Squeeeeeeking In Under The Wire

I knew this was going to be a busy weekend. Knew it, knew it, knew it, and STILL, I didn't go ahead and write my Ten Things of Thankful list early. Now it is late in the afternoon Sunday. So late, in fact, that it's really not "afternoon" anymore; more like evening. I don't feel very well; haven't, really, in a week and a half. I just woke up from a nap and feel foggy, but by golly, I'm going to get this post written before the deadline.

Gratuitous picture of Ruby, because I saw that Yvonne
posted one of HER calico and I sensed a trend....

1. I haven't thrown up since December 23, 1971. I have wondered a few times over the past week and a half if that record was going to be shattered, but so far, it's held on.

2. With spring comes the risk of severe storms in this part of the world known as Tornado Alley, and we had our first round this week. No tornado warnings this time, and the worst of the weather mostly passed to the south of us. 

3. The American Red Cross tornado app. It is a must-have if you live in an area that is prone to severe weather. The Red Cross also has a wildfire app, a hurricane app and a first aid app, among others. Something for everyone! 

4. Diet Coke, especially first thing in the morning. Cold. In a glass. With ice.

5. I got an awesome deal through Priceline for a hotel room in Arkansas this weekend when we had to travel for a volleyball tournament ($60 instead of $120).

Look at that little girl jump!

6. My own bed.

7. Wallflowers from Bath and Body Works. I got a supply of spring and summer scents last week when they were on sale, and my house smells sunny and fresh. It's a very old house, so that's not always an easy thing to accomplish.

8. Daffodils. 

Zoysia grass, the last to turn green in the spring, first to turn
brown in the fall. REAL grass would have made a better backdrop.

9. My bilateral mastectomy with tram flap reconstruction was three years ago yesterday. So far, so good.

15 hours after my surgery, I finally got to have something besides an ice chip.

10. And this just in: I just found two new cousins by using familysearch.org. I discovered I am 10th cousins, twice removed, with Kristi of Thankful Me and 13th cousins with Christine of In The Coop. I hope I'm in their Wills now!

It's still not too late to link up your thankfuls. It may SEEM like it, but it isn't.

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Back To School For The College Boy and More Thankfuls

I'm watching puppies frolic as I write my Ten Things of Thankful this week. I'm learning a lot about puppies, I can tell you! For one thing, I didn't know they would hide and ambush one another like kitties do. While they are so entertained, I am going to dash off my list before one of them slips away and does something unmentionable (i.e., poops or pees - oops! mentioned it!) on the floor.

1. The puppies are healthy! Or mostly so. It's been a rough week, with Olivia being quite ill with a combination of coccidiosis and kennel cough, but she is on the mend and full of piss and vinegar (unfortunately, quite literally so). Audrey is still coughing, but she doesn't seem to feel bad. 

Audrey with the "bone of contention"

Olivia

2. These puppers are very good about taking their medicine! The first two antibiotics they had were so tasty, Olivia came back for seconds and very nearly got them, until I realized I had just dosed her. Silly puppy! Even the new stuff, which I was told (and took their word for it) didn't taste good, has been taken by the puppies without complaint.

3. My husband went to the doctor this week for a check up for the first time since I've known him (men!). He got scared into going by a freakishly high blood pressure reading at the dentist's office (new procedure they now do) and made the appointment. Now, my husband is not a poster child for healthy living. He has gained a little a lot a few extra pounds since we met. Quite a few, as a matter of fact, and was expecting the worst when he got his bloodwork back. The doctor's office called him this morning to tell him his bloodwork came back completely normal. Cholesterol. Blood sugar. Everything. I told him he was one lucky son of a gun, but by all appearances, I should have him around for a long time yet to come. Unless I hold a pillow over his face and smother him in his sleep for snoring, that is, but that's another story. He's now taking blood pressure medication and was assured that if he lost weight, exercised, and brought down his blood pressure, he would be taken off of the medicine.

4. My husband has been pretty good about helping with the puppies, even though he thinks it was a stupid idea to begin with. A recent conversation between us led him to say the following:

"You're good at puzzles, which would imply that you are logical. But there are two puppies in the family room that would prove otherwise." I'm thankful he puts up with my sometimes ill-thought-out ideas.

