This week, I am thankful:
for the way you all found encouragement in the comments on Christmas Eve
I read all the comments on that post (as always!) and I was so happy to see that you all were feeling cheered and less alone after reading what others had to say.
for the way words land where they’re supposed to
Sometimes, when I’m writing a post and I question whether it’s really that helpful or of much consequence, I am reminded of what I read in You Could Make This Place Beautiful.
I’ve mentioned this before, but…the author was questioning whether her divorce memoir was really going to be that helpful to people or not.
In the end, she decided to just send it, trusting that the telling of her story was enough, and that her words would go where they were supposed to, landing with the people that were meant to hear them.
Reading her book was SO helpful to me; it was so relatable, I burst into tears multiple times while reading it. So, I am very grateful she decided to send her work out into the world.
Anyway, as I was reading the comments on the Christmas Eve post, I was reminded of this again. That was a short, off-topic post, and I almost wondered if I should publish it or not…but as it turns out, it was a post with the right words for some of you.
So I’m glad I hit “publish”!
for Facetime
This is the first Christmas in all of Lisey’s life that we have not spent together! But thanks to the magic of Facetime, we were able to have a quasi face-to-face chat, and that made me happy.
from a year ago!
that I figured out my printer’s paper jam
I was trying to print out a little January calendar page and somehow, the paper got jammed! I had a terrible time finding the appropriate opening to locate the paper, but I finally did.
And now my printer is working again.
that the sun is gonna be out today
Yesterday was a very dreary, dark, rainy day, and we all know that’s not my favorite.
it rained allllllll day
But today, it’s supposed to be dry and warm and some sun is gonna peek through. Yay!
for my Buy Nothing group
I’m busy getting through tasks I put off during the semester, and so of course I am decluttering.
My poor laundry room had gotten a little messy.
So I listed a bunch of things on my Buy Nothing group.
And now my laundry room is looking much better.
As at my other house, my laundry room isn’t gonna win any style awards. But it’s functional! And I’m used to a cinder block laundry room anyway. 🙂
I am just thankful to have a full-size washer and dryer and an unfinished room with storage.
When I was initially looking for places to rent, I considered an apartment, which probably would have had a much smaller laundry room! This one has a utility sink, washer, dryer, chest freezer, storage shelf, and it’s not even cramped in there with all that stuff.
I would have survived in an apartment, but man, it’s really nice to have a house instead. 🙂
that I do actually still know how to get stuff done (ha)
I did do maintenance stuff during my semester (laundry, cooking, bathroom cleaning), but anything that was extra fell by the wayside.
I made a big brain-dump list of all those extras, and now I’m busy knocking them out.
So now I feel a little more like my normal self.
And you know what’s great about all these tasks? They’re not things I have to do repeatedly, so I feel super productive.
Like….I don’t have to declutter my laundry room every week. That makes it more rewarding than, say, unloading the dishwasher.
Lisa K.
Friday 29th of December 2023
My thankfuls are from a couple of weeks. Life has been full of chaos, but there are good things too. 1. Even though I would not choose to hit a deer and damage my car, I am thankful that I was not injured, none of the surrounding vehicles on the road were affected, and I was able to drive home from the accident site. If the damage had been worse, the large bus behind me may have crashed into me, resulting in a terrible accident. 2. I am thankful my car can be repaired, even though I would rather not wait until the first available date in March. 3. I am thankful I live across the road from my work, enabling me to still get to work without my car, a necessity since I live in an area with no public transit or taxi service, and the nearest place to rent a car is more than an hour away. 4. I am thankful my brother was able to come for Christmas. 5. Even though my elderly aunt passed away right before Christmas, I'm thankful my dad was able to get tickets to fly to her funeral, spend time with his family, and had safe travels there and back. 6. Even though my mom is less than mobile right now with a knee injury, she still was okay with the family meeting for Christmas at their house. (My parents' house is the only one big enough to host a crowd.) We all pitched in to clean, provide Christmas meals, serve, clean up, etc. 7. The Christmas musical production I helped with for our school went off very well. 8. There were lots of people, including young families with lots of kids, who came to the living Nativity Walk put on by a lot of churches in my town. It was fun to be involved with singing for this again after several years' absence on my part. 9. I am thankful that since the school term ended so close to Christmas Day, it means we have extended time off after Christmas. It feels truly luxurious to have a real break with no commitments. 10. I am thankful I have been able to see friends this holiday.
Nina
Friday 29th of December 2023
Regular reader, rare commenter here. I didn't comment on the Christmas Eve post but thank you so much for it. I lost a friend to cancer at the end of Nov and it has been really hard coming into Christmas with so much grief and sadness just a month behind us. He was far too young to be done with life, leaving a wife and toddler son without him. So thanks for giving us experiencing a blue Christmas somewhere to go and for the whole Frugal Girl community you have created and sustained.
Kristen
Friday 29th of December 2023
Oh, that's so hard. I'm sorry to hear of your loss, and also so sad for his wife and little boy.
Next year will probably be slightly less hard; the first are almost always the roughest. And it's ok to be sad. Sending love!
Brenda D
Friday 29th of December 2023
I am thankful for a warm, dry house. With all the rain and flooding we have had that is really something to appreciate because many people do not have that right now. I am thankful for my sisters, who make the work of looking after mom a little easier when we split up the duties. I’m always thankful that all of our children and their spouses are gainfully employed and don’t depend on us for support. I’m thankful that my endoscopy procedure this morning went smoothly and there wasn’t anything seriously wrong. I’m thankful for nurses, CNAs, anesthesia providers and doctors! Good medical care is a blessing not to be taken lightly! And always thankful for my husband, who is patient and thoughtful, who drove me to and from the hospital, got me a milkshake, and is now off to get groceries and my prescription. What a guy!
Beverly
Thursday 28th of December 2023
My biggest thankful of the week is that DH and I made it safely home from family Christmas celebration at my nephew's house two hours away. On our way home, we narrowly missed being involved in a car accident. A car in the lane next to us clipped a semi-truck parked on the shoulder sending the spinning car into our lane. It was a horrible accident with a fatality, and it really shook us up for days. I'm thankful we were able to celebrate Christmas with both my and DH's extended families. I'm thankful to be off work all week. It's nice to have time to relax and recover from the holiday chaos. I'm thankful that we got to meet our son's new girlfriend on Christmas Eve. I'm thankful for our rescue dog who always makes life interesting.
kaitlin
Thursday 28th of December 2023
I loved your comments on Christmas Eve. I thought so long about your comments that I didn't end up responding.
Thankfuls: -for the lavish generosity extended to family over Christmas. We were showered with gifts (needs and wants!) by family, friends and strangers. I had warned my kids it would be a tiny Christmas because of the tightness of money, but it ended up being a massive Christmas. This year could have felt like I was completely alone (1000 miles from family, best friends), but instead I felt so loved and supported. -for three specific gifts I had silently wished for that showed up under my tree, all from a stranger. -for the sun today. It had taken a full December nap, so I'm glad it decided to get up, at least for today -for the mess of cardboard that didn't fit in my recycling bin, because it reminds me of the generous love we experienced at Christmas. -for the pile of real books with printed pages I have waiting to be read. -for courage/fortitude to do hard things. This year has been full of hard things, and those hard things haven't stopped coming yet, nor will they, I suspect, for quite a few more months.
Rose
Thursday 28th of December 2023
@kaitlin, Excellent to hear regarding your holiday! I am so happy to hear about your three gifts! And that your children had a wonderful time!