A Year of Gratitude: April 2018

 I am thankful for…

1.      Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

2.      A break from school.

3.      The internet.

4.      A visit from an out of province friend.

5.      Supplements.

6.      Homemade soup. I’m on a kick.

7.      Getting my kindle working again; I thought it was a goner.

8.      Encouraging friends.

9.      My mom’s help at school.

10.   Homemade butter. I never thought I could do it.

11.   A warm house.

12.   Yoga, even though it’s hard.

13.   My women’s ministry team. I bought thank you gifts for them since we’re wrapping up.

14.   Teaching about Emergency Preparedness on the day before an ice storm.

15.   Being able to stay in during an ice storm.

16.   Power still on. No school today.

17.   Lunch out after presenting the summary of Nehemiah.

18.   A new Bible reference book.

19.   Coffee, and my Keurig.

20.   My husband’s job over 28 years.

21.   White wine, even if it’s from a box. Cardboardeaux.

22.   Meeting new people at church.

23.   Income; even though this year I owe income tax.

24.   Beginning a new Bible study; Esther.

25.   Getting highlights, so I look and feel younger.

26.   Car care; winter tire changeover and tune up.

27.   Birthday cupcakes from my daughter.

28.   A new spring/summer purse.

29.   I got a Kitchenaid stand mixer for my birthday.

30.   God’s faithfulness over 54 years. It’s my birthday!

A Year of Gratitude: March 2018

Today I am thankful for…

1.      Dental care every 3 months for 35 years. I still have my teeth.

2.      Movies to distract/entertain.

3.      Old friends; we easily pick up where we left off.

4.      The Bible.

5.      Time to study.

6.      The privilege of teaching the Bible.

7.      Fried fish.

8.      Yoga class, even when it’s hard to go.

9.      Coffee. I love coffee.

10.   Yoga pants.

11.   Freedom to worship.

12.   School; planting seeds with my grandson.

13.   A week off from school for March break.

14.   Pickled beets, which I made for the first time.

15.   Loyalty cards to pay for flights.

16.   Ability to rest/not work/recover/pace myself, which is the only “treatment” recommended for M.E.

17.   Prospect of travel this summer to see friends.

18.   Missionaries willing and able to go. Ironic that on St. Patrick’s Day we commissioned an Irish woman to go to Ireland for missions.

19.   Jerk chicken.

20.   School; doing fun things like making slime.

21.   Pajama days; don’t judge me.

22.   Appliances, especially my dishwasher.

23.   My daughter’s final day at work!

24.   My i-phone.

25.   Good preaching.

26.   25 school days so far.

27.   My mom’s 78^th birthday.

28.   Spring cleaning done by someone else!

29.   Netflix. Just got it. Let the binge watching begin.

30.   Good Friday. L Christ died, for me! J

31.   Long weekend (for my family). My whole life is a long weekend.

Spring

March Journaling

1.      Dental appointment today, plus errands, so I was exhausted when I got home.

2.      Home day, but I didn’t have energy for anything. I napped over two hours.

3.      Already tired and I have two events today; a wedding shower for the future daughter in law of the man who was our best man, then after dinner visiting friends we only see once a year.

4.      Church.

5.      School day; letter T, Ezra/Nehemiah story, skeletal bones, volcano experiment, shadows.

6.      Bible study, errands, nap.

7.      Chiro and massage, Costco, nap, and fish for dinner. Also voted for the provincial leadership hopeful. We need a change.

8.      Home day; doing homework.

9.      A low energy day.

10.   Interesting result in the PC leadership race. We became members just to vote. Hopefully now they’ll listen to the social conservatives.

11.   A great day at church with a very long nap in between.

12.   School day; the letter U, and planting seeds. I’ll post a picture.

13.   My husband took a vacation day and we went to the mall to buy him some work clothes. The new Oshawa mall is nice, but there is virtually no seating. They may be afraid of loitering but surely they know that not everyone who shops is young and healthy. Also we stopped at Panera for lunch and before I even ordered or handed her my loyalty card, she said my name and that she remembered me from the drive through. Oops. I guess I’m a regular. It could be worse; I could stop at a bakery for cake instead of Panera for a salad.

14.   Home day. Mostly cooking and baking, which I know I will pay for: dinner of Greek chicken, cilantro-lime rice, parmesan roasted asparagus, lemon poppy seed cake, and I also canned beets for the first time, and did laundry. The canned beets turned out great.

15.   The ides of March for those who care. I’ve never been superstitious. I made Thai shrimp soup, and also shrimp ceviche for the first time, must’ve been a bad recipe, not very good. But then again, a bad carpenter blames his tools. Nice nap, a bit of homework, and rest. Everyone in the family is out today.

16.   Unproductive day. Not really surprised.

17.   Home day, school prep, cleaning up with hubby.

18.   Church luncheon today. We brought jerk chicken.

19.   School day; the letter V, the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, making slime. This is my third home delivery of organic food.

20.   Bible study, appointment with my hormone doctor, unfortunately during my prime nap time.

21.   First day of spring. Making more fish today. Also pickling more beets. I already ate the others, they were so good. My daughter (the lawyer) went to a conference on human trafficking yesterday.

22.   Yoga tonight. It’s hard to drag myself out there, but I feel better at the end of it.

23.   Pain clinic for back injections; they work pretty well. If only someone could do something about my leg pain, it’s my one constant still.

24.   Women’s ministry breakfast with a guest speaker. Breakfast burritos.

25.   Church. I can’t say enough about Pastor Randy Mann’s preaching. Listen on our church website; Ajax Alliance on sermon audio.

26.   School today. My daughter has quit work to stay home with her kids. They’ll feel it financially but they won’t regret it. You don’t get those years back. Their stove broke and the glass on the oven blew, so we brought our hotplate and my mom bought them a microwave.

27.   My mom’s 78^th birthday. Closer to eternity, yet still unsaved. L

28.   Bible study. Our church’s annual general meeting. My husband was elected elder for two years. He finally felt ready after a rest of four years since we left our old church.

29.   Today we had a cleaning company come in and do spring cleaning; blinds and light fixtures and regular cleaning too. So nice to have that treat once a year.

30.   Women’s ministry planning meeting, planning our final meeting under my leadership. I served two years. Happy to take a break now and just do the Women’s bible study.

31.   It’s Good Friday. After our morning service, we went to my mother-in-law’s for dinner. Our daughter’s family came to stay over.