Monday, June 10, 2019

Six YEARS of Thankfuls!

I've been SO EXCITED for the 6th anniversary of the Ten Things of Thankful, and then I was so incredibly busy this weekend and having oodles of fun that I almost forgot to write my post!

Six years ago, my bloggy (and in real life) friend Christine told me she had been asked to co-host a blog hop and would I PLEEEEEASE write a post and link up. I did, then was asked by Lizzi to join as a co-host a few months later, and now it's 179 thankful posts later, and I'm still here. Let's call that Thankful #1.

2. I can't explain what a close bond we all had as hosts. Lizzie did a great job of choosing the hosts, and occasionally (okay, often), it may have seemed as if the inmates were running the asylum. Video chats. Hijacking each other's comment threads. Elaborate celebrations (cake!). And we did it all from coast to coast and points beyond!

3. In six years of participating in the Ten Things of Thankful, we have watched each other's kids grow up, seen job changes, illnesses, deaths of loved ones, good times, bad times, and everything in between. If you don't think online friendships are legit, you would be sooooo wrong.

4. And were we just friends online? Heck, no! Many of us have met in real life!

With Lizzi and Christine in St. Louis.


With Christine in St. Charles


5. If you're feeling sorry for yourself, maybe had a bad week, sitting down at the computer weekly and finding 10 things you can be thankful for is cathartic. Try it and see!

6. I took a hiatus from writing regularly for a couple of years. My biggest fan, my mom, passed away nearly three years ago, and I lost my heart for writing for awhile. It was this blog hop that brought me back.

7. Hey, not only can you make new friends by participating in the Ten Things of Thankful, you sometimes find long lost relatives, right, Cousin Kristi?!

8. TToT-ers are notorious pet lovers.

9. Oh, if you're in a store and not sure which dress to buy *cough cough Sarah Summerlin cough cough*, you can count on a TToT-er to be available to give you an opinion! 

10. I am endlessly thankful for the fun and love and laughter and tears from everyone (and if I try to list everyone, I'll forget someone, but for starters, Lisa, Zoe, Wendy, Denise, Kristi, the other Kristi, Christine, Lizzi, Sarah) and the shot of testosterone provided by Clark. Long live the Ten Things of Thankful!

And now, for your reading enjoyment, my original TToT post, originally published June 7, 2013:

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

My friend Christine @ A Fly On Our (Chicken Coop) Wall is the brand, spanking new co-host of a brand, spanking new link up, "10 Things of Thankful," the goal of which is to challenge us to find the joy in each day.  When we think about what we are thankful for, we are probably all guilty of looking mostly at the big picture: family, shelter, employment, food, health. But what about the little picture? What about the every day things that happen that, when you stop to list them, prove that life is pretty good? Here's my list of ten things that happened today* for which I can be thankful:

1. I am thankful that I'm not Rafael Nadal's wife mom housekeeper and have to wash these socks he wore to the French Open.




2. I'm thankful that I didn't backhand my 17 year old son when he went all know-it-all while packing for a one week mission trip to Colorado. And wasn't planning on taking more than one pair of jeans. And hadn't read the checklist of what to take for all the activities they would be doing (and, more importantly, what NOT to take). And wouldn't believe me when I referred to said checklist.

3. I am thankful that I made a trip to Walmart today and did not lose the car in the parking lot. This is an anomaly.

4. I am thankful that my husband agreed to get up with me at 5:30 (as in A.M.) every day this week to work out at the Y, and that he wants to go on Saturday as well. And that he admits I was right that, as trite as it sounds, it gets your metabolism going and gives you energy all day.

5. I am thankful that I am home during the summer and am able to take a nap during the day when that 5:30 workout hits me between the eyes and I can't hold them open any longer.

6. I'm thankful that my husband didn't seriously hurt himself when his socked feet slid out from under him while he was leaning against the sink this evening, eating homemade pizza (which was DELICIOUS - spinach, sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions on whole wheat crust).

Ouchie.



Mmmmm.

7. I'm thankful that he didn't get mad at me when I laughed, even as I was checking to see if he was okay. (It's a family trait that we laugh when someone falls, which is completely inappropriate,  I KNOW.)

8. I am thankful my parents bought too many freshly picked green beans and new potatoes at the old order Mennonite settlement's produce stand and shared them with me. I have a ham bone in the deep freeze that I've been saving for an occasion such as this.

9. I am thankful that Teri Biebel @ Snarkfest and Jenn @ Something Clever 2.0 have both favorited comments I made on Twitter, because it makes me feel like I'm all that (and also implies I know what I'm doing on Twitter, which, sadly, I don't).

10. I'm thankful for my sweet friend Christine @ A Fly On Our (Chicken Coop) Wall because she (1) always encourages me, (2) was brave enough to do this link-up, (3) writes posts that always get to me on an emotional level, from raucous laughter to tender tugs at my heart, (4) draws the best pig/elephants I have ever seen.  (I could list about a hundred more, but I don't want her to get all big-headed about it.)

*Okay, I fudged a little. #9 actually happened over the course of about a week or so. So sue me.

Ten Things of Thankful





26 comments:

  1. I love this post, and all that the TToT has meant over the years. Love the connections and continuity of it all, and the friendship that holds us all together xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. What she, (Lizzi), said, 'cept more 'VID! CHATS!! and "You and Christine would find the secret nuclear laboratory in the middle of the prairie and break in 'cause you though it'd be fun."
    oh yeah, a couple of 'Hey!! Yo!'.
    Our Miz Lewis really did create something amazing.

