Be Thankful

Oh!  It's Friday already??  I totally missed the memo.

So...anyway, here we go. Friday Fave Fives from Willow's Week which whizzed by so fast I didn't realize it was Friday!  Here is the link to join in and read other people's FRIDAY FAVE FIVES.

1.  I love our church's Wednesday Night Dinners which we do in the summer months.  Most Wednesday evenings we gather together and share a meal.  Sometimes, it's Taco Guy providing the meal.  Other times, it's hot dogs and hamburgers.  Last week, my sister-in-law and I wore matching t-shirts and that prompted this week's "Wear a Crazy T-Shirt Night".  This resulted in lots of crazy shirts.  The Professor won a Starbuck's gift card for his:

I love how our church family enjoys spending time together.

2.  My daughters met at day care one evening--picking up their kids at the same time.  They snapped this photo and sent it to me.  I love that they love each other!  (They may hate me for posting this publicly.  I just love it.)

3.  It's summer.  For the first time this year, we have had to run the AC.  I'm thankful that we have that luxury when we are uncomfortably warm.

4.  On Saturday, we attended the funeral for a former (science dept) professor of ours.  This wonderful man was also a beloved colleague of The Professor's father.  It was wonderful to hear how he impacted so many people and how much his family loved and honored him.  Predictably, there were other long time college friends there and we reconnected and chatted with them.  I so appreciate living near enough to our college alma mater that we can attend these various functions.

5.  We had arranged to see a long time friend of The Professor's (since they were one and three!) who was also a colleague of our honored prof.  (I mentioned him and his wife a couple of months ago because she and I share a love of murder mysteries.)  Because they are planning a move, she passed on to me a WHOLE BOX of Agatha Christie novels!  I may have already finished a couple of them. And yes, I'm fine rereading some of them; they're that good.  I love having friends who share my love of books.

My friends in North America and Europe, please stay cool! And hydrated.  Enjoy your weekend.  And look back on last week and be THANKFUL.

Repeat

I think this week's Friday Fave Fives is going to be a near repeat of last week. That's because my week has been almost the same as earlier this month.  Well, there was one big difference...

1.  We went camping!  Our church resurrected a neglected tradition last weekend and had a camp out.  The organizer of the event booked a group campsite in the mountains above Santa Barbara at Lake Cachuma.  It was so much fun!  We had people from age two all the way up to late seventies (he was in a motorhome).  The Professor and I popped up our tent and pulled out our camp chairs and watched the fun.  I played several board games which was fun.  We had planned on hiking around the lake, but it was SO HOT, so we just hung around camp.  It was so much fun! (Yes, I know that's a repeated sentence.)  I'm thankful for all the church people who contributed to a great weekend.

2.  One of the sweetest things? (besides hugs from some little ones who we've known since birth and have watched in the two year old class)  Our friends with the air conditioned motor home let us sit in the cool air on Saturday afternoon and even let me grab a quick shower!  I'm thankful for generous friends.

3.  OK, here is where my week is a repeat:  I had my second cataract surgery on Tuesday.  All went well again.  I'm thankful for a very skillful and kind surgeon.

4.  I love how the staff follows up with daily phone calls to make sure I'm healing well and not having any negative reactions or situations.

5.  The Professor wins more points for taking good care of me.  Evidently I was more affected by the anesthesia this time and slept most of the day.  Meals, coffee, tea and snacks were magically provided.  Helping hands were available when I needed anything.

Update on the use of agile toes for picking things up off the floor:  this morning,I dropped my earring as I was removing them from the jewelry box.  Toes to the rescue!  Yes, I picked up my earring with my toes, stood in a one leg yoga pose and grabbed that little earring.  At least I'm getting lots of practice.

Thankful!

Happy Friday!  Here is Willow's Week in five thankful things.  I'm sharing with Friday Fave Fives hosted by Susanne on her blog Living To Tell The Story.  Follow the link to join in and read what others have written.

1.  First things first.  I seldom mention anything medical here on Willow's Cottage blog.  But I decided to write about a recent surgery I had because it is truly a blessing.  Last week, I had a cataract surgery on one of my eyes, and this next week I will be having the same surgery on my other eye.  All has gone very well, according to my doctors.  I have remembered to put in ALL THE EYE DROPS so far, sometimes as many as eight during a day.  I am thankful that the surgery has been so successful, that I have recovered quickly, and that my eyesight is already improved.

