Saturday, December 6, 2014

Week In Review - Ten Things Of Thankful (77)


Ten Things of Thankful


I feel as if things are slowly going back to normal again. I managed to get out of bed this week, I managed to keep track of the various appointments, I managed to do some holiday shopping and ran some necessary errands, and all despite the various illnesses having their firm grasp on our family. I've been at the pediatrician on 3 out of 5 days this week, once for Calvin's shots that he couldn't get at his 3-4 month appointment due to - right - being sick, once with Lily for a stomach bug, and finally with Violet for her lasting cough, which may be related to an allergy. Yes, this poor girl seems to not be getting a break. Still, this week has been a great one, for many things. My top ten this week:

1. Violet's occupational therapist. She is such a wonderful person, with a heart of gold. the way she works with the children, how she knows how to deal with every individual personality, calm the over-stimulated kids and encourages the shy ones. She always takes a lot of time to talk to the parents after the sessions and gave me a bunch of material to better understand Violet's world and show me ways to work with her.

2. Candles.  Instead of a traditional advent wreath with four candles that mark the four Sundays before Christmas, I made an arrangement with five candles, symbolizing the five of us. As Atheists, we're not celebrating Christmas but rather, as the winter solstice and with it the longest night of the years draws closer, focus on all of good things our family got to experience, the people in our lives, and our thankfulness of getting to celebrate this time of the year without worries, in safety, and with everyone of us more or less healthy.

3. The smell of sugar cookies charring baking in the oven.

4. Our wonderful neighbors. Our dryer somewhat died on us today (definite burning smell when I came home; I unscrewed the back and cleaned quite some stuff out of there, but we're still not trusting it), and our new dryer won't be delivered for another couple of weeks, so they offered to use theirs until we have our new one. With a family of 5 with a new house that doesn't do well with the added humidity of clothes drying on a rack, being dryer-less could develop into quite a problem.

5. The first flurries of snow!!!! Yes, we've had some snow!! Lily was so excited seeing the little bit of white on the roofs, and Violet couldn't help herself and ate some snow she scratched off a stone wall (yes, I know, it's gross, but it's her way of experiencing). This morning walk definitely made me happy.

6. Hubby being absolutely sweet and buying me a poppy-seed danish for breakfast. Yum!

7. Paper tissues, butt paste, and nose spray. Yes, the sickness caught up to me, too, but I get to live in a world where all the things mentioned above are readily available to get rid off the gross stuff, keep my nose from getting red and raw, and helping me to be able to breath enough to sleep at night.

8. Sharing cinnamon hot chocolate with the girls in the afternoon.

9. Getting to dress up (somewhat) and attend our friends' holiday party with all the kids. It was a lot of fun for all of us, meeting new people and people we didn't know our friends knew as well  :-)  We did lose the bottle of hard cider towards the end of the white elephant game (yes, I know, who would be heartless enough to steal the booze from a mother of three??), but enjoyed ourselves so much, ate good food, drank some great mulled wine and fruit punch. Perfect evening!

10. My cousin getting to celebrate another birthday. Yes, his birthday is St. Nicholas Day, which always meant a certain visit during his birthday when we were children. Oh dear memories!


I wish you all a wonderful weekend and some time for yourself to reflect on the many thankfuls in your lives!

22 comments:

  1. My thankfuls revolve around food and birthdays too. Happy "TToT-ing."

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    1. Food and birthdays are indeed something to be thankful for. Thank you so much for stopping by, Carin!

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  2. liking #2 for similar but different reasons. I look to December 21st as the end of Winter. (yeah, I know! I get some people who seem to disagree with that), the simple fact that on the 22nd the days begin to get longer. Gots to be worth, what 7 10 degrees of outdoor temperature?
    lol

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    1. I agree with you, Clark; it is weird that the start of winter chimes in the beginning of the days growing longer again, and the beginning of summer is the start of the dark season. But I don't care, as long as we get some more light again. Hubbie mentioned today that he hasn't seen the sun in a week or so, and today dusk started around 3:30pm. Quite crazy! Wish for some snow so at least we the little light there is would be reflected :-)

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  3. I like Clark's comment. That's a really good way to look and winter. The days start to get longer. Anyway, your list is fantastic. I love the idea of the "advent" wreath with candles for each of you. A special family tradition. Stay healthy.

