Tag: thankfulness

Thankful Tuesday – Week 10

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude, Invisable Illness, Thankful9 Comments

As most of you know I’m taking part in the Ten Things of Thankful challenge. Simply list 10 things a week that you are thankful for, but no worries if you list less, or a bit more, the point is to get everyone to notice there is something to be thankful for. If you’d like to join in, just pop on over to TToT and add your post to the list, I hope to see you there.

This week I’ve decided to get back to basics, I’m so very thankful for:

water drop. photo by w. holcombe. all rights reserved
  • Water. I keep a water bottle on my bedside table so I have water through the night. In the morning my darling husband always fills it up before he leaves for work so I have a full bottle for the next few hours before I get up. On Wednesday he took the bottle to fill and forgot to bring it back, this really made me appreciate that he does this for me every morning and that I have water available to me so easily all the time.
  • Scent Free Air. I went outside to sit in the sun one day this week and a bush was blooming. It is beautiful and a welcome sight, but it had a strong floral scent, that would be pleasant to most, but I have migraines and am very sensitive to scents; it was an instant trigger. I was very grateful that I was able to escape it when I came inside. I’m thankful I’m able to have a pretty scent free home.
  • Electricity. I’ve been through times when we’ve had to live without electricity for extended periods of time due to natural disasters, it was not fun. The biggest obstacle we had was no refrigerator. Everything in our freezer that we couldn’t eat fast went bad and we had no way to store any food or to get much food to be honest. We had no hot water, and no heat or A/C. (one of these power outages happened during an ice storm) These are all things you simply do not think about when you have electricity every day. When power goes out for a short period you are inconvenienced because you have no TV, computer….but when you have no electricity at all, you are very limited in life. There are many people who have no electricity at all.
  • Eye care. I went to the eye doctor this weekend, I’m so grateful that I am able to have quality eye care. It is very expensive, especially for my prescription. If I could not afford it my life would be very limited.
  • A home. I’m grateful I have a home. Many people do not have a roof over their head. Every time I leave my house I see homeless. It breaks my heart. I wish I knew of a solution to our homeless problem in America. What we are doing now is not working. We cannot just ignore it. It will not go away, it is only getting bigger. We are one of the richest countries in the world yet we treat our needy so poorly. We should be ashamed.
  • Transportation. I’m grateful that I have a car to get around in, even though I can’t always drive, at those times I’m even more grateful that my husband is able to take me places. I’m very grateful that I was able to drive myself to an appointment this week, something I haven’t been able to do for a few months. I plan to do it again tomorrow too!
  • A warm bed. Many people do not have a safe place to sleep. I’m grateful I not only have a safe place to sleep, but I have a nice place to sleep. I can be picky about my pillow and sheets, I’m so grateful for these things.
  • A loving husband, dog, and friends. I’m so thankful for my support, the love in my life means so much to me. thank you to all of you.

I’ll close with that today. What are some of the basic things you are most grateful for. I’m sure I left out plenty. Like the moon and sun….so much to be thankful for in this life is we just look.

but right now I have a migraine and I’m going to be grateful that I don’t have to go anywhere and I can go lay down in a very dark room.

I hope your week is filled with things you can be thankful for.

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Thankful Week 9

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude, Thankful22 Comments

I’m taking part in the Ten Things of Thankful challenge. Simply list 10 things a week that you are thankful for, but no worries if you list less, or a bit more, the point is to get everyone to notice there is something to be thankful for. If you’d like to join in, just pop on over to TToT and add your post to the list, I hope to see you there.

