Friday the Thirteenth? Uh-Oh

 Friday the 13th.  What good can come out of this day?  Well, lots.  Lots of good things.  The more we focus on the the good, the more we see.  That's why Friday Fave Fives is important (even on the 13th).  Friday Fave Fives is a great way to encourage gratitude every day, every week.

Here are five things that reminded me to be grateful this week.

1.  More daffodils!  I just can't get enough of them.  They're blooming in my garden!

2.   I love to cut some of the daffodils and bring them into the cottage.  It makes me smile every time I glance over at the side table.

3.  I am thankful I have family and friends to walk with and many trails to walk on in our community.  One of our favorite paths follows the Licking River and sometimes crosses over it.

4.  Yesterday, I opened up the mailbox and found a letter awaiting me.  If you don't know, it's my birthday month.  My birthday is next week, but I just couldn't wait to open up this card from my dear friend M.  It included a lovely letter which I plan to answer this weekend (maybe tonight?).   We've been friends for fifty-five years a long time.  We sang together in our college trio and toured during summers representing the school.  

I treasure my friendship with her and am thankful that we have stayed in touch all this time.

5.  Last night we spent the evening with friends at their home.  They ordered Nepali-Indian food for dinner.  Oh my.  Delicious.  An added bonus was that their two teenage sons and a girlfriend wanted to have dinner with us too.  We had a great three hours of eating and chatting.

So, I guess Friday the Thirteenth isn't so bad after all.

End of February Faves

 I am really late to the Friday Fave Fives party this week.  It has been a busy week, but there are many blessings too.  I am so thankful that Susanne is faithful in hosting Friday Fave Fives every week; it helps us focus on thankfulness in the midst of our busy lives.

1.  Why am I so late?  On Friday, yesterday, I had an outpatient procedure which took out my whole day.  It's done now.  And it sounds like all is well.

2.  And I am thankful for excellent medical health care.  I truly appreciated the way the doctors, nurses and techs were friendly, kind and professional.

3.  I think my new laptop is settling in now.  Just this afternoon The Professor was able to confirm that Norton security is installed properly.

4.  A hike with our daughter-in-law.  We hiked a trail that was new to The Prof and her.  Three miles along the river following the remains of a canal that once helped connect Lake Erie with the Ohio River.  If I can figure it out, I will post photos I took with my phone along the river.

5.  As promised, I am happy and thankful to share pictures from my camera.  The Professor was able to work out and show me how to download those photos.  Just two barns, but I am so excited to be able to post photos again!

I hope you have had a wonderful week filled with blessings!

A Busy Second Advent Week

Did you notice that I haven't been active online much this second week of Advent?  It's been one of 'those weeks'.  Medical stuff.  Snowy and very cold weather. Schedule changes. Hopefully, life is back to basic normal again now.  But even in dealing with unexpected situations, I found blessings and Peace of Advent in my week.  I'm sharing them as my Friday Fave Fives (the link will take you to Susanne's blog where she faithfully hosts us every Friday).

1.  My weekend away with my daughter was wonderful. Peaceful.  The bed and breakfast inn was great.  Our room was warm. The beds were comfortable.  The breakfast was delicious.  The best part?  The owner (and chef) is from Bali, Indonesia and his wife lived there for several years. And the young couple who are the servers are, too!  My daughter and I had the best time surprising them by responding to their conversations in their Indonesian language and watching their faces lit up.  (In case you are confused by my proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia...we lived in Indonesia for about ten years.)

2.  I did have plenty of Peaceful knitting time.  I've been obsessed with making these adorable miniature mittens.  Do you think I've made enough of them yet?  I'm not sure...

3.  Older son Chaplain Dan had to travel to California for chaplain stuff.  Because he flew in to the airport in the same city where Younger Son lives, they were able to meet up for lunch before Chaps drove on to where he is spending the weekend.  Knowing my sons arranged to visit each other and enjoy a meal together made my mother's heart so happy.

4.  Last night was Christmas Concert for the combined bands and choral groups at our local high school.  Our grandson plays in the band, and we always love watching him play his trombone.

5.  Sometimes you just have to laugh at life. If you don't, life can just be too overwhelming.  It was a small thing, but I laughed.  The dr office had to cancel my morning appt for today due to the dr being ill.  After I rescheduled for this afternoon with another dr, I received another call from the office.  The caller asked if I would be in the state of Ohio for my visit today. What??  Yeah.  Oops.  For some reason, the office caller thought my visit was a tele/video call.  She apologized and we both laughed.  No reason to be annoyed.  It's always better to laugh and let it go.

I hope you have found many Peaceful moments during your week, too.