Happy Birthday, Ten Things of Thankful!
The Ten Things of Thankful weekend blog hop is celebrating its first(ish) birthday!
I’ve not been part of it for the whole year, but discovered it some months ago through Dyanne’s blog. How I discovered Dyanne? Can’t remember! I think through her comments on someone else’s blog. But that’s the whole cool thing about my little blog – it’s brought me some wonderful new friends and connections that otherwise would not have been possible. It has brought fun and laughter and support and a great sense of community. And ALL of that is something to be thankful for.
This week, I’ve been trying to mentally note my items of thankful so I could remember them at post-time. It wasn’t all that successful, so I’m going to wing it here.
I’m so thankful for my circle of blog friends who have continued to visit and read here even though I haven’t been posting much and haven’t been reading much elsewhere. The lull has been necessary and I’ll be posting more soon (there is that Rotten Cat post coming). It is good to know that you are all still out there checking in on the blog. And thanks, too, for your e-mails. Good friends are good friends, whether real-life or virtual.
I know that I have been so thankful for a short work week and for the fact that I only have one more full week of classes and one week of short days for exams and wrap-up. FINALLY! I am tired of this school year. As a colleague of mine says, it is the kind of tired that only summer can cure. Indeed.
On that note, I am thankful for relatively pleasant weather so far this spring. I teach in an old building that does not have much air-conditioning. The temperatures in that building are just intolerable when the temps outside are high. Granted, this week had some nasty humidity, but it’s not often we get this close to the end of the year without weeks on end of horrible heat. So that’s good. And sticking to the topic of weather, I am always so happy for rainy days. I love them. I always have. I particularly love them when they fix the humidity problem, but in general a rainy day is a great day for me.
I am always grateful for my daughter and the way she somehow manages to heal me when I need it most. I’ve been having a really rough stretch lately and that little wonder picks me up over and over again. Several days ago she said, “Mamma I love you so much it makes me want to happy cry.” Me, too, Baby. Me, too.
And then there was yesterday on the way home from our Friday farmers’ market trip…a song came on the radio and since it wasn’t one I knew terribly well, I switched the station to find something else. “Mom, stop! I liked that!” she said. It was Billy Joel’s “Money or Love.” She listened for a few minutes and then asked, “What does that mean?”
Me: What does what mean, Zilla? Money or love?
Z: Yeah. What does that mean?
Me: Well, when people talk about doing things for either money or love, it means you could choose to do something with your life that earns you a whole lot of money, but you may not love doing, or you could choose to do something that you love and that makes you happy, but you may not make a whole lot of money doing it.
Z: Oh.
She thought for a while and went back to drawing on her dry-erase board in the back seat.
Me: Hey, Zilla?
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The Hub is the Grill Master around here – I don’t even know how the darn thing works, to tell the truth. I simply tell him what to put on the fire and he sets it on fire and then we eat. He’s great on the grill, but chicken makes him nervous and so he tends to err on the side of caution. The chicken was fine, but to use the leftovers, we found it needed some assistance. The other night, we threw some white wine at a couple of leftover breasts in a sauté pan and made some terrifically elegant chicken cheese steaks. We’re going for a second take on those tonight, only this time the chicken is swimming in the white wine in the mini Crock.
So while I’m thankful that the Hub will grill pretty much anything I ask him to, I’m also thankful that he’s not offended that I think he slightly overcooked this chicken and am altering it so it doesn’t go to waste. I am also thankful for decent-tasting cheap white wine. We aren’t really white wine drinkers – much prefer red. But I do like to have white on hand to cook with. So this (very) cheap stuff is awesome.
The Guard Virgins tell me that if I’m uncertain whether I have ten thankfuls and am also disinclined to actually count, I can include a fantastic Thing of Exciting to round out my list. Tonight, the Fab Hub plays his CD-release concert for his latest album! (OK, showing my age there with the word “album.”) Today marks the official release of the Hub’s sixth CD! Check him out here.
My Thing of Exciting makes me thankful for the BFF who is stepping in to hang with Kidzilla tonight while my Mom and I go to the Hub’s concert. I definitely think Zilla should get to hear her Fab Dad play live, but this gig doesn’t even start until after 9:30 PM. Zilla went to a concert last year and was rather excited, but she was most definitely tired which kind of put a damper on the end of the evening, mostly for her. She opted out of this event and (wisely) pointed out that it is past her bedtime and that she wanted to stay home and go to bed so she wouldn’t be tired and cranky. Happily, the BFF turned out to be available and willing to step in – and I hadn’t even really thought to ask her – so I get to go after all and enjoy the evening with the knowledge that she is having tons of Princess-themed fun with the very sparkly BFF, will be well cared for, and can go to bed at a reasonable time. Win.
I’m calling that ten, mostly because the Hub has finished selecting his reeds for the night which means we all need to think about dinner and getting ready.
Link up your thankfuls for the week and join us in celebrating a year of thankfulness with the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop. You know what to do.
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Love that song too and will say you have a very smart little girl there. And by the way, I am with you on the weekend hop. Just so happy to have gotten to know you and others here from this now 🙂
She is a smart girl – and I hope those wise ideas of hers really stick with her as she grows into this world and all its nonsense. The TToT hop is great and I love that I’ve met all kinds of people that I may not have otherwise!
YAY rain! Great list!
“Good friends are good friends, whether real-life or virtual.” YESSSSSSS.
