Way back on LJ, my friend Sc0ffy started this Friday meme. It’s really simple.
Five Things Friday: List five things you are grateful for this week.
In no particular order:
- Nasal spray. My autumnal allergies are kicking in, and yesterday I caved and begged HH (=Hufflepuff Hobbit, aka my husband) to bring home some meds, including a nasal spray for kids that I know helps me a lot. For the first time in over a week I wasn’t woken from my stuffed nose and sneezing.
- Sunshine. It’s gotten cold over here – in the night, temps are close to freezing. As a result, I’ve been cold and miserable on and off this week. I’m not ready for winter. I’m not ready for cold. I’m not ready for darkness. Urgh. Thankfully, there has been glorious sunshine for the better part of this week, so I can sneak in a few minutes here and there during the day just sitting on the balcony and soaking up what feels like the last sunshine and warmth this year. (Though honestly, thanks to its southern exposure, there’s sunshine and warmth to be found on our balcony even in winter. I must remember that.)
- Cats. ’nuff said.
- My Dad. He is doing pretty well! I’ve been visiting every other week to keep him company, take care of him, and help him with chores and things for three years now. And what seemed impossible during the first year – he’s doing much better. Yes, he has health issues. Yes, he’s still contrary and cranky and all kinds of things. He’s seventy-six, after all. But we also went on a pretty long walk in the forest this week and he barely needed his cane for walking. (He still needs it when he gets tired, and for some extra support when he has to turn around, and also as a signal to others in traffic for some extra consideration. But not the way he relied on it in the beginning. The beginning: When I spent almost a year begging him to consider a cane since he barely felt able to leave his flat anymore, when he finally allowed me to order one for him…)
- Getting stuff done. Even though I sometimes feel that I/we never get anything done, I know that’s not true. Sure, I’ve discovered that I can procrastinate on stuff not just weeks, but months, and even years, peu à peu I/we do get things done after all.
Tl;pra. (Too long; please read anyway – I know I’m rambling, but if you want to know what’s up with me, this is all I’ve got. And honestly, why should I post something I don’t want people to read?)
Anyway: I got HH a new iPhone for his birthday, and it’s up and running now (still need to check some settings for him this w/e, but basically it’s set up to suit him and he adores it – he keeps flirting with Siri, it’s too funny). Last week we got some sewing done at the little sewing studio downtown – we got table runners for the dinner table that match the curtains made, and bows to tie back the curtains in the living room, and we had the curtains for the library trimmed. (And we only procrastinated on that since last Christmas.) We removed the old, ineffective fume cupboard in the kitchen. We probably won’t get a replacement and rely on the window instead, to save energy and reduce garbage (those replacement filters…). I’ve ordered new lights for over the stove that I need to put up this w/e. Earlier this year we got the smoke detectors now required by law put up (with magnets, for easy removal – which turned out to be a very wise solution indeed since the smoke detector in the hallway thinks we’re trying to burn down the house when we cook steak! – never mind that we like our steaks actually medium rare on the rare side of things…). The cable company switched over to only digital channels two weeks ago, which caused some mayhem for a few days (and traumatised poor HH who was dozing in front of the TV when the screen went dark at midnight on the day of the great switch-off), but we managed to get things sorted, and both TVs are working again. Last but not least, I’ve ordered enough cat food to keep the cats in chicken and tuna until the end of the year.
The list goes on (as does the to-do list, of course, but I really need to keep in mind that I/we keep crossing things off on that, too!).