Day 14 of 30

Today's thankfulness may sound trite or silly to some of you.  I want you to think about it though.  Today I am thankful for my washing machine.  I remember the days I had to go to a community washers in our apartment building to do the family laundry.  Carrying baskets of clothes in, hoping there were enough machines vacant so I could get them done quickly while trying to watch my young children and making sure I had enough money to do all the laundry etc.  There were even times I would wash a few items in the bathtub just to avoid the hassle.  It is nice to just go to my laundry room, throw in the clothes and sit down and knit while waiting for them to be done.

Yesterday I used that washing machine LOL.  The shower curtain and it's liner got all nice and cleaned up in it.  While that was going on, I made a loaf of banana bread for our deceased friend's family, stirred up 3 lbs of onion dip for the celebration of life and hand washed some items that can not be put in the dishwasher.  

Do you have your own washing machine?  If so, aren't you happy you do?

Day 13 of 30

Today I am thankful for warm covers.  I love to sleep with the window open this time of year.  Having fresh air blowing in while I sleep makes me sleep so much better.  It was a bit chilly for us desert rats this morning and I am very thankful for the warm covers I have on our bed.  I snuggled into them and relished their warmth.

Day 12 of 30

Luna and Enrique are what I am thankful for today.  If you are a pet owner, I am sure you can relate.  The unconditional love given by a pet is so awesome.  They are so forgiving of your faults.  All they ask in return is a safe environment where they can receive food, water and fellowship with their human.  The toys, comfy beds, blankets and yummy treats are added extras they are always grateful for too.

Through the years we have always had pets in our house.  Whether it was hamsters, gerbils, cats, dogs, or fish.  I know these two will probably be the last pets we ever have.  So, each day I have with them is special.

Luna is around 11 or 12 and Enrique is around 7 or 8.  This breed of dog has a long life expectancy.  Usually around 15-18 years.  I pray they each live a long time yet.  They make me smile each day.

As for their breed?  Luna is Chihuahua and Miniature Pinscher, Enrique is Dachshund and Chihuahua.  We adopted both of them from a rescue called, Mixed up Mutts and Shephard too.  They are the mixed up mutts part.  Luna is a lover and social butterfly.  Enrique is my guard dog especially when men or other dogs come over.  Are you terrified?  They both love to spend their day following my husband and myself around the house and then finding a comfy blanket on the couch to take naps on.

If you have a pet, tell me about it in the comments.

Day 11 of 30

My thankfulnness to day goes to all Veterans, past and present.  I really don't need to explain this, right?

by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

WEEK 19 UPDATE & DAY 10 OF 30

 

Hello again.  It is that time to update what I have been doing in the crafting area of my life.  After that will be the happenings for the week and then my NaBloPoMO of thanks.   Let's get this going so you can do something else today other than read my blog.

The sweater was worked on as expected.

I think I have the length of the body where I want it.  The arm has been started.  I am not so sure this will be completed by next Sunday.  If not, I am OK with that, sort of.  I have another sweater I can take on the trip with me.  

This photo shows the actual color of the sweater.  I do not know why the other one made it look blue.  It is deep purple.  Anyway, the reason this was not worked on more is two fold.  1.  It has been in the high 80's this week and I am refusing to turn the A/C back on.  Therefore my house hovers around 77-80 degrees by mid-day.  This sweater is too darn hot to have on my lap at that time.  Come on FALL!  Get your bum to Arizona!
2.  I will tell you about later in this post.

Since I could not work on the sweater full time, I picked up the lingering socks and added 12 rows to them.  No reason to post a photo.  I am still on sock #1 and it really doesn't look much different.  

I did go to a Cricut class this week and made this:

I really enjoyed the class and am wanting to get going on making some great stuff.  My head is full of ideas.  Now I just need the time to do it!

My week in review:

Monday and Tuesday were normal days around our house.  Laundry and general housekeeping were the main focus of or days.

Wednesday I finally got a haircut.  I have found a lady to do my hair and she is so good.  Since I have an undercut, it is hard to find someone who will do it the way I want it repeatedly.  My hair is soooooo thick, the only way I can manage it is to undercut the sides and back.   Then my hair lays down like most everyone elses.  Wednesday night I went and took my Cricut class from a JoAnn's store.  It was so much fun to do.  I want to take another class on it but need to work with the machine a bit to get more familiar with the design space and the different elements of what the machine/operator can and can not do.

Thursday I woke up and had a LARGE floater in my eye.  I had never had one before so was a bit concerned.  With high blood pressure (it is controlled) and RA, I need to be careful with things like this.  Lucky for me I had a Doctor's appointment that day so talked to her about it and she told me to go to my eye doctor.  Again, lucky for me he is between my primary Dr and home.  Third lucky thing, they were able to work me in.  Yup, I have a floater and he even said it was pretty big and looked like a leaping frog.  (I don't care for frogs!)  The good new is, most of the time they dissolve or get very small where you do not notice them anymore.  Fingers crossed this will happen soon.  It blurs my vision once in a while and makes me a bit crazy.  This is reason #2 why not much got done on my sweater.  All of this happened before noon on Thursday.  That evening we got a call that my husbands best friend has passed away.  He had had triple bypass surgery on the 28th of October and just never rallied afterwards and finally lost his battle.

o

This is him on the far left.  He was part of our Wednesday night Trivia team.  He will be greatly missed.  He is the one that got me going more into my photography and also a contributor to my puzzle collections.  His memorial is scheduled for this coming Friday.  This will be a tough one.