I missed last week, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t count myself thankful, it just means I had a cold and didn’t feel like looking at the computer. Achoo! Some of the things I’m thankful for this week are:

  1. I’m more thankful than I could possibly put into words that a friend of mine who has been incredibly ill is getting better. I heard from her just this morning and she is up out of bed. This is a HUGE deal!! My heart soared and I literally cried with joy.
  2. Okay I’m tempted to stop there because nothing can top number one! But I’ll list a few more things I’m thankful for just nothing is on the scale of number one. My cold is pretty much gone! It left a little bit of sinusitis bit for the most part if has left the body.
  3. I’m very thankful that this cold was not a bad cold at all. If every cold was like this one I could not complain. Well I could, and probably would, but I shouldn’t. I know how bad a cold can get and this one was very mild.
  4. I was able to get out and go to a number of places this weekend. but I was careful to sanitize my hands numerous times and wiped down everything I touched, just in case I was still contagious, but I don’t think I was.
  5. It was 80 F on Saturday so we rode around with the top off my Beetle and went to have frozen yogurt. We even sat outside to eat it, it was such a glorious day. I didn’t even notice my sniffles.
  6. I’m making chicken broth today. I’m proud that I was able to cut a chicken in half so I can make 2 batches of broth with one chicken. I have to make homemade broth because I can’t have onions, besides homemade broth is so much better. Getting a chicken on sale is just the way to go!
  7. I’ve been eating better lately and feel good about it. I did have a day where I ate way too much chocolate, but I was able to forgive myself and simply move on the next day.
  8. I’m grateful that my little doggy wanted to have a good play yesterday. She doesn’t normally do that in the middle of the day. It was just the giggle that I needed with all the doggie kisses that I could ask for.
  9. I’ve been going through a really rough time recently with high anxiety and I’m grateful that I have found a good therapist I can trust to help me through it most difficult situation.
  10. I have neighbors that have this sign in their yard:

What were you thankful for this week? It always makes me feel good to hear!

Thankful – Week 7

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude, Thankful15 Comments

I’m taking part in the Ten Things of Thankful challenge. Simply list 10 things a week that you are thankful for, but no worries if you list less, or a bit more, the point is to get everyone to notice there is something to be thankful for. If you’d like to join in, just pop on over to TToT and add your post to the list, I hope to see you there.

Image from NatureHills.com

This week I’m thankful for:

  • family who care. My sister texted out of the blue because she had a “funny feeling” and wanted to make sure every thing was alright. Then a couple of days later her husband was worried because of the weather out our way. (El Nino is dumping a lot of rain on the desert) I’ve never known him to worry about me before. I hate for people to worry, but I will say, I sure feel loved.
  • friends who listen. I can only hope I listen as well as some of my friends listen to me. (I know I need to work on this more actually) I’m so very grateful I have such good friends. I may not have many friends, but the few I have are the best you could hope to have.
  • massages. Hubby got us massages for Valentine’s Day. Actually he just got us massages, it just happened to be on Valentine’s Day, but it was pure joy. I went in with a migraine at about a 6 and left with it closer to a 2…amazing. I just wish it could have lasted into the next day. But I’ll take a few hours at a 2.
  • getting my house clean. Stuart and I working together to clean the house. It wasn’t bad, but my back has been hurting so I haven’t been able to do a lot so things like vacuuming and mopping went undone. That has all changed, the house is clean and I’m a happy girl.
  • a local friend came for a visit. It was a nice day when a local friend came and spent a few hours with me, we just talked and had sandwiches. What a nice break from spending so much time alone.
  • a new pillow. I’ve been in need of a new pillow for quite some time. I finally bought one this week. I hope it was a good investment. It has a 100 night money back guarantee, so I felt good buying it. No risk!
  • library books. I haven’t been able to focus enough to really read a whole book in a while now and I’ve really missed it. Recently we got our library cards in our new town. I decided to check out their online selection so I could read on my Kindle. There are a ton of books available to check out on Overdrive, I’m thrilled. I decided to check out a couple of Young Adult books to get me back in the swing of things, thinking I could concentrate on them, and I was right! I’m so thankful I’m reading purely for pleasure again!
  • successful dinner. We’ve been trying to have the family together for a dinner since Christmas but something has come up every time we scheduled and we’ve had to postpone. (mostly me feeling ill, I hate that) We were finally able to get everyone together this weekend. Everything went smoothly despite my fears that everything would fall apart any moment, nothing disastrous happened, everyone was fed and I think all had a good time. (Anxiety is real in this girl lately, I’m thankful I did not let it ruin this dinner for me.)
  • citrus trees. It’s citrus season ya’ll! Everywhere I go I see citrus trees filled with fruit! There are local Meyer Lemons in the stores. I so want a citrus tree in my yard, as soon as we buy a house I will have a lemon tree, even it I have to start with a baby one. I adore lemons. yummm. I hope there is a mature citrus tree already there. 🙂
  • the taken for granted things. I’m so thankful for running potable water, electricity, food a plenty, a home, and love in my life. These are things I’m most thankful for each and every day and I never want to forget that. Most of us take these things for granted, yet there are so many who do not have these basic necessities. If you have a little extra won’t you consider giving a little to those in need. Remember there are many ways to give.

