Like this mushroom that looks kind of like a fried egg.

And this very oddly-patterned spider web, which looks like someone turned to the zig-zag setting on their sewing machine.

for the customer support people at Chewy

I’d ordered a litter mat for Chiquita, since we have one for Shelly and we love it. But when the box arrived, it just had a few toys I’d ordered, and no mat.

Weird.

I got on the customer service chat, and the guy who was helping me asked about my pet. So, I told him about Chiquita and sent him a photo. My litter mat arrived in a few days, but then a few days later, another package also arrived.

Inside was a little note and a set of three toy balls for Chiquita. Aww!

I like that Chewy does things like this; it’s such a unique customer service strategy, and it does make you sit up and take notice!

for the funny things Chiquita does

Guys, she figured out how to open the cabinet underneath the sink, and once she gets in there, she climbs behind the drawers.

I’m gonna have to get some cabinet locks to keep her out.

Good thing she’s so cute.

for technology

Zoe was cat-sitting recently, and we were still needing to work through the last few lessons of her algebra book.

So, we had some Snapchat video calls to do that, filters and all.

Speaking of, I’m grateful…

that we are ALL done with algebra

We finished it up this week, which means I am well and truly done teaching math. My 17-year career as a math teacher has come to a close, and I am so so delighted.

YAYYYYY!!!!

This career has made me very competent when it comes to math, and I appreciate that.

But it has not made me love math.

(Sorry to all you mathematicians out there. I will forever be a words-over-numbers person.)

I’m actually, factually done homeschooling now and I can hardly believe it.

The timing has all worked out perfectly since I am becoming a full-time student myself this fall. I’m ready to be just a student and not a teacher. 🙂

And to answer a reader’s question, yes, this means that Zoe has graduated from high school! My last student! Yay!

Her high school years have been chock full of challenges she didn’t ask for, but she made it and I’m so proud of her.

that my algebra books sold already

I listed them promptly on eBay since I know homeschool moms are shopping for books right now.

I got a low offer, sent a counteroffer back that was within $5 of my asking price, and the buyer accepted. Woohoo!

For the first time since 2004, my house has no math books on the bookshelves. And that’s kinda wild because I used to have a whole Saxon library here.

Here’s how I sell books on eBay, in case you want to try it yourself!

What are you thankful for this week?