New here? Thankful Thursday is a practice we started here in 2020; an exercise to help us hunt for the good even in the midst of very tough times.
This week, I am thankful:
for the eggs from my sister-in-law
She and my brother have chickens now, and they are at the happy point of having enough to share. Yay!
that we caught an $867 fraudulent charge
I was checking an account and noticed a large pending charge that I did not recognize (from a luxury UK website!)
Sure enough, it was a fraudulent one, through Mr. FG’s PayPal account.
Happily, they issued a quick refund once he contacted them.
And he’s got two-factor authentication set up now.
that I was able to help out Zoe’s tutorial
They needed some help with the website, which is set up on WordPress.
Since I’ve been using WordPress since, oh, 2008, I was able to figure out how to use the their theme and help get it updated for the next school year.
It’s nice when you have skills that happen to match up with a volunteer need!
that Sonia and I might be able to get vaccinated
We’re still waiting for confirmation, but she and I might be able to get vaccinated through the cat rescue that we volunteer with. Here’s hoping!
that we have so many good medical care options here
Whenever we need a specialist of some sort, we can always find one that’s not a very far drive.
for my warm house
We had such a cold walk this morning, mainly because the wind chill was pretty bad out there. So now I am especially thankful to now be inside my warm house!
that I don’t live in an especially windy area
I know some areas of the country are often very windy, and I appreciate that it’s not like that here. Wind makes cold so much more miserable.
that the sun came out
The wind this morning, combined with the clouds, made for pretty depressing walking weather. But the sun has come out now, and I see blue sky!
that my appliances continue to work
This week, Zoe said, “Mom, none of our appliances have broken for a while. At least a couple of weeks now!”
Ha.
Our spate of appliance issues is making all of us thankful for even a short-ish period of them all working.
that the new dishwasher fixed the bad kitchen smell
We had been concerned that there was possibly a vent issue in the wall (that’s happened before!), but since the smell disappeared once we got the new dishwasher, it seems clear that the terrible smell was due to our very old dishwasher not draining properly.
This is a huge relief. Yay! A new dishwasher is a much simpler fix than ripping out walls and replacing pipes.
And it is also less expensive.
that it’s almost February
February is only four weeks long and then comes March. And March always feels like the tip of spring to me.
Plus, daylight saving time starts in March, which means it’ll suddenly be light at dinnertime.
Things are gonna look up soon!
that sunset is almost at 5:30 pm
By the time I write another Thankful Thursday post, the sunset will officially be happening after 5:30 pm.
This feels like a significant improvement over our December sunset times, and the extra daylight each day makes me happy.
again…for the ability to hope
I’ve mentioned this in previous Thankful Thursday posts, and my last two items reminded me of it. What a mercy it is that we have the ability to look forward and be cheered by the prospect of what we see and anticipate!
Isa
Monday 1st of February 2021
While I'm happy for you and your daughter about the vaccine, I can't hide my surprise. I really don't understand how the vaccines distribution works in this world of ours, but here in Ontario Canada many of us health care workers in direct contact with patients are still not vaccinated because we are not receiving doses anymore, and some lucky ones that have received their 1st dose are still waiting for their 2nd one 35 days later.... This sucks. Anywho, don't take it for granted if you (anyone) have access to the vaccine, you are in the lucky ones! :-)
Now, for my 5 things to be grateful for:
- I am healthy and my family is also healthy - I have a steady job with a good enought income to be able to work part-time instead of full-time - Free activities offered through Eventbrite on the comfort of my own home (check it out, it's pretty amazing!) - That my public library is still open for curbside pick-ups despite almost everything else being closed down - To have a supportive husband
Kristen
Monday 1st of February 2021
Well, who knows when a vaccine will be available for us! We are just on a registration list, and that's not a guarantee whatsoever! The counties here have to get through vaccinating healthcare workers and other more essential/at-risk people first before they move down the line to people who work with animals.
I hope you can get your dose soon!
Becca
Sunday 31st of January 2021
I am grateful for my husband working hard. It is his busy season at work right now and he logs in to work from home for several hours after working all day and putting the kiddos to bed with me each night.