What are you thankful for this week?

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank

Thankful Week 5 – #TToT

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude, Thankful7 Comments

I’m taking part in the Ten Things of Thankful challenge. Simply list 10 things a week that you are thankful for, but no worries if you list less, or a bit more, the point is to get everyone to notice there is something to be thankful for. If you’d like to join in, just pop on over to TToT and add your post to the list, I hope to see you there.

10 things I’m thankful for the 5th week of 2019 are:

  1. Possibilities – Just as I started to write this post I received a message that I may be able to see a specialist in San Diego I’ve been wanting to see for a long time. A special thank you K for making this possibility happen.
  2. My new therapist – I saw her for the first time on Wednesday and if first visits are a clue as to how things are going to go, I’m going to love going through this process with her.
  3. Vertigo that doesn’t last long – Last night I bent over and the world started to spin, I sat down and waited but it kept going. Stuart helped me to my chair and shortly afterward the spinning stopped. Yay! I still felt like I was moving for a while after, but the visual spins had stopped and that’s something to really be thankful for! Plus the meds gave me a good night’s sleep. 😉
  4. My slow cooker – Organic chickens were on sale so we bought 2 and I was able to cut one up and use some of the bones to make stock in the slow cooker. For the other, I roasted the whole bird in the slow cooker, comes out like rotisserie chicken, so good, so easy, and something to eat on for days. Something to really be grateful for when I’m not feeling my best.
  5. Imodium – need I say more? I ate way too many grapes and the next day I paid the price. Thank goodness there’s an over the counter drug to help stop me from running to the bathroom all day. ew.
  6. Shoe strings – I have a pair of yellow high-top Converse that I wore during the reception of my wedding, almost 15 years ago. For years I haven’t had shoe strings for them. I don’t remember what happened to the first pair, the shoes look almost new, so I can’t imagine they just wore out. hmmm? I’ve bought numerous shoe strings that were supposed to fit and they were always either too short or way too long. Well this week I was wearing another pair of sneakers and the strings were wayyyyy too long, so I thought I’d try them in my “wedding” shoes….voila! I can now where my yellow high-tops with joy!
  7. Dinner date set – Finally we have a date set for a dinner party we are throwing at our house. This dinner was originally supposed to be Christmas dinner on December 22nd, it has been rescheduled many times, for different reasons, mostly because of me. I am determined that no matter what it will go on this time! And celebrate my husband’s birthday at the same time!
  8. Another possibility – My therapist recommended me for a study about chronic pain that I don’t qualify for…darn it…but I decided to ask some questions and the group gave me some good information. Now I have the name of a massage therapist who treats chronic pain, he is actually helping with the study, and I have a chronic pain support group in the area I can check out. Good things happen sometimes if you just ask.
  9. Rover.com – we have been needing to find a pet sitter in the area, not that we are going on a trip soon, but if something comes up we need to have a sitter all set up, and our little girl is very picky about who takes care of her. After getting in touch with at least 5 sitters through Rover and meeting up with 3 so far, we know we’ve found at least one that Kiki will adore, and she just lives around the corner! I’m so thankful that we found her and so thankful there is a site like Rover that makes searching for a pet sitter so much easier.
  10. My heating pad – Something as simple as a heating pad, which I’m using right now, can bring such comfort to me. I’m so very thankful that the heat relieves part of the pain in my back and hip recently.

That’s my 10 for the week.