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    1. Thank you so much, Val! Clark definitely has a point! I'm looking forward to some more light soon! As a secular humanist family, we are always looking for new ways to make our very own traditions ofr our very own celebration :-) Stay healthy yourself!

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  4. You have to love Clark's spin on the end of winter. Sure makes me feel better when the nights are too long and cold!
    I love your five candles spin on the wreath.
    You are wise to not trust the dryer under those circumstances - dryer fires are a real danger. I am always nervous when ours does anything not completely normal.
    Hope you are all feeling better - stay well!

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    1. Thanks so much, Lisa! Luckily, our neighbors are letting us use their dryer until our new one is being delivered, even though we still use our dryer under closest supervision. It sucks, and the laundry is piling up, but being safe is our upmost priority.

      I also like Clark's reasoning, but either way, whether beginning or end of winter, I want more light again! Dusk at 3:30 pm is NOT acceptable!

      Have a great rest of the week, Lisa!

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  5. We are focusing more on winter solstice this year too.. With some santa thrown in because SANTA!

    Our dryer is slowly dying but not smelling burnt so add that to my thankfuls.

    Chuckled at the cookies charring in the oven. That would so be me too!

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    1. LOL.. Ours only started on Saturday, so please be careful and watch your dryer closely! We still keep the girls haning about Santa, not encouraging nor telling them Santa is not real; they are undecided as well, so we keep the fun as long as possible :-) Our friends told us today that their older son started his wish list with "Dear Santa / Daddy"; the younger one didn't even make one and simply said: Last year I wanted a Nintendo and didn't get it. So just get me what you think is alright! Awesome kids they have!!

      I was watching the cookies until a friend called, and two minutes later whey were pretty dark and crispy. Those sugar cookies burn so easy, but are really yummie!

      Have a great new week!

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  6. Oh how I love the smell of sugar cookies!!

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    1. They are so yummie! It's taken me forever to find the perfect recipe. Obviously, Jameson is the secret :-)

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  7. Glad you are starting to feel better. Soft tissues are a must during cold season!

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    1. I agree. I don't even want to imagine a time without soft tissues. I'd be suffering so bad!

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  8. Sounds like a great week. Cinnamon hot chocolate sounds yummy! I hope everyone will get better soon. I know that must stink with all of you who are sick at the same time. I'm also glad you are getting back to normal and that Violet is doing so well at her sessions. :)

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    1. Cinnamon hot chocolate is indeed delicious! Definitely helps with getting into the mood for the holidays. Poor Lily has taken a turn for the worse and I have been changing sheets on her bed the last two nights, but she gets a lot of rest now and is hopefully doing better in a couple of days. I am truly thankful right now for hubby, who gets up with Violet, gets her ready for school and takes her there while I get an extra hour of sleep after being up for hours at night taking care of our poor sick Lily. Thank you so much for your thoughts, Brittnei!

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  9. Needed to read this right now. Happy Holidays friend!

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    1. And happy holidays to you, Sarah! I hope you have the best week with your wonderful family!

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  10. I just made two types of cookies yesterday for holiday gifts for both my chiropractor and also for my OB-GYN, as I always do this annually for them. And you are so right about the smell of sugar cookies or any type of cookie baking in the oven at all. Wishing you a better week this week ahead now :)

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    1. I know, Janine! Can't wait to do some more baking when the girls are feeling better again! Which cookies did you bake?

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  11. I love the smell of sugar cookies!

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    1. I can't wait to smell the vanilla crescent cookies baking. My absolutely favorites!

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