    Your hard-driving, bone-crushing, expletive-deleted friend from Y Chromia,
    clark scottroger

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bwahaha I remember those! Oh the excitement of having more than on TToTer on one screen at once!

      Delete
    2. Those video chats were so much fun! Somewhere, I have a screenshot of me and Christine from the very first time we met sharing a pair of ear buds and joining the video chat. Memories light the corners of my miiiiiind....

      Delete
  3. Yep, it's no wonder we formed a tight-knit (but always welcoming of newcomers) group--we're FAMILY! :-) I imagine there are other lost cousins out there, too. I'm so happy you linked up a post this week--it perfectly captures the TToT excitement!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wasn't that a fun discovery?! And I wouldn't have missed this week for the world!

      Delete
  4. This was such a delightful read, and I think that's one of the things I love about you, your ability to take all the lumps and bumps of life and still come out laughing and loving and just being so very real! I loved your original post, and isn't it amazing how many things we've gone through in six years and how much our kids have grown up and gone one with their lives too! Imagine what we'll be saying in ten years... or twenty! You are so right that writing a TToT reminds you of what you love and miss about writing/blogging. I really need to do this more often, and I'm delighted to see that you are! XO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I miss your writing and hope you get a jumpstart from this hop like I did. xxxooo

      Delete
  5. OMG it's a miracle!! I was actually able to post a comment to your blog! Meant to be! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a great idea to post your original post along with your 6th Anniversary on! Also - you and Kristi are COUSINS??? I missed that... cool! Your thankful about watching one anothers kids grow up really got me - it's so true. It's hard to believe TToT has been around six years, but when I looked back at old posts, Tucker was just a little guy (three!!) when we started! Wowza. He's turning 10 this summer. I had to laugh about Sarah and the dress - I'd forgotten about that! So fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought my post was a little dull and that it needed to be punched up a bit, so I threw in the original post :D
      Tucker was hardly more than a baby when the TToT started! I had a 14 and an 18 year old, and now they're adults (sort of).
      Kristi found out we were cousins when she did a genealogy search!

      Delete
  7. I'm thankful to get to read your posts!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I need to go back and refresh my memory as to how you and Kristi are related, but I think it was through my line, so if that is the case you are my cousin too. :-)

    I LOVED reading your TToT post!

    I didn't realize that you and Christine were friends in real life. What an interconnected TToT group we all are.

    It is a family trait to laugh when someone falls? Now I think we really are cousins. One time when my daughter fell and hurt herself (she was in her late teens), I started laughing. I was embarrassed by my response when she was obviously hurt and I knew my laughing was totally not an acceptable response. Fortunately I haven't responded in that fashion too many times. Such a strange reaction.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't remember HOW Kristi and I are cousins, but if nothing else, we are related by marriage!

      Christine and I have gotten together several times over the years. We live about 9 hours away from each other, and with all of her very active kids, it isn't easy for her to get away. We are overdue for a visit; we expected to get together last summer but never were able to get it scheduled. Maybe this year!

      Yeah, we must be related if we both laugh when people fall! It probably has something to do with being uncomfortable in the situation, but I can't help myself!

      Delete
  9. Aww, yay to this. I love all the pictures of virtual friends meeting in real life. You better believe that some day Jak and I may wander down to Missouri for a road trip and stop on by.

    Your posts always bring a smile to my face and nothing like a TToT to help turn a crummy week into something a little brighter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would SO love to see y'all! You and Jak need to make a pilgrimage to Branson!

      Thank you, always, for your kind words, Kate!

      Delete
  10. It's funny; I remember so many of these names and blogs from when TToT first started. I can't believe it's been six years! So nice to reconnect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was almost surprised it was ONLY 6 years! Sometimes it seems as though we have been a cohesive group for so much longer!

      Delete
  11. I can't remember exactly when I started but I loved reading your first post. I keep wanting to get back to blogging but...this just may be the push I need. I mean look...I met you!!! ;) <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, yes, yes, you should get back to it! How would we ever have met otherwise?!

      Delete
  12. Holy shit, I'm so late to this party! Sorry, sis :D
    Excellent post. The pictures of you guys made me smile :) What a wonderful group of people I am so thankful to have met - some irl and others virtual. But ya know, doesn't matter irl or otherwise. I'm just grateful to know all of you.
    OMG. It's scary how time passes online (you sure Einstein didn't have a theory about it? lol). Your kids were, well, they were damn kids! Now one of them is practically a dr. and the other, oh man, she's going places, you can just tell.
    OK. I am so-o-o- behind in my reading/commenting there's probably a warrant out for my arrest :D See ya out there, Dyanne!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're just fashionably late! I haven't finished reading and commenting yet, and I didn't even make it to the hop last weekend, let alone 6 sentence stories! I thought summer was supposed to be laid back and lazy - hah! So happy the TToT brought me YOU!

      Delete
  13. I definitely can't remember when, but I do remember that it was you who invited me to the TToT - I think we crossed paths first over at Mama Kat's linkup? So glad that happened because the TToT and all of its people were exactly what I needed.
    I've been out of blogging for a while myself and I really want to get back. It just might be this hop that does it.
    Love the memories in your post...proof that online friends are real ones. xo

    ReplyDelete