Batter Up!

Rounding the bases, trying to make it home before the ball reaches the plate. Will. I. Make. It?

Here are my Ten Things of Thankful for this week:

Open windows and a light breeze.

NCAA basketball tournament.

Peeps.

That Peep season is now over before I turn into one.

Air fryers (never thought I'd say that).

Automatic ice makers.

Stand-up comedy.

The smell of fresh cut grass.

Pizza bagel day at school.

Flip flops.

Sliding into home plate -- aaaaaaand SAFE!

You've still got four hours to join the Ten Things of Thankful hop! Suit up and get on deck. You're up to bat.

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Saying Farewell To March

In like a lion, out like a lamb? Hah! More like lion day, lion day, lamb day, lamb morning, lion afternoon, REALLY ANGRY lion hanging around for a few days while lamb cries and hides, lamb running very quickly in and out, lamb and lion getting into a GINORMOUS fight, lamb day but lion blowing big puffs of icy cold air, lamb day, lamb day, JUST KIDDING lion day.

As March winds down (and you can read "winds" with a long OR short i and it would still be appropriate) and April begins, I think, THINK that we're done with the worst of the liony stuff. I am hopeful. Now on to the Ten Things of Thankful.

1. The daffodils and paperwhites are blooming.

2. Tulips have popped up and the buds are just about to burst open.

3. The birds are clearly happy that spring is here, and they are telling the world about it through their chirps and songs.

4. Our tail-less squirrel has survived the winter! We don't know what happened to the tail, and I have worried about him all winter, since he doesn't have that built-in blanky to keep him warm when he sleeps. I wish I had video or a picture of him, but alas, I don't. Imagine, though, a bunny with short, round ears hopping along a tree branch, and that would be what Mr. No Tail looks like when he's in a tree.

5. My daughter came home for an abbreviated spring break (the University of Arkansas thought if they only gave them two days off, they wouldn't go to the beach in big, rowdy groups and spread Covid amongst them, but they thought wrong, at least about going to the beach in big groups. Time will tell if they were super spreader events or not.). Instead of a fun trip to the beach with friends (and two of her roommates did just that), she went to the lake house with us. I'll take every moment like this I can get; she's going to be graduating and moving away to law school, and I won't get to see her nearly as often.

6. Hot dogs and roasted marshmallows for supper while sitting around the fire pit. Daughter's idea, and an excellent one it was!

7. We went to Silver Dollar City this morning for an hour or two. We have been season pass holders for years, but we let ours from last year roll over to this year, as we weren't willing to risk exposure to Covid last year. It was a lion day pretending to be a lamb day, in that it was beautiful and sunny and 60 degrees, but there was a strong wind out of the north that cut right through you. We walked through the entire park to see what had changed since we were last there in 2019, then enjoyed listening to the Homestead Pickers, my very favorite thing to do there. 

8. The doctors are getting married two weeks from today!

9. We have no location for a rehearsal dinner yet. I am doing my level best not to panic about this. I think I'm faking it really well....

10. Today marks the 9th anniversary of my bilateral mastectomy and free-tram reconstruction. Self-examinations are key to early detection of breast cancer! Remind someone you love!

The Ten Things of Thankful link is open until Monday night! Please join us!

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Thankful For Matching!

This weekend's Ten Things of Thankful is brought to you by a fabulous weekend filled with wondrous events.

Friday, March 19, was Match Day 2021. This is the day that fourth year medical students find out where they are going to do their residencies. Of course, due to Covid, the past year's rotations and classes were interrupted, and the interview process for residencies was completely on-line. The only good news about this is the playing field was level, because it was the same for every 4th year student, no matter where they were attending medical school, not that that makes it any easier for anyone.

My son's school, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, held a Covid-friendly (that seems like a contradiction in terms) celebration on Friday at a park near downtown. They did a lovely job of making it be as normal as possible: there were round tables set up and decorated with swag (more on that later), balloons (including an arch that was, quite honestly, a little underwhelming but nice in theory) and a few speakers. The tables were spaced out, seating was reserved, and masks were mandatory, even though it was outside, but it was terribly exciting to be there and see the students open their envelopes just before 11 a.m. to find out where they were going.

My son and almost daughter in law (as in 3 weeks away from the wedding) were matching together, or hopefully so, since there was a remote possibility that wouldn't happen. BIG THANKFUL that they did, indeed, match in the same city - yay!

The swag on the tables made it real that after all these many years of work, our son is a doctor! He's only been working towards this end since 6th grade.

