Giving thanks. Still.

Sat in church this morning just letting the gratitude flow. I glowed with good thoughts about being on this side of my surgery and all the good and happy time we got to spend with our children and grandchildren over the past few days. Warm, fuzzy, good thoughts were running rampant.

Today at the end of November and the first day of Advent it is sunny and warm. Leaves are blowing and falling, still. It looks like fall and feels like summer. Ah. My south. I do love it. Who knows what weather next week will bring?

Mr. Macho is in overdrive. He is washing clothes, vacuuming, cooking dinner. Bless his heart. It has been a study in patience for me, this letting him do. He is very insulted if I try to direct. It isn't easy, this keeping my mouth shut. I am really trying, though.

 I am going to leach out and soak up all the gratitude I can muster today. Wallow in it a bit. Let it blind me to the little things that that aren't getting done. Allow gratitude to shut off the complaint valve that is itching to point things out. This is me - letting it go.

Namaste.

The Eve.

One more hour and Mr. Macho will be on Thanksgiving holiday. I want to take this quiet moment to do a little thankful reflecting...
This year is one that will, for me, go down in infamy. A back issue started just after Easter and didn't let up until the fall...and finally led to surgery one week ago...
In the spring, and again two weeks ago, Father-in-Law experienced some severe dizziness. This time it was accompanied by total deafness in his left ear and some numbness in his left leg. One visit to the E.R. and an MRI later and we still don't know the cause...
These are life changing and defining moments for us.
I am ever so thankful that the back surgery went well. I have had a multitude of prayers, many calls and cards, some visits, flowers, and a few meals sent my way. It lifts me up. It makes me feel so cared for. Especially when all three of my children check on me so frequently to make sure things are going good for me. My heart stays warmed by those three offspring of ours.
And. I can never say enough about the one person that has gone above and beyond, with no complaints whatsoever. Mr. Macho. With absolute patience and his endearing humor he has cared for me.
I have tried to repay him by not asking too much and never complaining. I am so thankful. And, my friends, that might just be the winning understatement of the year.
Tomorrow the two of us will sit at our table and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal, ever mindful of what is important and what we are so very thankful for. Friday children and grandchildren will fill our house with love and noise and blessed chaos. For this I am truly thankful. For family. For love that is so noisy it fills all the cracks in body and soul.
My hope and wish is that you have someone to share your meal.
Thank you, God, for what we have received. It is enough. Amen.

Big help.

Thanks, Bob!

Road to recovery.

Giving thanks for the normal bladder function today.

Finding the thanksgiving.

Let me just say. The surgery went well. Body functions virtually shut down and that has been the worst part. Slowly. Ever so slowly the functions are returning.
The surgery pain is about what I had expected. Soreness is there. It is tolerable. The back brace I must wear for two weeks limits me significantly.

Today I am so very thankful for Mr. Macho. He has gone above and beyond the call of duty. I am trying very hard to not get on his nerves. I am trying hard to not tell him what to do. I didn't realize how much he would end up doing for me. You wouldn't believe. He hasn't complained nor gotten testy with me, yet. For that I am ever thankful.

Namaste.

Come on ride that train.

This train is leaving the station.

36. I am thankful that today is finally here.

Peace out.

For this I am truly thankful.

35. For all the family and friends that have offered prayers on my behalf as I undergo back surgery tomorrow. I am so very appreciative.

Sunday gratitude.

34. This rainy day.

A good day.

It really was a lovely day. Despite the cold. These were my happy spots today...

30. Three year old kisses.
31. Goat farm.
33. Grown daughter hugs.

Thank you, Lord. Amen.

Count down to surgery.

Today I did the grocery-ing. Have cooked and frozen meals this week. Scrubbed our bathrooms.
Tomorrow I get to enjoy Daughter and The Carrot for the day.

Mr. Macho has continued to be the "bath-man" for his dad this week. There are no significant improvements in the way he feels.
28. Nor any worse symptoms. Thank heavens.

29. Today I am thankful for the warm scarf around my neck. Unusually frigid temps are here. Even colder air is on tap tonight.

Be snug. And. Warm.

This day.

27. Resolved insurance issue.

Tuesday.

I am starting to feeling hurried. I finished my broccoli casserole for Thanksgiving today. Check. I have a few more grocery items on my list and I will be ready for Thanksgiving. And surgery.
I am also starting to feel anxious. Not because of my surgery. Because of my insurance. Let me just say that United Health Care is NOT a company I would recommend. They routinely drag their feet on processing. They did it to me three years ago. They are doing it to me now. It is a game. And. I don't like to play. They say that a "committee" has to review my case. Do you really think there is a committee that reviews every case that comes along? I don't. Argh. Health insurance = my nemesis.

Father-in-law is about the same. Mr. Macho and his two sisters are trying their best to take care of him while he is under the weather. It takes a lot of their time. Love in action, for sure.

Frigid temps are blanketing our country. Low digits are due tonight. And. We have yet to turn on our heater.

