Thankful day 31

I am thankful for:
* day 31 (YAY)
* my new wool coat (I may have blogged about this before... it is from Uptown Cheapskate... I bought a J. Crew knee length 100% wool coat for $30 --> it is amazingly warm, incredibly warm, almost too warm).  I love it. 
* the consultant and V.P. that I get to spend time with the next three days at work (I LOVE MY JOB some days).  They are fascinating.  We are presenting next years plan and plea for funds to the CEO tomorrow.  Woohoo. 
* remote desktop that allows me to be in lab and communicating with my interns at work (some times technology does make my life easier... some times).
* an easy lab to grade
* a short cold that is almost over  (God's grace to get everything finished that I needed to even with a cold and even a chance to rest on Sunday)
* colder weather

thankful day 30

I am thankful for:

* stockings (I secretly love them) and leggings

* dresses

* scarves (it is a little hug around your neck all day long)

* boots

Thankful day 29

I am thankful that Jared's goal in life is to be unscented.  I would hate to have to ask him not to where some scent because it made me sneeze.  I wish the new guy in my office didn't where so much scent (ugh, I can't breath and my dotted line boss is coming today and he will smell almost the same, it will the battle of the scents with me sneezing in the middle - I know this is a strong smell because I have a cold and can't smell anything else, but I can smell him - bleh bleh bleh).

 

I am thankful for cold medicine, books to read, and the reformation speaker.  The speaker was excellent. 

 

I am thankful for Ms Dana and Mr. Jeremy and their love of the reformation conference and willingness to run the children's program every year.  It is a lot of work.  They do a great job.  I am glad they let me run the store.   

thankful day 28

I am thankful for:

* the reformation conference

* being prepared and one step ahead of what is required of you (when it happens, it is great, usually I am playing catch-up)

* cold medicine (that my river of a nose has been dried up, but my head is all foggy feeling - bleh)

* dishwashers

* dish drying racks (as much as I love my dish washer, there is something satisfying about washing dishes by hand)

 

AND A REALLY BIG ONE (I am so excited about this!!!!!!):

I am so thankful that tickets to Denver where on sale yesterday when I checked randomly and Jared agreed to let me go out to visit Steffy for 5 days in February.  I am thankful the decision had to be made quickly because if I had paused to think about it, I might have talked myself out of going because I hate flying SO MUCH. But I didn't and now I am going.  I am so excited.   It is going to be cold and snowy (hopefully) and absolutely WONDERFUL! I love the Rockies.  I love Stef.  I love her precious little children.  And I even though I hate flying and planes, I agree with Linnea, that I am thankful for flight because otherwise, Stef and I would never see each other.   I am also thankful for the telephone and internet that allow us to communicate when we are far away.  I am thankful for a good friend. Yay yay yay!!!

thankful day 27

I wrote an entire list of things to blog about today on the back of an envelope last night.  I filled the entire envelope up because I kept thinking about things throughout the evening and writing them down.  But now I can't remember any of them.  Hmmmm.  So, this is a whole new list that I came up with this morning.

 

I am thankful for:

* the chicken broth that is cooking in my crockpot

* the chicken and dumplings that I will make with it

* and the chicken soup that I will make with it

* food lion, which is not the best grocery store ever, but it is not as expensive as giant and has a pretty descent produce section

* paper bags

* my new $5 turtleneck from lands end.  It is so cozy and soft!  I love it.

Smith Taylor Smith - new (old) dishes

Reveille. Last made in 1958.  Jared fell in love with them.  91 pieces are now in my house.  An 8 piece setting is in my cupboards (plates, mugs, saucers, dessert plates, bowls).  Replacements are in the attic.  I have dinner sitting in the casserole dish, butter in the butter dish, and I have filled up the salt and pepper.  :) I also have 6 or 7 seven serving platters and bowls or assorted sizes. 

Jared found these in one of the best antique shops that I have ever been in.  Why was it one of the best? I have included two pictures below of some pyrex bowls that I LOVE LOVE LOVE! Do I need these bowls?  No, I have plenty of mixing bowls.  Are these my favorite mixing bowls ever? Probably.  I love seeing them in antique stores.  I also love seeing all the bright cheery red and white appliances and kitchen things (red handled potato master, red handled biscuit cutting the lard into dough tool... etc).  If I ever break all my bowls, I am going to invest in this lovely set of bowls.  This store was unclutter, but full.  They had vintage feedsacks for reasonable prices, served me hot apple cidar, and knew what a cherry pitter was (I will pay up to $50 to buy an old fashion cherry pitter like my Dad's).  She had just sold her cherry pitter, shame shame shame.

