Thankful Thursday: The First of 2019

Today I am linking up with sweet Rebecca Jo from Knit By God's Hand for the sharing of blessings on the first Thankful Thursday of 2019.

This week I am thankful...

* for the really nice Christmas we had with the kids this past Saturday. Everyone seemed to have a good time and like their gifts. The only thing missing was Mom and John. Our older grandson even kept his anxieties under control and didn't get worked up or upset about anything....something I'm very grateful for since we heard he had pretty much imploded at his other grandmother's house (he and she do NOT get along). It would break our hearts to cause that kind of reaction in him.

* for the new techie gifts. Tim gave me a new laptop, which is wonderful and sooooo very much faster than the old one (and the case isn't cracked, nor are the letters worn off the keys). I am getting used to using Explorer rather than Chrome, though. Our son gave us an Alexa. Mostly we've been doing silly things with her like having her say hello to people or bark like a dog when the dogs are going nuts. I haven't had time to fully explore the app and find out all that she can do. I am looking forward to using the shopping list feature.

* that next week's schedule came out yesterday and I don't have any more late shifts scheduled than I already knew about. I am very grateful for that!! My schedule is completely up in the air these days as we wait for the new hires to be trained. For now I'm working at least part of most days in the dementia unit and working at least 3 late shifts per week. I'm not loving it. Tim is way past not loving it. I don't know how long it will last or if it will change. The girl who was supposed to start training yesterday called off sick....after the boss hadn't heard anything more from her previous to that. I'm kind of curious to see if she shows up today. Or ever. A second person has been hired, but I don't know when they are supposed to start training.

* Megan had a good check up on Monday. It was her first pregnancy appointment. Everything looks good so far. I am keeping Colton tomorrow so she can get bloodwork, a sonogram, and the test for gestational diabetes. Odd fact, the due date for this baby is our older grandson's birthday and Colton's due date was our granddaughter's birthday. (Maybe not so odd since both sides of the family have histories of double birthdays.) Since Megan gets C-sections, she will probably opt to have the baby on a day other than Aeden's birthday. The window of time could allow her to have it on her own birthday (July 25), her father-in-law's birthday (Aug. 1), Aeden's birthday (Aug. 5), her brother's wedding anniversary (Aug. 9), or if she really wanted to wait it out...my mom's and my birthday on August 15.

* Ham and bean soup. It's the best part of having ham for Christmas...having leftover ham to make soup. I love me some ham and bean soup!

* Mom and John got to California without incident and have spent a couple of days doing things there. They visited the Reagan Presidential Library and loved it. They said they would have liked to have more time there. They got to go behind the scenes at the Tournament of Roses Parade to see how the floats are made and New Year's Day they had bleacher seats for the parade. Today they are touring the Santa Barbara area. Tomorrow their cruise gets underway. They will spend the next 3 weeks cruising down the coast of Mexico, going through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean, before coming into port in Miami and flying home from there. They'll be making stops in Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala, San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua, Puntarenas in Costa Rica, and Cartagena in Columbia. I'm glad they are able to do it, but man....I am so jealous!

* that I'm doing pretty well at using my Happy Planner to keep up with things that need done and my "good intentions" for the year. My planner isn't as pretty as the examples I see online, but I don't have the time to spend hours just decorating it (as many seem to do). I do use some stickers and color so it's not just a plain planner. I love that!

* all of you, of course! Have a blessed and happy end to your week!