Thankful Thursday

It's my day off, so nice to sit here this morning and catch up with everyone. I'm praying that all of you living in the potential path of Hurricane Florence are taking seriously all the recommended precautions in your area...better safe than sorry! "Stuff" can be replaced, life can't.

Today is also the day to link up with the lovely Rebecca Jo @ Knit By God's Hand for Thankful Thursday.

This week I am thankful...

** for the day out of the dementia unit yesterday. I love those residents dearly, but it can be stressful and frustrating trying to carry out the activities we're expected to do when the residents are nearly all at the lowest level of functioning. How do you play a game or do a craft or exercise with those who have severely limited vision, hearing, and mental abilities? It was just really good to spend a day working with the other residents who are able to participate and respond to the activities.

** for my day off today to run errands and take care of some chores around here. Dust, clutter, and laundry wait for no woman.

** our daughter's procedure went well on Monday. The doctor didn't find any signs of what he was looking for, so that's one thing ruled out. He did give us a lot of hope. It seems that the problems our daughter has are fairly common among white women of her age/generation (I'm wondering why?) and in 50-75% of the cases doing the test she just had solves the problem. We will have to wait to see if it helped her, but if it doesn't, the fact that this problem was eliminated helps point the doctor in the direction of a couple of other possibilities.

** my feet have been hanging in there. Considering that I have plantar fasciitis, tendonitis, arthritis, and bone spurs going on that's a huge deal! In the dementia unit I'm not on my feet a whole lot. The residents are more comfortable when you are on their level so I spend a lot of time on a low wheeled stool. For those days I use orthotics in my shoes and wear a thin compression brace on the foot that I had the tendonitis in this summer. It's been enough.

Since I was out in the rest of the nursing home yesterday I knew I'd be running non-stop so I pulled on the heavy duty brace I got from my podiatrist. It's got stiff, heavy stays in the sides that keep my ankle from leaning in and won't let my arch sag at all. In fact, it really doesn't allow it to bend at all. It was enough. My feet didn't really bother me. The arthritis in my ankles caused some pain, but not until I got home and took the brace off.

** that our area was mostly spared this past weekend. It rained here for three days. We got at least 6 inches of rain. We've had several rainfalls like that this summer and there has been severe flooding in some areas near us. There were a few places that flooded this round, but the water receded quickly and didn't seem to get as high as it had other times. Our house isn't in a place where flooding is really a problem except for wet basements (you won't find finished basements here). Right now I'm just hoping the yard dries out enough to mow the grass before the fallout from Hurricane Florence gets here.

** for fall decorations and pumpkin spice everything! Yes, I am that annoying girl that LOVES all things fall. This is my favorite time of year. I love the colors, the smells, the tastes. My house is decorated in fall colors (pumpkin spice, roasted garlic, sage green, gold, red, and brown) all year round. The walls in the living room and kitchen are painted pumpkin spice orange. These are my happy colors. This is my happy time of year. I love how busy it gets, but at the same time I like how cozy it is. I actually like the shortening days that bring people inside in the evenings. I like the heartier, richer foods. The way the lights seem to glow from windows and the flicker of candles.

** for my life, the blessings God pours out on me, the opportunities I have, and for the peace my faith gives me.

** for each one of you!