Thankful Thursday | Guess what was wrong with my washer?

New here? Thankful Thursday is something we’ve been doing in these COVID times; a (frugal and free) exercise to help us hunt for the good that is in our lives and in the world, even in the midst of a pandemic.

This week, I am thankful:

that my washing machine is working again

The problem? a pair of socks that somehow made their way out of the tub and into the machine innards.

That’s a quick and easy fix. Yay!

I am super grateful to have my washing machine up and running again.

that we get to return the gear case

I’d sent my appliance guy a video of my washing machine symptoms, and he’d made an educated guess that a new gear case was necessary. 

He couldn’t get out here for a few days, so to make things as efficient as possible, he had us order the part based on his educated guess.

That way we’d have if it we needed it.

But happily, we don’t need it! Which means we can return it.

that the window job is done

As I was writing up the post about it, I was reminded of all the small jobs we had to do in relation to the window installation.

I’m so glad it’s over and the room can just stay cleaned up now.

that I’ve been able to help my pregnant cousin

This is her second pregnancy and she’s been pretty sick, like she was the first time.

During her first pregnancy, she lived hours away from me, so I couldn’t do much other than text encouragement and sympathy.

But this time she lives 15 minutes away from me!

So I’ve been going over every other week or so to help with some household chores.

(This cousin is one of the twins I wrote about here.)

When I was pregnant and sick, it helped me so much when people pitched in with household chores or childcare, and I am delighted that I can do this for someone else.

that my girls are old enough for me to go help others

In the stage of life where I had four young kids, I couldn’t really do a whole lot to go help other people. I’d have needed childcare help to be free to help!

But now that my kids are older, it’s easy to leave them to manage themselves for an afternoon while I help someone else.

(Hopefully that’s an encouragement to some of you who are in the thick of young kids right now.)

that everyone can serve others in their own unique way

I was chatting with Mr. FG about this on one of our recent takeout nights; I love that everyone can bring their own unique flavor to their service to others.

For instance, I am not particularly gifted in the fun and spontaneous arenas of life.

But I am really good at practical things. And I am good at working hard.

So, I can help my cousin out by washing dishes, folding laundry, organizing, and sweeping.

Someone who is good at fun could help out a pregnant mom by taking her other kids to the park, or making a fun craft with them.

Both things are helpful; they’re just different flavors of help.

I am so thankful that you and I don’t have to try to be someone else in order to help people. We just have to use the gifts we already have.

And this is good news for someone like me, who has un-flashy types of gifts. 😉

for my carpet cleaner

I got this years ago, when we had more carpet in our house, and it’s really been great.

We don’t use it tons now, since we just have three rooms with carpet, but it is still nice to have around, and it works great for steam cleaning car interiors.

I’ve been able to let other people borrow my cleaner too, and I used it very recently to do my pregnant cousin’s main carpets (because I know that fresh, clean surfaces help when you are constantly queasy!)

that I’m almost done with Sonia’s bookshelf

I got it sanded and primed on Tuesday, did several coats of paint on Wednesday, and will probably finish it up today.

But then I’m going to have to make Sonia patiently wait before putting things on the shelves because I want to make sure the paint is nice and hard.

Books can really stick to paint that is not fully cured and I don’t want to undo all my work!

Related thankfulness item: I was able to remove three of the shelves, which makes for much easier sanding and painting. 

What are you thankful for this week?