2.  There are all kinds of restrictions on activities and movements after eye surgery.  I may not lift heavy things.  I may not lean over (for a month!).  I am thankful for a very kind and patient husband who comes over and picks up that thing I dropped and can't get.  I am getting lots of 'lower body exercises' by doing squats to NOT lean over but get down to pick stuff up.  I am also thankful that I have very dexterous feet.  Did you know that you can use your toes to grab things like towels, shirts and even knitting needles from the floor?  I'm thankful I'm agile enough to then move my leg up (think yoga poses) and catch what I've gotten with my toes.

3.  My sister-in-law loaned me her Kindle to read two books that our local library didn't have in paper form.  She was able to check them out digitally so I could read those two books in a series of murder mysteries.  I'm thankful for a great and thoughtful sister-in-law (The Professor's sister).

4.  Remember BYOD?  That's Bring Your Own Dinner.  We have long long time close friends who we love to get together with.  But we all got tired of 'what shall we eat/cook?', so we choose our own food from a restaurant, get it 'to go' (that's American for take away) and meet up at one of our houses.  No cooking, minimal clean up.  We did BYOD this week with our friends and the four of us chatted for HOURS.  I'm thankful that God brought this friend to me when I was eighteen and she was nineteen and that we have remained friends all these years (The Blueberry Strawberry Lady).  Best part was this photo which we sent to a third college friend MBP who was in our college singing trio together with us. (That's a whole story unto itself--our adventures singing all over the West Coast during our college years.)

5.  In April, a friend picked up some nasturtium seeds from the ground under a beautiful plant.  She gave me two of them and I planted them in a pot.  One sprouted and now I have this amazing and unusual flower.  I'm thankful for the beauty God provides every day in my garden!

How was your week?  What are you thankful for?

Home At Last

We're home!  It's time to get back in to our routine.  Routine means that on Friday I always post my thankful things from the week--Friday Fave Fives.  Today it's more of a travel documentary because I am always thankful for the wonderful places we are able to visit on our road trips.

 After having a wonderful visit, we said a long goodbye to our girls and grandkids at a yummy local coffee and cinnamon rolls shop.  Our goal was to take six days to drive the 2,400 miles back home. 

1.  First stop was in eastern Illinois.  We had hoped to walk the Chain of Rocks Bridge across the Mississippi River; however, because of the flooding, both approaches were closed.  I consoled myself with some photos of the bridge and with a promise to ourselves that we will be back to do it another time.   (Chain of Rocks Bridge was an early Route 66 passage across the Mississippi River and is now a walking/biking bridge.)

2.  St. Louis's Gateway Arch and the Museum of Western Expansion were beautiful!

3.  Then we drove on to another museum in Independence, Missouri--National Frontier Trails Museum.  If you ever have an opportunity, do visit it.  Although it's small, there is SO MUCH to see, read and understand about this beginning spot of the Oregon Trail, the California Trail, and the Santa Fe Trail.  In particular, I enjoyed it because I know that some of my ancestors stood there and climbed in their Conestoga wagons as they began their trip to California.

4.  Three other places held enough interest for us to make us stop on our way west.

Tall Grass Prairie National Preserve. 

We didn't really have time to walk anywhere along the trails through the preserve; we just ate lunch and enjoyed the views.

Dyck Arboretum of the Plains in Hesston, Kansas

Again, we gave ourselves an hour to walk around this gem of an arboretum and soak in the flora and fauna of the great plains.

 Route 66 Museum.  One sweet encounter in front of the Route 66 Museum sign was The Professor making an instant connection with a fellow Vietnam Vet who served in the SAME PLACE in the SAME JOB there but different years.  Oh, it was sweet to listen to them chat about their experiences.  I wish we had exchanged more than our first names and home towns.  Maybe someday we'll see them again.  On Route 66.

5.  We spent one night with our son in New Mexico where he lives and our last night with our PAL and her parents in Arizona.

ALL the changes in terrain and climate!

Then it was HOME AT LAST.

And for your amusement.  A photo of the obvious.