Thankful Thursday: October 17, 2024

I Am Thankful For:

Sunsets

Small returns to normalcy

Birthday celebrations

My husband

Spending time with my grown kids

When my little grandson wants me to hold him

Chili and corn muffins

Crocheting

Wifi

That our electricity was restored before the cold temperatures moved in

Sweater weather

There are still compassionate people in the world

Sparkly nail polish

Libraries and the people that work there

Can't catch my breath, tears in my eyes laughter

Sunday Inspiration: Survival

Thankful Thursday: October 10, 2024

 

I Am Thankful For:

A generator

A cup of hot tea

Time with my grandbabies

A long, hot shower

My husband's birthday

The power coming back on

Being able to wash dishes 

Flushing the toilet at the push of a button

Having the means to restock the fridge

A home cooked meal

Washing a load of clothes

Cleaning up the house

Sunday Inspiration: How Strong You Are

Thankful Thursday: September 3, 2024

 

I Am Thankful For:

Getting prepared

Books and yarn

A heads up from a friend

My husband home safe before the storm starts

My home is undamaged

People helping each other

Finally getting some texts through

My family is all safe

Cooking on the grill

Catching up with neighbors

Getting a shower

A cup of coffee

Acquiring some groceries

A hot cup of tea

A warm meal

Getting gasoline for the cars and generator

A glimmer of hope

Good Riddance, September

 I'm not even sure where to start with trying to reecap the month of September.  This was meant to be my month to Prepare.  And for a while I was making pretty good progress.

I was getting my house in order to prepare for my knee surgery in October. Getting things cleaned and organized. Decorating for Autumn. Things weren't moving along quite as quickly as I hoped, but I was happy with the progress I was making.

Then we got to the last week of September...

On the afternoon of September 25th, it began raining.   Over the next twenty-four hours, the area of North Carolina where I live received record rainfall.  Some areas were flooding.  It was a bit of a mess. But that wasn't the big problem.
The big problem was that Hurricane Helene was about to make landfall in Florida and head our way.  It's path was just west of us, putting us on the east side if the storm where the heaviest rainfall occurs.  Rain we didn't need on top of what had just fallen.

It rained throughout the day of the 26th. And in the early morning hours of Friday, September 27th, Helene unleashed her fury on our mountains.  It was worse than we could have imagined.

In our immediate neighborhood, trees and power lines are down.  We have no power, no water, and no internet service. Part of our road has washed away, but is fortunately still passable. Cell phone service is extremely spotty and virtually nonexistent at my house. I'm posting this while sitting in a parking lot where I was able to find a signal.

As crazy as things are for us right now, we are considering ourselves fortunate.   Our home isn't flooded and doesn't have a tree through the roof. We have been in touch with family to determine that everyone is OK. We've been able to cook some on the grill and a propane burner. We have been able to get out and get some more bottled water and some groceries. 

So many others in the area are suffering much more than we are right now. Homes have washed away or been destroyed by landlides and falling trees. Lives have been lost.  I don't think is possible to overstate how much this area is hurting.

Thankful Thursday: September 26, 2024

 

I Am Thankful For:

My dog had a good check-up

Pumpkin loaf

Lipstick

Crossing several things off my to-do list

Homemade soup

Being able to laugh at myself

A new stove

Texting with my daughter

Apple pie

Leaves falling outside my window

Football and snacks

A slow cooker full of chili

Starting over

Freshly painted nails

Sunday Inspiration: Autumn

Thankful Thursday: September 19, 2024

 

I Am Thankful For:

Knowing what to expect next

Appointment scheduled sooner than expected

A glass of wine

Talks with my sister

Goodies from my cousin in Canada

A short visit with my grandson

Going out to dinner with my husband and son

Baking a cake

Rainy days

Autumn decor

Time to read

Productive days

Prepare

September is typically a quiet month for me.  I know, I already mentioned that in my "Hello, September" post.  I also talked about how I plan to use this month to take care of some things before the last three always-busy months of the year begin. 

That's why I have chosen PREPARE as my word for September.

I will be preparing my Etsy for a reopening.  I'm hoping to have it ready to by the first week in October. I'm creating a new logo, a new heading for the shop, Facebook and the shop blog. I'm taking new product photos.  And all the other little details that need to be taken care of before I can declare it to be back in business.

I'm preparing the house for the fall holidays.  This mostly involves packing away all the little summer touches that have been on display for the past 4 months and putting out all my pumpkins and other fall decor.  The fall accents will be around until the end of November/beginning of December when we decorate for Christmas.

I'm trying to prepare meal ideas for football Sundays.  My usual go-to meals of chili or Gumbo are going to be making less frequent appearances thanks to my GERD. I'm looking for some easy meals that are comforting, but less irritating to my delicate system. Even better if they can go in the slow cooker. (Any ideas?)  

I also want to prepare myself for the last quarter of 2024.  I'm hoping to have some definitive answers about what needs done for my knee and prepare for that to take place before the end of the year. 

What are you doing to prepare for the rest of 2024?

 

Sunday Inspiration: Value

 

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Thankful Thursday: September 12, 2024

 

I Am Thankful For:

Ice cream

Pumpkin Spice coffee

A beautiful fall-like day

Getting my yearly vaccines

Football Sunday

White chili

Root beer floats

Appointment scheduled

Cute videos of grandson

Candy corn

The peace of not engaging

Finding a new (to me) podcast to listen to 

Sunday Inspiration: What are you living?