True enough, Beth! Oh, wait – I said that! Duh. 🙂
My absolute favourite line (totally out of context, thus rendering it AMAZING) – “we threw some white wine at a couple of leftover breasts”
Just let that sink in 😀
Anyway. A great list, and some truly fabulous moments with Zilla there – that child is precious beyond words. I’m glad the two of you have each other (and Fab Hub, too, but you didn’t say any of his adorable moments apart from how he tries to protect you from food poisoning by over-doing the chicken (which I guess is sweet in its own, charcoaly way))
So glad you found Dyanne wherever it was and followed her back and joined in 🙂
Bahahahaaaa…that’s fantastic. I completely missed that. That is definitely an amazing line.
The Hub once again this week told me that my list should be “me” (meaning him) ten times over. He’s humble, no? Seriously, though, he probably should have made this week’s list just for putting up with my moody and miserable self this week. Come to think of it, I don’t know why I didn’t just put him in there – it was definitely on my mind. Of course, after tonight’s concert, I’ll probably have at least ten gushing things to say about him, so perhaps he’ll get his own list!
You know, it’s bugging me now that I can’t remember how I found Dyanne. Maybe she knows?
Maybe she does….
Ok this comment made my evening….
THat Zilla is still one of my all time favorite kiddos! GOOD ANSWER ZILLA!!!!! So smart! summer break… sigh…nuff said….
Haha – mine, too! And summer break, yessssss!!!
“Good friends are good friends, whether real-life or virtual.” Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep!
And the same number of yeps to red wine over white. Almost always with some exceptions, especially for sparkling. I’m the same as you–I try to keep a bottle on hand for cooking. The cheap stuff.
Yay to Zilla for picking you up, and yay for FabHub’s new album! I’m thinking of you as the school days dwindle.
See, we are so meant to be friends! 🙂
Definitely ready for school to dwindle…
Zilla IS simply an awesome kid and I loved spending time with her tonight being the “assistant mom.” She really says the funniest things. Thanks for sharing her with me tonight for our sparkly princess fun time that somehow turned into sparkly Star Wars fun time.
You are awesome for watching her. Glad you had a good time – even if it was Star Wars. 😀
Congratulations to Hubby!!
That Zilla of yours is a smart cookie. Knowing to do things for love over money is one thing, but knowing the need to go to bed at a reasonable hour is brilliant.
Summer break cures a whole mess of things. Good luck with the last 2 weeks!
I am always amazed at how well Zilla knows herself. She really understands her mind and her body and seems to just intuitively make good choices. That will serve her well.
Zilla is so awesome. What a wise kid – both with the insight to know that love is better than money and to stay at home doing Princess stuff with your BFF (and here’s to a BFF that is awesome, too!). Love the idea of taking over-cooked chicken breasts and putting them in the crockpot with wine – brilliant. My husband has a tendency to overcook chicken as well. I guess it’s better than undercooking it though. happy one year of Thankful!! 😀
Thanks, Kristi – Zilla IS awesome. (So is the BFF.) I love that my little girl is aware enough of what her body needs to make a good choice. Of course it would have been awesome for her to hear her Dad and his group play live, but there will be other (earlier) times.
I’m torn on the chicken thing – undercooked can always be thrown back on the fire. Overcooked is just…overcooked. But the wine and the crockpot was indeed genius and solved the problem. We had delicious pulled chicken for sandwiches with pretty much zero effort! And the whole swimming in wine thing…can’t argue with it.
I’m betting that Zilla has it right because she’s learned from you about things that are special and important, and love is surely at the top of that. The obsession with money tends to come as we grow older, and how I wish it wouldn’t! I’ve learned over the years that it so rarely buys happiness. Papa Bear and I don’t have a lot and never will have, but we have a lot of love so I am wealthy beyond measure!
So glad for you that school is counting down to the final days, I know that teachers look forward to it even more than students do! Almost there! Have an awesome summer!
PS – I think you did a great job of “winging it”! Some weeks I have some notes, some weeks I just get started, and it always works out and improves my mood in the process, hope it had the same effect on you!
We certainly do hope that we’re doing right by our daughter. This parenting gig is hard beyond belief.
As for my list, it definitely does help, no matter how the week went. And right now if it weren’t for the TToT lists, my poor little blog would be completely dormant!
That is one wise daughter you have! Definitely wise beyond her years to pick a reasonable bedtime over a concert. Glad you got to go out, though!
It was nice to get to hear the Hub play live – I don’t always get to go when he has a gig. And the weather was lovely, so even better!
I hope she always listens to her body as well as she does right now – too many of us push past our “bedtime” and try to squeeze in more stuff when we should really be resting.
Zilla is really fab!
Summer brake starts later in Belgium, but things are already slowing down to a much needed more sedate pace.
I’m ready for that more sedate pace!
I am almost 100% sure we met doing Mama Kat’s writing prompts. Does that sound right, Lisa? I’m eternally grateful we found each other, no matter how it happened!
Kidzilla is such a darling! “I love you so much it makes me want to happy cry.” I know just what she means!
The suspense is killing me about the Rotten Cats….
You know, I think it may have been Mama Kat’s. I am also grateful and so glad to have “linked up” with you. (See what I did there?)
Kidzilla is really just the best. I love when she gushes out something like that.
And I know…the cat story is coming, I promise!
A new CD…you know your life sounds way more glamorous than you think it does!
Tired only summer can cure….apt description for sure.
Hope you get some of that healing and that you cry only happy cries for many days to come!
Hah – yes, that does sound pretty glamorous, doesn’t it? We don’t exactly live the glamorous life, though, that’s for sure!
I am so looking forward to the summer for respite and relief.