Clicking Away At My Thankfuls!

My new leaf flipped over already, but it's early on Sunday, not minutes before midnight, so I guess you could say I'm early-ish for the Ten Things of Thankful!

First and foremost, I am writing this with much more ease than I have in the past, um, two and a half years. My husband got me a new laptop for Christmas 2019, and a couple of months after I got it, the left clicky thing on the mouse pad broke. It still WORKED, but it was loose, and sometimes it slid under the edge of the computer or under the right clicky thing, and I had to scoot it out. I finally told him the other day that it was broken, and he Googled a way to fix it (involving some foam he harvested from the inside of a laptop bag and has been using for fishing hook storage, so if my computer smells like trout, I'll know why). So far, so good!

I got to spend the last two Sundays at in-person church! It always makes my heart happy to be there.

I wore a blue knit dress one of the Sundays, and when I got back to my daughter's apartment, my husband immediately pointed to a place near the neckline and said, "What did you spill on your dress?" Obviously, I didn't know I had spilled ANYTHING on the dress, or I wouldn't have worn it. After closer observation (and I couldn't see it until I took the dress off), it appeared to be where a bit of chocolate ice cream dripped onto it one day after school when I was self-medicating. I know Rev. Shanna noticed it when we were talking before church, but she was kind enough not to stare at it while we spoke (I would have noticed THAT, or at least, I THINK I would have).

A few weeks ago, I woke up to what sounded like a critter running back and forth across our attic floor. A thunderstorm had just passed through, and at first, I thought it was tree limbs scraping the roof, but the more I listened, the more I heard scampering, and I woke my husband up by saying, "There's something alive in our attic." We have not heard it since, and I am hoping this means (a) the critter didn't like our attic or (b) it never was a critter in the first place.

We're a little jumpy, including the cats, but nothing will make you jump more than to get up in the night and see what looks like a skunk in your bedroom, only to have it turn out to be Finn.

All three cats trying to lie where they
can touch me. Finn was the lucky
winner of the lap. 

My husband just brought me my glass of ice tea that I left in the kitchen and as he handed it to me, he said, "Add this toy our list of thankfuls." Here it is.

Oreos. Specifically, double-stuffed Oreos.

Really good hamburgers.

Fun co-workers.

My little nugs at preschool. Sometimes, they are pickles, but most of the time, they are my sweet babies, and regardless, I love them to pieces.

Looking at a caterpillar

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Birthday Parties Are More Fun Than Moving Parties

I totally missed the Ten Things of Thankful hop last weekend, but the reason why will just lead me right into THIS week's post!

1. My daughter moved from her sketchy apartment building located smack across the street from the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City to an apartment in a house in a quiet, residential area on the west side of the Plaza (aptly known as the West Plaza area). Whew! The OG apartment didn't seem that bad when we moved her in, but it degenerated rapidly, and I'm relieved that she is outta there.

2. After last year's move in, which nearly killed her father and me, we vowed we had retired from being her moving company and she would need to find friends or hire movers next time (you know where this is going, right?). She did hire movers for the large pieces of furniture, but she and I did the rest (my husband managed to skip out on helping by COINCIDENTALLY scheduling a business trip for moving day).  The OG apartment had a flight of (uneven) concrete stairs from the street level just to the front door, then another flight to the second floor, and a hallway that was LITERALLY half a block long before reaching her apartment at the back of the building. 

Turns out THAT was nothing.

The new apartment has 35 steps from the outside door to her third floor, attic apartment door, and they spiral. We huffed and chuffed (okay, I huffed and chuffed) our way up and down them dozens of times over the course of several days, but we got most of her stuff moved. 

I wasn't kidding

If this is your best choice for a
moving crew, you probably 
shouldn't be moving....

3. The movers she hired were amazing. They worked quickly, were friendly and professional, and liked us right up until they arrived at the new apartment with her furniture. . . .

Following the moving truck

4. After having to call in two more guys to help them take apart the futon (one of the movers said he could take it apart but wasn't sure he could get it back together again; hence, the call for assistance that we appreciated), they got the furniture up the stairs and set up in her new place.

Their slogan is spot on

5. My daughter was able to enlist a friend to carry a couple of chairs and a tv table over (using a moving company is an expensive luxury, and she only had them take the furniture items that we absolutely could not do ourselves, and, as it turns out, that they NEARLY couldn't do, either).

6. This weekend, we are bringing the last odds and ends from the old place here and then cleaning up every trace of cat hair from the cat she DID NOT HAVE (cough cough), and we will be done!

7. During all this moving, my daughter was also interviewing for summer internships for next year (yes, you read that correctly - for internships that are AN ENTIRE YEAR AWAY). She had 11 interviews the week before, and she has had several call backs this week (with more scheduled next week, as well as her law school fall semester starting). I'm thankful we (husband in tow this trip) are able to help her out as much as our feeble bodies will allow (excluding furniture, especially that damn futon).

8. I'm thankful for those huge plastic bags from IKEA. They are fantastic for moving! You can shove a lot in one, and they are pretty easy to carry, although 35 spiraling steps pushed the maneuverability of the load. Trader Joe's brown paper grocery bags also get a shout out for being sturdy and easy to carry.

9. Oh, best part of the move is my daughter has an actual parking space in an actual parking area behind her building! No more parking sometimes blocks away and making the trek, day or night, through sometimes questionable circumstances, to get to her apartment. Yay!

10. In other news, we had a little family dinner at my brother's home last weekend to celebrate my Aunt Mary Anne's 90th birthday! I brought my dad up (her "little" brother), and we had a lovely visit with her, her husband (my Uncle Gale), my cousin Cynthia (who moved to Florida a few years ago and who I wish lived closer but I SWEAR I'm going to go visit soon), my brother and sister-in-law, and my daughter. It was such fun, and we heard stories of my dad and aunt growing up that I had never heard before (it's funny how they grew up together but tell such different stories about that!).

Aunt Mary Anne, Cynthia, Emma Kate, me

My dad, Aunt Mary Anne, Uncle Gale

My brother and sister-in-law

I thought my cousin Cynthia was SO COOL
when I was younger (she is much, much older
than me), and I STILL do!

11. Also thanking my Aunt Mary Anne and my dad for passing on the good skin genes that they got from my Grandma Delpha. Underhill genes run strong! My mom always told me growing up that I had my Aunt Mary Anne's skin, and I didn't know what that meant. NOW I do! 

12. Our fall semester started last week at school, and I just finished week two with half my class being "babies" who moved up from the toddler class. They are rocking it, though, and learning how to be "big kids" in preschool! It's going to be a fun year!

I suppose I really owe 20 thankfuls, since I missed last week, but no one wants that, so 12 it is! How was your week? Can you find ten thankfuls from it? It's easier than you think. Give it a try and link up a post with us!

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Thankful And Counting

 I have many anniversaries in my life. There's the anniversary of the time my parents tried to kill me in a canoe accident (a/k/a my 10th birthday). The anniversary of the Joplin tornado. The anniversary of my breast cancer diagnosis.

But today, it is my wedding anniversary, the 29th one, to be exact. We have weathered a lot of storms along the way, including literal ones. We've dealt with moving across the country, job loss, financial setbacks, illnesses, aging parents. arguments over stupid stuff, and silences over important stuff. And we have also rejoiced in having two amazing children, taking little trips when we can, working in the kitchen together, shopping for bargains, and much, much love and laughter.

So ten things of thankful? Nah, more like 29 years of thankfuls.

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