The weather was beautiful. It could have been raining. It could have been snowing. There could have been a tornado. But instead, although it was a little cool, it was gloriously sunny, with very little wind (a big deal, because, you know, "Ooooooooklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain" is a very real thing).

We were stand-ins for Lillian's parents, who were unable to be there, but they joined her via Facetime to see the Big Reveal.

This is a pretty big deal, but I didn't fall down OR tip over in my chair during the celebration. Both were distinct possibilities, as my chair was not on level ground AND one time that I got up, I caught my foot in the excessively long tablecloth and tripped and stumbled but remained upright. Had I fallen, I should have been well cared for, since I was surrounded by approximately 120 4th year students plus several faculty members.

Envelopes were passed out to each student just before 11:00, at which time they all counted down from ten, and the envelopes were torn open. The verdict? Kyle and Lillian are going to Little Rock! 

We were so honored to get to experience Match Day with our doctors! What a treat!

Besides the official Match Day festivities, we also finally got to have Christmas with our doctors, as we hadn't been able to be with them since Thanksgiving. 

I managed not to eat all the candy for their stockings, and I think that shows a great deal of restraint on my part, since it was in my basement for three months. 

We stayed in a cute Airbnb in an old historic building. I love Airbnbs!

We ate entirely too much while in Oklahoma City, but it was goooood.

Now the countdown is on for the wedding, which is in three weeks and graduation six weeks later. Whew!

That's one pretty darn thankful weekend!

One final thankful goes out to my co-host Pat Brockett. She has some pretty terrific intuition, and I am grateful for it.

Now how about you? Ready to join the Ten Things of Thankful? Sure you are! Write yours down and link them up! 

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I'm A Cheese Sandwich, What Are You?

I am a member of a computer sandwich generation. Is that a thing? I am the cheese (I like cheese sandwiches). I can use computers and certain programs, but I can't tell you how or why any of it works. I can't fix anything if it goes terribly wrong. I'm afraid of accidentally losing Important Things (and it has happened).

My dad is one slice of bread. He regularly screws the crap out of his laptop. He thinks everything he reads on Facebook is news (99% of the time, it's click bait). He also thinks gmail and Google are interchangeable. He also believes every email he receives that says he is getting a package delivered. Thankfully, he is getting better at asking me and not answering everything he gets.... Oh, and this is just the tip of the iceberg with him.

My kids are the other slice of bread. They are not afraid to click and push buttons. My daughter learned how to create Power Points in kindergarten gifted class. I wouldn't be able to do it with a gun held to my head.

Currently, Google is giving me grief. My account is 96% full, and I keep getting warning messages about how I'm no longer going to be able to upload files or photos or send or receive emails. I'm deleting photos, but it's like Sophie's Choice trying to decide what to part with. I was too exasperated to write a TToT last weekend and was nearly so this weekend, but that's not the attitude I need, now is it, so here's my list:

1. Spring is coming in like a lamb for a couple of days at a time before being chased off by a lion for a few before he runs off and the lamb tiptoes back in. Would I prefer every day to be a lamb day? Absolutely! Is that going to happen? Not for several weeks. Be patient, Grasshopper!

2. I lost and found a checkbook this week. This would be the second time this has happened in the past year or so. I'd like to say it will be the LAST time it will happen, but history says it's pretty unlikely.

3. I finally found a pair of shoes to wear to my son's wedding! I got them from Poshmark, they are snakey, and I think they will negate me wearing Chuck Taylors as previously threatened.

4. I have also booked an Airbnb for the wedding. One month to go!

5. My friend Jennifer hooked me up with some awesome fabric! I haven't had time to make any new masks with it yet, but I'm excited for the unveiling when I do so!

6. The fleece sheets were removed from the bed during some lamb days this last week, but they are back on now that the lion has strolled back in. They are so comfy!

7. This past weekend was Mom's Weekend at my daughter's sorority. It wasn't much of an event (thanks, Covid), but it was a terrific opportunity to spend time with my daughter in Fayetteville. She will be graduating in May and moving to...?

8. My daughter got her second Covid shot on Friday afternoon. Arm was a little sore, but that was it, or so we thought. In the middle of the night, she woke up aching all over and said all her organs felt as though they were on fire. She didn't have a fever, though. By morning, she was a little woozy but otherwise better. Saturday evening, she woke up from a nap (okay, WE woke up from a nap) and had a pretty good fever but no organ fires. She also had hives on her elbow (she always gets hives when she gets stressed). The fever was gone in a couple of hours, and she has had no more reactions since. Covid vaccine reactions are weird.