Cherry pitter I want!!

Bowls I ADORE!

Those bowls make me so happy (the price does not - ha). 

Here is the plate.

 mug & saucers

 creamer (not pictured, sugar bowl)

 butter dish

 salt & pepper (they are adorably small)

thankful day 26

I am thankful:

* for my Mom and Dad having me over for dinner last night

* for my Dad giving me an empty two-liter bottle so that I can try to make my own ginger ale (next time I am going to dig up some sassafras roots from my parents yard and make my own root beer -- it is going to be delicious)

* for my Mom and Dad having Annadrew over last night too (I love my family!!!)

* for the amazing sweet potato pie that Anna made last night (sweet potato beats pumpkin every time)

thankful day 25

I am thankful for:

* my watch (that I forgot this morning and I haven't known what time it is all day - sigh)

* that every day is NOT a Tuesday (it seems to never end and so much work is piled on my already growing list)

* the Y (so that I can go after work on a stressed day and feel better)

* my 9.99 wool dress pants from Anthropologie.  I love you.  My legs are so cozy today.

* my first lab class that finishes early so that I can grade their labs between lab (my second lab usually takes the full 2 hours)

* water

* Christmas (it is coming with all of its cookies, decorations, family gatherings, and songs)

* Thanksgiving (that is usually forgotten in the shuffle, yet, is my favorite holiday of all)

* all the family that I will get to spend time with this thanksgiving (I love having married sisters! They are so cute.)

thankful day 24

I am thankful for:

* my own bed

* my new dishes (last made in 1958, so some of the pieces are probably older than that - I will try to post pictures later)

* the trip home, that was 1.5 hours shorter than the trip to WV (yay, for no traffic around DC on my side of the road)

* my husband who carried in all the camping stuff

* everything being put away last night (so I don't have to think about it tonight). I didn't want to put it all away when I came home, but I am so glad that I did now.

* a dishwasher

* my sister, Sarah, who made us dinner on Saturday night (yay, chicken pot pie!) after being in the cold all day

* state parks (If you ever go to visit Sarah, visit Pipestem State Park, it is gorgeous! We didn't stay there, we stayed at Bluestone, but we went there on Saturday and hiked around)

 

 

thankful day 23

I am thankful for:
* cold weather (it means you have to use less ice to keep food cool when you are camping)
* my tent from the Libbys
* our sleeping bags (from Jamie and Dasha and the Griswolds)
* our Christmas dishes that we can take camping with us
* our cooler from the Spicers

Thankful day 22

I am thankful that:
* I don't have to sit in traffic every day on my way to work
* that Jared will split a sub with me and let me get whatever I want on it
* for mountains
* for leaves that are changing colors

thankful day 21

I am thankful for:

* my mom cooking me dinner the other night

* a bed that is out of the rain

thankful day 20

A funny thing happened when I was reading my "three volumes in one" Anne of Green Gables book yesterday.  I had finished the first two books and I went to read the third book (in this volume) and it jumped 8 years.  I was so confused.  They were talking about characters that I did not know and events that were not in the first two books.  So I looked up the series and realized that the third book in this book set was really the 5th book in the series.  Why would you do that?  So I left work at 4:40, drove to the library, parked, ran in the library (it was raining), ran upstairs, and had to ask a librarian where the teen section was (why is A of GG under teen fiction?  Another funny thing, it is on the shelf right below the Twilight books.  I got a good laugh from that.) because they close down the search computers 15 minute before they close, and checked out at 4:58. 

 

I am thankful for:

* the library

* free books

* cheerios, pecans, and craisens

thankful day 19

I am feeling really not inspired today. Rain makes me tired and even a cup of tea is not waking me up this morning. 

 

* I am really thankful for the rain, but not the fact that the rain makes it harder to get out of bed and makes it darker outside (which also makes it harder to get out of bed). 

* I am thankful my parents have camping supplies that they let me borrow.

* I am thankful for smart people in manufacturing, that have imaginations, that work on my projects and want to work on my projects.