My husband's explanation for this:
"the puppies can't read"

5. I took my College Boy back to school this week. He was extremely organized about it, especially for him. He had lists that he checked off, and we got there without only one thing that was slightly important: wastebaskets and cleaning supplies, which had been stored in the basement for the summer. He can easily live without either for quite some time, since the cleaning supplies were relatively untouched after a year of school as it is. I did NOT cry when I left him. Last year, I most assuredly DID, but THIS year, he is a more confident, mature man/boy and much more prepared to take on a year of college than he was last year. Go get 'em, buddy!

On our waaaaay!

See those books in his right hand?
They cost eight HUNDRED dollars...

College Boy - Sophomore Year

6. The College Boy took ME out to lunch after we had moved everything into his dorm!

7. Diet Coke is on sale this week. $3.00 for a 12 pack.

8. You know the new Coke campaign that has "Share a Diet Coke with" on the cans? Then it will say mom or dad or bff or buddy or something like that. You can even buy individual ones with a name on them (mine is never there, by the way). Every time my son would pull one out of the refrigerator that said "Share a Coke with Mom," he would get a different one and leave those ones for me. I came home from dropping him off at college to find a can of "Share a Diet Coke with Mom" right inside the fridge, waiting for me.

9. My daughter got her schedule for sophomore year, and it seems nothing will have to be changed. Whaaa??? First time for everything!

10. Tonight is football jamboree. Know what that means? Fall is just around the corner! Yay, fall!

Silly tree. It's still August!

Join the best link up in the blogosphere right here! Link up YOUR Ten Things of Thankful below!

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SWIFT-ly Posting This Week's Ten Things Of Thankful

I may win the prize for being the last one to enter my post for Ten Things of Thankful this week! What a whirlwind weekend, and plenty of things for which to be thankful:

1. I'm thankful I was able to get our family tickets to see the Taylor Swift Red Tour in Kansas City. Pre-sale tickets went on sale on November 13 for the August 3 show. Yes, you heard me right. November 13. Aaaaaand, to be able to buy the tickets on the pre-sale date, I had to become a member of Taylor Nation (shut up). But I did it, and nine months later (I could have grown a baby in that amount a time [okay, technically I could NOT have, but in theory, I could have]), we finally got to enjoy the show.

In the car, on our way to KC.

2. I'm thankful my daughter's dance injury, which had her on crutches all week, was healed enough that she was able to walk to the Sprint Center for the concert. Because I, in a fit of wisdom, decided we should stay downtown, within walking distance of the venue, rather than stay out in the suburbs and drive in and have to deal with parking. I found a great rate, but the catch was that the room had to be pre-paid with no cancellations allowed. Then my daughter fell coming out of a leap in dance class, landing on the outside of her foot, causing it to swell and bruise, and I thought we might have to take turns carrying her piggy-back to the arena. A week of stumping around on crutches and icing her foot did the trick, and all was good.

3. I am thankful for a beautiful city view.

The view from the Marriott.

4. I am thankful the e-tickets we printed worked just fine, because I've gotta say, I was a little apprehensive that they would. 

5. I had no idea that attendees often dress up in costumes at Taylor Swift concerts until we were on the way to the Sprint Center. Lots of red clothes and red lipstick. Signs, some of which lit up with Christmas lights and battery packs. Flowered headbands. Cowboy boots and skirts. Hand decorated t-shirts with such things as Taylor's name, song lyrics, 13, and any number of other things written on them. I am so, so, SO thankful that my daughter wouldn't have done something like that on a bet.

6. I am thankful that Ed Sheeran was the opening act. He was A.MAZ.ING. 

7. I am thankful that the officials at the Sprint Center realized with a female to male ratio of about 1000:1, the number of bathrooms was not going to be sufficient, and they converted most of the men's restrooms to women's restrooms. 

A little disconcerting to walk into the women's
restroom and be faced with these....

8. I am thankful that, even though the Red Tour is sponsored by Diet Coke, you could not buy one in the entire venue. It was a Pepsi only place, and nothing makes me happier. (You know this is actually a BIG FAT LIE and I was thirsty all evening for lack of Diet Coke.)

9. I am thankful that no one sitting near us insisted on loudly singing along with Taylor. 

10. I am thankful for the opportunity to see such a magnificent show. Concerts have come a long, long way since I first started attending them in high school. Taylor Swift, you put on one heckuva show!

Nothing short of spectacular.