9. Daylight savings time! A lot of people bitch and moan about the time changes, but I love them! I love it in the fall, when it gets dark earlier and the house is all warm and cozy. And I love it in the spring when we get more daylight in the evenings,

10. My preschoolers are going to be grumps tomorrow because of the time change, but the upside is they should go down for their naps a little easier and stay asleep a little longer!

There! I did it! You can do it, too. The Ten Things of Thankful link is open until Monday night at 11:30 pm CDT.

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Thankfuls From Ten To One

I think I'm more thankful and hopeful this week than I have been in, oh, close to a year. Let me tell you in this week's Ten Things of Thankful:

10. The weather vastly improved over last week. We were able to play outside every day. We even took a walk and rolled down a hill in the (dead) grass. It was delightful!

9. According to my blog buddy Clark at The Wakefield Doctrine, it has been suggested that I bear a resemblance to either Ginger from Gilligan's Island, Ginger from Casino, or Ginger Spice. There is a poll being taken at The Wakefield Doctrine. I am intrigued.

8. I cut about an inch FROM THE BACK OF MY HAIR and didn't totally screw it up. Thank God curly hair is very forgiving!

7. My husband and I watched the movie "Nomadland," and I can't recommend it enough. 

6. I bought two pairs of Allbirds shoes this week from Poshmark, and I still paid less than I would have for only one brand new pair. 

5. A sticker I ordered from Etsy finally arrived this week and is now affixed to my Ozark Trail insulated cup (Yeti knock-off from Walmart) that is with me 95% of the time. The other 5% of the time, I am looking for my cup. While the sticker won't help me locate it, it WILL keep me from thinking I have found my cup when, instead, I have found my co-worker's cup that is just like mine.

4. Before I stickered the cup, I gave it thorough cleaning. Ick. I even took the rubber gasket off the lid and cleaned that. Quite thankful all I found was Diet Dr Pepper residue and no black mold or cholera.

3. We got a new Dyson stick vacuum at school, and it's a little embarrassing to admit how much I love it (thank you, Modoc Nation, for providing it to us!). I have one rug in my classroom, and it collects alllllll the dirt. 

2. Taco salad. I really like taco salad.

1. I got my first Covid vaccine this week. I cannot begin to convey to you what a relief this has been. People are stupid, and I did not want to be a victim of their stupidity as far as Covid is concerned. And I will be fully vaccinated before my son's wedding in April, so that's an additional relief to me. Arm slightly sore at the site of the injection, but my husband said that was just because of the microchip they inserted....

Please join us, if not this week, then next, at the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop! We are live until Monday night!

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Score Another One For That Stupid Groundhog

Quite a week, huh? Y'all don't need me to elaborate on the details. Most of you were there, at one level or another.

Relax, it's fake

Today, I am taking down all the snowman decor in my house. Well, almost all of it. Leaving one item out; you know, like you keep one maternity outfit, so you don't tempt the muses to make you get pregnant.

Ten things of thankful:

1. School was canceled Monday through Thursday. Snow days are always tremendously welcome!

2. We did not lose power.

3. Our downstairs furnace continues to chug along. It's not completely well, but it's still doing its job. We will get it serviced when the cold weather subsides and the repair people aren't dealing with true heat emergencies OR when it conks out. Let's hope for the former.

4. My in-laws recommended a plumber to us when we found the pipes under the downstairs bathroom froze, in spite of leaving water running. It was limited to the toilet fill line and an outside spigot, both of which the plumber was able to thaw (toilet fill line) and thaw and repair break (spigot).

5. We now have a plumber. You're really a grown up when you have a plumber.

6. Our sewer line was also frozen. It is open(ish) now. You don't want to know the ugly details of why it is open, but suffice it to say our plumber will be coming back to work under the house when he is done with the emergencies of this week....

7. On Thursday, my husband and I knocked the snow off the car (for the second time this week - we got about 10" total) and shoveled the end of the driveway out to the street, then I also chipped a little bit of snow away down to the pavement, as THE SUN WAS SHINING and I needed a clear place if I had any hope of pulling out the next morning and making it up our hill. Half an hour later, our neighbor came out with his little tractor and scoop and SCOOPED THE ENTIRE HILL TO THE PAVEMENT! It was especially kind, since our driveway is the only one that comes out halfway up the hill; the other drives are either at the top of the hill where it is flat or at the bottom of the hill where it is flat, He was rewarded with a big bag of caramel popcorn.

8. The car battery was dead, but my MIL gave us a battery charger a couple of years ago that is able to start a car, and start it, it did! Figuring a battery replacement was inevitable, my husband and I decided to make our way to the nearest place we could get a new battery while getting a sense of how bad the streets in the neighborhood were (answer: nearly impassable). We drove a few blocks, very slowly, sliding and nearly getting stuck, and came right back home.