* I am thankful for my Bass clogs that keep me high above all the puddles in the parking lot (because I am not allowed to wear heels, nor would I want to because walking on concrete all day is painful in heels).  I am old; I love clogs.  As my other shoes die out, I am replacing them with old comfortable shoes.  My favorite expensive shoes are Privos by Clarks.  I have two pairs (of the same shoe, one I bought 10% off and one I saw a year later on the sales rack for 60% off - yay).  I will probably visit the Clark outlet again this weekend and see if there are anymore shoes my size on the clearance rack.  When I bring a new pair home, I have to throw away an old pair. 

* I am thankful for comfortable shoes!! That last a really long time.  Although, my one pair of Privos has started squeaking when I walk around the plant (just one shoe).  I can only get it to stop if I walk funny (kind of to the side of my right foot).  ha. They are so comfortable though that I can't give them up.  :)  

* I am thankful for my polka dotted umbrella that Hope gave me for Christmas (it made me smile this morning and kept me a lot drier than most people in the building). 

 

Wow!  I have a lot more things to be thankful for than I thought I would when I started this post.  I am really enjoying this challenge.  It makes me happier each morning.  God is good. It is good to remember his goodness. If you haven't started listing the things you are thankful for, I challenge you to start today.  :)

thankful day 18

I am thankful for:

* changing season (I am so glad fall is here and summer is GONE)

* the leaves changing colors and being able to drive around and see them

* having plans for the future

* water

Day 17

I am thankful for:

* my sister Anna (she makes me laugh and I love her being married, she is great).  She sat next to me during church yesterday and I couldn't help but think about how much I love her. 

* another beautiful day

* more walks outside (with a sweatshirt on - YAY)

Thankful day 16!

I am thankful for:

* the beautiful weather that we had this weekend

* a short walk on the boardwalk

* a chance to visit Jared's grandmother

* dinner at a restaurant that I have been wanting to go to for two years

* good food (mixed grill, sweet potato, fried chicken, green beans, and mac & cheese with an apple dumpling for dessert - yes, please!)

* Fisher's popcorn

Thankful day 15

I am thankful that Christmas is coming!!!  And that my favorite holiday of all, thanksgiving, is going to be so grand this year with ALL my family celebrating together!!!  YAY!! I love Fall.

Thankful Day 14

I am thankful for:
My new lands end dark blue polka dotted bathing suit top (only $10 on the overstocked end of clearance sale) and the pink skirt bottoms (only $5).  I love Land's End bathing suits!!  Love love love love love them!!! 

I am also thankful for the new $5 black turtleneck that I found also on sale; it is so soft and will be perfect for work.  I am thankful that I am old enough to wear a turtleneck and look classy at work. :) Okay, I am not so sure about that last one.  I am not really thankful that I look like an old woman, but it is better than being an awkward teenager and I suppose it would be weird if I still looked like a child.

For all you people older than me... I have a question... Do you ever get used to looking in the mirror and seeing yourself (older than you have ever been)?  Do you think you look older?  Do you ever think, "who is that person staring back at me?"  I am just curious.  Someday I look in the mirror and I think, "that can't be me, it looks nothing like me, I am not that old". 

Age is weird. It is really weird. I am guessing that you never really feel fully grown up, do you?  I mean, I run a department a a company with 850 employees.  I am responsible for saving over $2.5 million dollars next year alone. Today I discovered a way that we can save $130,000 a year by just making a couple wires shorter and not throwing away so much waste. I meet with upper level management weekly and just walk into their offices when I have questions or need things done.  I take visitors on tours about the plant.  I have conference calls with people from 5 or 6 different countries.  Yet, I don't feel like I am old enough to be doing all these things.  It is really weird to be working with people your parents age and older and having them as peers.  Age is weird, my friends.  I guess it is probably more weird for all the older people who now have to work with someone that is their kids age... I wonder if they think about that.  I wonder if that is strange to them.  Maybe they don't really think about it and that is why they are constantly surprised by my age.  Anyhow, that is what I think about throughout the day.  Welcome, to about a 30 second thought process from my brain.  I think a lot.

I don't dream, like Anne of Green Gables, but I certainly question the world like she does.  When she talks in the book, I feel like I understand her brain because that is how my brain is; it. never. stops. NEVER.  My parents say that my mouth moves so fast they can't understand me sometimes.  I try to talk slow, but there is just so much to say.  My mom thought I would not be able to write papers well because my hands couldn't keep up with my brain; then she stuck me in front of a computer and Dad taught me how to type.  There are still missing words and my thoughts jump all around, but it is so much better than when I write on paper (unless I am taking notes, I prefer to take notes by hand).  Hayley said that reading my old letters was like figuring out a code because I would leave out words and run other words together.  I reverse letters and numbers sometimes and substitute the wrong words (Jared laughs at me).