I am grateful I didn’t have to drive to work in the snow last night! We have enjoyed a lazy weekend and played outside in the snow for a long time. Snow is so enjoyable when you don’t have to get up early to shovel and drive to work.
Grateful for our zoo pass. We go during the week when it’s cold and have pretty much the whole zoo to ourselves. This time we saw the elephants eating up close and it was amazing.
Grateful for our cars running well during the cold. I hate to risk jinxing myself but they are very old so it’s always something to be thankful for.
Grateful we have no major food allergies or intolerances and that my husband and kids aren’t picky eaters. I was just reading a post from a woman who is dealing with dietary restrictions AND super picky family and it sounds exhausting. I love to cook but that would ruin the fun pretty quickly.
April
Friday 29th of January 2021
We adopted a Goldendoodle puppy yesterday because the family who had her found themselves allergic to her. We named her Sunday because my daughters prayed for her. The Lord provided her in an amazing way. We do feel so sad the other family is grieving their loss and their unfortunate allergy.
Mary
Friday 29th of January 2021
A friend took me with her to visit her horse and give her horse some TLC. Loved it!
Elizabeth
Friday 29th of January 2021
I am grateful for the previous administration taking Covid very seriously from the very beginning. They received some hateful comments from some politicians and news/media people but have proven to be right. I'm grateful they were able to get a vaccine underway and out so very quickly. I don't know any other administration that has responded as quickly to such an emergency.
I am grateful for our governor who has been on top of things all along and never allowed himself to be intimidated by lesser brains. We have the vaccine and it is going out in record numbers to the people that need it most.
I am not grateful for all the governors that are doing such a bad job of getting out the vaccine that people are coming from all over the country to try and get their vaccines here because it is impossible to get it in their home states. I feel very badly for them.
I am grateful for cold weather. We don't get very much but it is something I enjoy.
I am thankful that the grocery stores are pretty much back to normal.
Although I am extremely grateful for your blog and several others, I am really tired of the political sniping. The above is an example in reverse of what gets posted. The author can ask for nothing political but it will get put in slyly in anther post about something else. It is always the opposite of my political views and the people posting really don't seem to care that they are offending a lot of people. This has been going on for months and I have remained silent out of respect. I thought it would be over after the swearing in of the new administration but I was wrong.
I'm sorry but I've just had enough. Its not just here. It's other sites as well. I guess you got the glory of me hitting my absolute ceiling on this.
Please feel free to not post this.
Thank you Kristin.
BTW, I apologize if I have offended you or anyone on this blog that has not done this.
Randi
Sunday 31st of January 2021
"I am grateful for the previous administration taking Covid very seriously from the very beginning. :"
That has been proven to be FALSE
Kristen
Saturday 30th of January 2021
I'm sorry to hear that you are feeling frustrated. I do try to keep my comments limited to things that are not super-political, but things that are more bi-partisan.
(For instance, the Covid vaccine is a bi-partisan effort. And there has been bi-partisan condemnation of the Capitol invasion. And racism is not a left or right issue, though how we deal with it can definitely get into the political arena.)
I am always unsure of how much to moderate comments and also what I write. You feel the way you do, obviously, and just last week, someone wrote me an email telling me that a conservative reader's political comments here felt over the line to her. And a third reader wrote to berate me for not speaking up about politics more. So, readers from all political sides are feeling frustrated, and all parties probably struggle to see how the others could be feeling the way they do.
I do want this to be a place that is welcoming to a variety of people, and I do want us all to be able to be kind to each other and show love to each other, even when we disagree.
Si
Saturday 30th of January 2021
Amen to that. Disappointed. Always the opposite of my views. Still continue to pray and trust, as that is all I can do. Thanks for speaking up.
April
Friday 29th of January 2021
Amen and Amen. I'm exhausted by all the political comments too. I'm actually appalled by the vaccine comments too. This addresses reasons why.
https://informedchoicewa.org/news/fast-facts-on-covid-19-vaccine-concerns/
I've read Kristen's blog since all her kids were little. Liked that nothing was controversial here. Safe space. I'm heartbroken over all the political talk. (Registered Independent, Christian, and disappointed with both big parties. Thought it was a mix last administration as Fauci and and Birx had massive daily briefings. )