9. Since the test run was a failure, which in turn prevented us from getting a new battery, and since the university made us go back to work on Friday when all the other area schools remained closed, my boss offered to pick me up Friday morning. She had to use her 4 wheel drive to get through my neighborhood, but once we got to the main roads, they were clear.

10. Saturday, the temperature reached 45 degrees. The sun was bright and shiny, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We jumped the car, headed to Sam's Club for a new battery that starts the car like a champ, and are now hoping that one snowman tchotchke on a shelf will ward off any future winter weather. 

A fine ending to a week that was not always so fine. You can link YOUR thankfuls below, and I'm sure hoping you will.

Oh, hey, a little PSA: The American Red Cross is in desperate need for blood donations, as the extreme winter weather has impacted blood collections, which in turn has impacted the amount of blood available for patients who need it. Please consider donating! I am a Power Red donor and will be making my donation tomorrow afternoon. You can download the American Red Cross blood donor app to easily find a donation center or event near you! Thanks!

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T-t-t-t-ten Th-th-th-things of Th-th-th-th-thankful

It's wearing long underwear, fuzzy socks, two shirts, sweatpants, and a scarf in the house cold here. How 'bout where you are?

Currently, it is 1 degree F outside. Wind chill is -18. It's snowing. We have a Winter Storm Warning until Monday evening and a Wind Chill Warning (which I didn't even know EXISTED) until Tuesday morning. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. Oh, and the local utility company has issued a peak advisory due to the extreme cold and high demand. We don't have working fireplaces, so if the power should go out, I guess we'll just set fire to the house....

Lest I sound too whiny and ungrateful, believe me when I say I am extremely thankful for a roof over my head, even if it leaks a little and cold air seeps (and rushes, in places) into the house around the windows and doors and, interestingly enough, when you open a cabinet door in the kitchen. We have plenty of food, plenty of Diet Dr Pepper and Propel packets and cat food. These things that we may take for granted on any given day are all the more important to recognize as blessings when others are not so lucky, and they are the first item on this week's Ten Things of Thankful list.

Last week, it was cold. Not THIS cold, but definitely below freezing. We had freezing fog and a little freezing drizzle, and that, along with the cold, closed schools for four days. Do you have any idea how exciting that is for teachers? What a thankful!

We went back to school on Friday. It was Valentine Party day, so it was a chaotic day, but I do miss my little nugs when I haven't seen them for more than a weekend, and I'm glad we had a fun day together.

I'm also thankful for the many sweet valentine gifts and cards I received from my little humans. I love my job!

Yesterday, Saturday, we had a veritable heat wave. It got up to (wait for it) 15 degrees, and THE SUN WAS SHINING. It's been over a week since we've seen a peep of sunshine, and it made the day feel so much warmer than the temperature would lead you to believe. My husband and I got out and visited a couple of thrift stores (kind of our Saturday thing) and picked up a few groceries in preparation for this week's snow forecast. Let it snow, man, because we now have 10 pounds of potatoes! Soup, anyone?

I often list my heated mattress pad on my TToT list, and it deserves the recognition, because it is sooooo nice to slide my cold feet into a warm bed, and I remain grateful for it, but now I can add that I am thankful for fleece (yes, FLEECE) sheets AND that my husband was willing to put them on the bed. See, I always wanted flannel sheets, but he put the kibosh on it, saying it would make him too hot (he who tries to slide his cold feet onto my heated side of the bed before I kick him back to his own side). Turning over doesn't go as smoothly with fleece sheets, but being between them is like being cuddled in a fluffy cloud. I've been looking forward to bedtime ever since I got up today!

Here's a non- weather related thankful: my daughter was selected as one of 71 Seniors of Significance at University of Arkansas. These seniors were selected from more than 600 nominations based on academic achievement, leadership skills, and extracurricular activities (the number 71 is commemorates the university's founding date of 1871). We're sure proud of her!

No school tomorrow, which I'm super grateful for, because I'm honestly not sure my car will start right now. It was sluggish to turn over yesterday, and it was a big 15 degrees. And if I COULD get it to start, then it's unlikely to make it up the hill I live on, and even more unlikely to stop on the downhill side of said hill, let alone make it over the low water bridge unscathed. 

I don't know how many thankfuls that makes, but I think it's pretty close to ten, so I'm calling it good. Our link is live until Monday at midnight CST, so join us if you haven't already done so. It will make you warmer!

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