I am constantly curious about something or trying to solve some puzzle.  Example, while waiting for Jared the other day outside of the computer lab, I decided to estimate how many bricks were on the outside of the new teacher building at SU.  I counted the bricks up and across and figured out how many were taken out of the windows and doors.  It was quite fun. I know, I am a complete nerd.  Life fascinates me.  I love it. I meant to stop three paragraphs ago (or maybe after I mentioned that I was thankful for my new bathing suit - ha).

And old post that needs to be revisited!!

First posted in Summer 2005
this post is dedicated to my favorite Sarah.  I am going to see you soon! Yay.

This is one reason I love and miss my sister. Today she sent me a message that said, " * Why can’t Walter be my drawing master?"

To which I replied, "Why can’t Gilbert be in my school?"

And from there we went back and forth for the next hour with the following. Brownie points to the person who could name each and every referenced movie, book, and/or musical... heh. My favorite is by Sarah... It is, "Why don't we have a farm boy?" I laughed out loud when I received that one. I love you, Sarah! So much. Oh, I get to see you tomorrow. I am so excited. :) Oh, and Hayley, the second to last one was for you. I don't know if anyone else would get that quote. haha. I can't wait to see you either tomorrow. WOOHOO!
* Why can’t Mr. Bingley move to my neighborhood? And bring his friend?
Why can’t John Harmon work in my house?
* Why can’t Peter Warne ride on my bus?
Why can’t Marius sit in my park?
* Why can’t Prince Phillip haunt my forest?
Why can’t Percy rescue my brother?
* Why can’t Raoul rescue my scarf?
Why can’t Laurie move next door to my family?
* Why can’t Will Darcy find me strangely attractive?
Why can’t I take my father’s place in a haunted castle?
* Why can’t John Preston convict me of sense offence?
Why can’t Batman be my childhood friend?
* Why can’t my brother go on strike with Jack Kelly?
Why can’t Hans Solo find me in a prison cell?
* Why can’t Dr. House be my doctor?
Why can’t Wooster try to get on of his friends to marry me?
* What can’t I lose my gravity so that a handsome young prince can be willing to die for me but he doesn’t and we live happily ever after?
Why can’t Peter Parker live next to me or work in my office?
*Why can’t someone fall in my well and then help me watch the sheep?
Why can’t I be the governor’s daughter?
* Why can’t I marry the son of a sea cook?
Why can’t George serve me ice cream?* Why don’t we have a farm boy?Why can’t Prince Rillian be trapped under my house?
* Why can’t Robin Hood take me to Sherwood Forest?
Why can’t Jamie Boy kiss me?
* Why can’t Murphy watch me play the violin?
Why can’t Benedict write me sappy poetry?
* Why can’t I throw Buck’s flowers in the trash can?
Why can’t Rhett drive my buggy?
*Why can’t Humphrey Bogart let me get on the plane?
Why can’t Indi rescue me?
*Why can’t Captain Wentworth write me a letter?
Why can’t Jack be stranded on my Island?
*Why can’t Jack be my pumpkin king?
Why can’t Andrew come fix my room?
* Why can’t Woody help me defect from Russia?
Why can’t Woody be my cowboy?
* Why can’t Horatio Hornblower captain my ship?
Why can’t I argue with a kidnapped boy?
*Why can’t I watch Captain Von Trapp’s children?
Why can’t I bee a lonely stubborn school teacher out west somewhere?
* Why can’t Landon Carter promise not to fall in love with me?
Why can’t Captain Blood anchor his ship in my port?
* Why can’t Cornelious Hackel put on his Sunday clothes to come visit me?
Why can’t I twist my ankle while chasing a blue patch of sky?
* Why can’t Jimmy live in my town?
Why can’t I discuss politics and slave trade with a man who sings amazing grace parliament?
* Why can’t my shoe be the smallest in the kingdom?
Why can’t loops be my pilot?
* Why can’t I go singing in the rain?
Why can’t I be the lost penny that keeps coming back?
* Why can’t I be stranded in the desert with Dirk Pitt?