Extra – I’m thankful my Lantanas are blooming. So are the butterflies.

How about you? What are you thankful for this week?

Thankful Tuesday #TToT 1.29.19

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude4 Comments

I enjoyed participating in the Ten Things of Thankful challenge last week I thought I’d try to make it an ongoing post.

My week has been filled with ups and downs, but there are always things to be thankful for:

  1. The first thing I’m thankful for is that my ultrasound I had last week showed that the hydronephrosis is clearing on it’s own. A severe UTI can really cause some major issues, I was shocked. Now I’m thrilled it’s all working out with no further treatment. (you can read more about all of this at these 2 post: My Plumbing Doesn’t work and Unblocked!
  2. My cousin from NC was able to drop by for an impromptu visit while in town for work. That was super cool! I’ve been a little homesick and that made things much better.
  3. The weather has been awesome this week. Sitting in the sun soaking up some Vitamin D has been a regular event. I’m so thankful for sunshine in the winter. (helps that I live in the desert)
  4. Our fireplace works. I know I just said how amazing the weather is but we had a cold night and it was nice to have a fire built to take the chill off. Here in Tucson the nights can dip in the 30’sF then the days can hit in the 70’sF. 30F nights are not that common though and most days are in the 60’sF.
  5. I’m grateful I found a new therapist, I see her for the fist time tomorrow. Wish me luck. We’ve emailed a bit so I feel comfortable going in already.
  6. As with every week, I’m grateful for my husband. He has been putting in some long hours at work. I’ve been in pain this week and I haven’t been able to do much, Stuart has done so much, and takes care of me too.
  7. I’m grateful we have a TV, when I’m laid up it’s a comfort to just sit and veg in front of the idiot box. 🙂
  8. For running water. I really thought about this this week. As I mentioned I live in the desert, I feel it is such a luxury to have water all the time. It makes me want to conserve it as much as possible.
  9. I found out we can recycle more than we thought we could. Yay! Less garbage. Also, the sanitation department asks that we simply throw our food scraps in the trash can and rinse it out a little instead of putting it in bags, much less plastic in the landfill. This one is a bit harder to do though, but we are going to try.
  10. My friends. One sent me an awesome surprise! One is now able to text me almost everyday, that makes it so much easier to keep up with each other. One is my chosen sister. One keeps me sane and teaches me so much every time we talk. All the wonderful friends who check on me and comment on my blog, and simply make me feel loved. I hope I do the same for you.

What are you thankful for this week?

If you’d like to particiapate in TToT here’s what you do:

If you are interested in participating here’s the link to it. Ten Things of Thankful 
“The blog hop opens every Friday morning at 1:00 a.m. Mountain time, and closes the following Tuesday at 11:55 p.m. Mountain time.”

“Every week, bloggers from all over the world gather together here online to share with each other the things that they have been thankful for during the past week. Although the number ten is in the title, that is more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule.”

Mindfulness Monday: #GivingTuesday

On By LorraineIn Mindfulness, Quotes3 Comments

“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”

J.M. Barrie

“. . . It’s a beautiful dance, this giving and receiving!”

Heather Powers “Grateful Girl”

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under who shade you do not expect to sit.”

Nelson Henderson

Tomorrow, Tuesday November 27, is #GivingTuesday (Giving Tuesday) — the first Tuesday after American Thanksgiving.

“#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration.  . . . One of the best ways to get involved is in your own community. . . join the movement and give – whether it’s some of your time, a donation, gift or the power of your voice in your local community.” #GivingTuesday

I am grateful to Wendy for her friendship, compassion, caring, and the chance to participate in Mindfulness Mondays.

Tomorrow, I will give some of myself.

And, just because:

. . . With an open smile and with open doors

I bid you welcome, what is mine is yours

With a glass raised to toast your health

And a promise to share the wealth . . .

Stop and look around you

The glory that you see

Is born again each day

Don’t let it slip away

How precious life can be

With a heart that is wide awake

. . . with a thankful heart

“Thankful Heart,” Paul Williams, A Muppet Christmas Carol