Today it is a stretch to find the thanksgiving. I am reaching for it. Oh. There it is...

24. For shelter. A home with a heater.
25. For the big pot of potato soup.
26. For this feeling in my heart that yearns for kindness and compassion.

I hope you find warmth this day.
Peace.

Small Monday post.

Today I am thankful for:

21. Being able to give from our abundance.
22. Fingers that work.
23. Cabernet sauvignon.

Good night.

Long day.

Father-in-law had an episode this morning. Extreme dizziness sent him to the ER. Short story = the doc thinks it is vertigo. 

Back home now. He is. We are. Sister-in-law is spending the night with him tonight. We will see what tomorrow brings. 

Mr. Macho and I had to leave mass suddenly this morning and some people misinterpreted. They thought I was feeling bad.

18. I am thankful it wasn't me.

19. I am thankful it wasn't worse than it is.

20. I am thankful for caring conversations. 

Sleep tight. 

Oh snap.

Oops. Just realized that I skipped yesterday. 

My garden club met and I was one of the co-hostesses. It took up the better part of the day. 

Here are a few food photos for  your enjoyment.

My friend, Patricia, invited our little circle over for lunch before the meeting. She had prepared a roasted corn chowder and waldorf chicken salad. Let me just say, she makes her own pasta. Anything that comes out her kitchen 'es bueno'. 

Patricia also prepared some brie in puff pastry. On the side she served some roasted, peppered red grapes with walnuts. Oh. It. Was. Good. 

Our table looked very fall-ish. My contributions were the pumpkin spice muffins with cinnamon cream cheese frosting seen on the left side of the picture. The ladies of the club enjoyed and complimented profusely. 

***

I am chock full of gratitude this week. Magnanimous feelings abound as I drive into town and home again with the colors of fall filling the eye with a palette beyond imagination. The brightest colors are fleeting, yet striking, with few trees looking 'en fuego'. 

Most local trees have had the good taste to simply turn maroon in color this year. 

Maroon. 

White.

Fight, fight, fight.

17. I am sincerely thankful for a winning football season.

Go Dawgs!

Mid-week thanksgiving.

What would we do without our sense of smell? Today I am reflecting on the good job that my nose performs every day. Usually without thanks.

Here are just a few items that my olfactory has detected in the last 24 hours:

14. Lysol.
15. Pumpkin spice muffin aroma.
16. Lingering lime juice on my hands.

Yo. Smell ya later!

Vote.

I love the seasons. The changes. The colors. 

Two of the oaks in our yard make nice big acorns. The other oak makes go-zillions of small ones. This is not a bountiful year for the big acorns. I had to look hard to find these. 

My pumpkin vines produced three mature pumpkins. The vines grew out of compost seeds. They are  a small variety pumpkin. 

My last Belgian waffle from last year's batch. Time to make more. 

Today is election day. This guy sat on a busy corner. His sign read "Honk if your proud to be American". There were honks aplenty. 

And so today I give thanks for:

11. My right to vote.

12. My state and country.

13. My beautician. 

God bless America. 

Lack of focus.

Some days it is just hard to find the groove. Today is one. I'm feeling out of sorts. Like I can't get anything started.
I am down to one crochet project and feel the need to get another one going before I am totally out of things to do with my hands. I have plenty of yarn, only I just can't decide what next. Is there such thing as a crochet slump? A dry spell? I must be in it. I think I need to visit Pinterest. For inspiration.
I have done the usual things today, though. I exercised. I donated my two gallons of chili to the soup kitchen. Breakfast dishes got cleared away. I even wiped down the top of the fridge and dusted the fan in our bedroom.
It has finally gotten cool enough at night to not run the fan. For the last two nights we have piled on extra homemade afghans to keep warm. No heater, yet. I like the house a little cool, especially at night.
I have taken care of the bills. And the mail. Done my newspaper puzzles. After which I noted that my roll-on Biofreeze has taken up permanent residence next to Mr. Macho's chair. He had a shoulder thing last week. The Biofreeze did the trick. Now it sits right there. Waiting until the next time.

Oh well. I'll think of something. In the mean time I have half a dozen eggs waiting to be made into salad. Soup and sandwiches for supper.

9. Abundance of colorful yarn.
10. Time to decide.

For these things I give thanks.

Be sweet.

Sunday. Funday.

5. Sunshine. My heart is lighter when it is sunny.

6. Eyesight. I am a visual person. 

7. Finished projects. 

8. This is a weird one = self affirmation. I am actually thankful that my leg is hurting today. Strange, huh? Not that I am glad it is hurting but that it is hurting TODAY so that it confirms my decision to have surgery. 

Be sweet. 

Happy November.

Much to be thankful for.  And so it starts. The 30 days of thanksgiving posts.

I am thankful for:
1. The love that ties my family together.
2. This cold snap, as it stokes the holiday spirit in me.
3. Facetime.
4. Trick-or-treaters aplenty.

I hope you are enjoying some feelings of gratitude this morning. I challenge you to address and acknowledge those feelings throughout this entire month.

Namaste.