Friday was for running a few errand and getting housework completed so we could enjoy our weekend

Saturday we spent the morning relaxing and enjoying some slow time.  In the afternoon we went to the 10th anniversary celebration of the St Peregrine Shrine located on our church grounds.  It was also the 60th anniversary of the founding of our church.  Then there was Mass with a lovely dinner afterwards.  We were pretty spent my the time we got home that night.  GOOD NEWS!  I won a lovely painting at the dinner/raffle.  The artist was also there and I got to meet her too.  She informed me the painting was not the original but this was a 'copy' of it.  Yet it is still painted by her so not sure how that works.  Here is a look at it:

I have no idea where I will hang it.  It is fairly large so will need some wall space.  The painting is done in oil and acrylic.  

Today I am going to my son's to trim his dog's nails.  Then hubby and I are going to the house of our deceased friend.  The 'kids' are needing a bit of support and help with some things.  It's nice he only lived 2 blocks away from us.

I am thankful for my cell phone.  Sounds a bit silly but think about it.  How convenient it is to have that electronic leash with us when we need to to ask a question of someone who is not with us when we are on an errand.  Or we need to look up the ingredients of a product to make sure it does not have something in it we might be allergic to.  Or how often is it used to help us with a medical thing or a recipe or a crafting issue.  How did we ever survive before these "smart" phones came into our lives.  Have you even left home only to discover your phone is not with you?  Did you have a moment of panic?  Did you go back and get it or continue on with your day thinking it was no big deal?  Did you find out how much you missed said phone during that time without it?  

Do you remember your first cell phone?

Here is what mine looked like.  It must have weighed about 4 pounds too.  My purse had to be increased in size just to carry this.  No way would it fit in a pocket.  From there we went to the flip phone, then the one with a qwerty keyboard (that one was my favorite) and then on to smart phones.  And to think this advance in technology has all taken place in the last 40 years.  AMAZING!  My grands think it is weird we did not have cell phones, computers or remote control TV when I was a young girl.  Heck, I WAS the remote for the TV!

Until Next Time..............................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 9 of 30

Today I am thankful for the Saint Peregrine's Shrine stationed on our church's campus.  Today we celebrate the 10th year of the dedication of the shrine.  St Peregrine is the patron saint of cancer patients.  The Shrine is a place where people of all denominations are welcomed to come and pray.  The shrine offers spiritual and emotional healing for all those affected by Cancer and other diseases.  It is opened 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year because God never sleeps.  There is someone in the Shrine at all times praying.  My hubby and I take an hour of prayer there each week and find it to be the best hour for the whole week.

If you would like to know more about the Shrine, go here.

 

The above images are from the inside and outside of the Shrine.  It is not big and only holds around 70 people total.

We have a wall of prayer in the entrance of the shrine.  On this wall are small cards with a person's first name and type of cancer or disease they have and need prayers for.  We select a person from the wall and take the card with us when we go into the main body of the shrine to pray.  After praying for this person, we write a little note on the back of the card and deposit it in the box by the 'prayer wall'.  Those notes then get mailed to the person. When a name is first submitted to the shrine a prayer shawl and other literature about the shrine are mailed to the person for which the prayers will be offered.  All of this is done with no charge to anyone.

So now you know where my prayer shawls go when I complete them.  We have distributed packages all over the world.  There have been people from all over the world who have come as a part of a pilgrimage to the shrine.

Today, Hubby and I will be going to our church starting at 2pm to be a part of the 10th year celebration.  My DH worked at the church when the construction of the shrine started.  He was quite involved with many of the workers and designers of the shrine.  I have placed several peoples names on the prayer wall also.  One of the names I placed there is now cancer free and will be making a trip to the shrine the end of this year to give thanks for his healing.  

Until tomorrow.....................peace.

Day 8 of 30

The thing I am thankful for today is my blogging universe.  Sound crazy?  Maybe it is.  This is where I have 'met' some of the most fantastic people.  They are caring, kind, witty, creative and feel like friends.  If any of you readers would tell me you were going to be in my area, I would make sure we had an opportunity to meet up.  Some of you I have 'known' for 9 years and others for just a few months.  It doesn't matter.  I just know we would have plenty to talk about.  Whether it be about our families, pets, crafts or even the weather.  

Yesterday, I went to my Doctor and she was very happy with my blood pressure and told me not to come back for 6 months!  I asked her to look at my eye and she told me to go to the eye Doctor.  Lucky for me, he was on my way home.

I stopped into the eye Dr office and they worked me in right away.  He dilated my eyes and looked around in there (with the brightest light ever) and said "congratulations, I see the frog".  WHAT????  He said my floater looks like a frog right now and it is a pretty big one. (no kidding, I see all the time)  He did say it would shrink and become a small speck and may even eventually go away all together.  It is called a Vitreous Detachment and is not uncommon in more mature people.  I need to go back in 6 weeks to have it checked again.  He wants to make sure there is no damage to the retina as this detachment can also cause the retina to detach in areas too.  Oh Joy!  I have a son who had a detached retina and is now partially blind in that eye.  

If you read my blog regularly, you will remember I wrote about being thankful for my friends.  I spoke about how my circle of friends was small.  It got smaller yesterday.  A long time friend and co-worker of my hubby's passed away last night.  He had gone in for triple by-pass surgery and ended up with many complications and just could not overcome them.  We woyld to go to their house on Friday nights for pizza, beer, card games and lots of laughs. They lived 2 blocks away from us so we even walked there at times with the dogs.  We loss his wife 2 years ago to cancer but continued hanging out with him.  He had joined our Wednesday night trivia team and we had a blast doing that together.  He is also one of the people that got me moving up in the world of photography.  We had planned on going out this winter to play with our cameras and do a bit of off roading.  That will not be happening now.  He was my husband's best friend and my heart hurts for my DH. He leaves behind 3 adult children and 2 grandsons.  This man is going to be missed.