Thankful Thursday

I am Thankful

1. That my mother is still here to lead by example. When she moved here last year, she said she was determined to make the best of it and she has. I'm sure she has been sad many times about missing the friends she left behind, the house she lived in for over 60 years, most of her possessions, and probably most of all, missing her independence, but she has never complained to me. She is always thankful for what she has now and never fails to thank us for doing things for her. She does talk about missing Mia who now lives with us, and I try to take Mia to her on days we aren't going anywhere else, although Mia wishes Mom would come here instead. Mom still enjoys learning new things even if it is more difficult than it used to be, and I hope I can say that when I am 91.

Mom called me last night and asked what a pdf is. I explained and then asked why. Well, she had come across a website with free crochet patterns. It's lovecrafts.com. (Have you heard of it? If so, what do you think of it?) Anyway, Mom said she tried to download one of these free pdf patterns but it didn't work. So while we were on the phone, I went to the website too, and finally found the pattern she wanted and asked if she had clicked the black Download Now button. No, she had only clicked on the picture (the snapshot) in the page of patterns. I told her to look for the Download button and she finally found it and said nothing happened when she touched it. (That should have been my first clue. She was on her laptop, which is at least ten years old and doesn't have a touch screen.) I wanted to see if that was the problem, so I clicked it with my mouse and it opened a signup page. Have you ever tried directing a 91 year old on how to do something on the computer by phone, without Skype or Facetime? She could not figure out how to type the underscore ( _ ) in her email address without it becoming ( ___________ ) and after much instruction, she couldn't find the log in button. I suspect part of the problem is that she hasn't updated her computer in years and she wasn't seeing the website the same way I saw it. The short story is that I signed her up using my laptop, so all she has to do is find the main page of that website where there is a big log in button. Now I just hope she has enough memory space to download some patterns. They do have some cute ones.

2. My dog, Mia. Or rather Mom's dog. Truth be told, she is Hubby's dog. Even Mom says that Mia never really attached to her. But Mia adores Hubby. I call him Mia's Beloved. Mom got her from a local shelter, so we don't know much about her previous life except that her original owner had to move and couldn't take Mia (who was first named Agnes). So that owner gave her to a friend and after a couple of months, that friend surrendered her to the shelter. We suspect the original owner was a man because Mia prefers men. Or maybe she's just a natural flirt. Last Saturday, at Hubby's ham radio weekend, she was the perfect hostess to a bunch of men. There were a couple of women who came, but it was mostly men and Mia wanted to greet each one. If they wanted to pick her up, she was fine with that too. One man in particular wanted her to sit with him, and I could tell she was uncomfortable but she stayed with him and made his day. He was an older man who felt like he was in the way while the younger men were setting up radios and antennas all around our house. So he sat in the living room and cuddled Mia while talking to me. I'd like to tell you that Smokey the cat was equally charming to our guests, but, he wasn't, so he spent most of the weekend in his catio.

3. For a beautiful weekend for the ham radio club. Since we were gone last year, they hadn't done their Winter Field Day since 2021 and they were all excited about their weekend. If you are wondering what Winter Field Day is, it is where ham radio people all across the country, or maybe even countries, leave the comfort of their indoor radio rooms and their permanent radios and antennas, and go outside. They set up mobile antennas, tents, trailers, and tables for their radios, and try to connect with as many other ham radio stations as they can. It runs from 1:00 Saturday to 1:00 Sunday and they endure whatever weather Mother Nature throws at them. There are people enjoying the weather in Florida talking to people freezing their toes off in Maine. Portable heat is allowed, but there are rules on how far they have to be from a building with electricity. The weather was nice Saturday, with a high of 60 and a light breeze and it stayed in the 50s all night for the night people. A cold front came through soon after breakfast on Sunday though and the men hurried to take their antennas down before the wind did it for them. That put an early end to the weekend. Now they will start planning Summer Field Day, which is in July and the hams will be sweltering instead of freezing.

4. That I didn't have to drive to work this week during our ice storm. Today we are listening to the ice slide off the roof and crash on the ground. At least it is finally melting.

5. Snuggling in the living room around the tv watching a family movie. Even Smokey wanted to watch this one, Dog Gone with Gonker the dog.

Eventually I convinced him that he could watch it easier from my lap.

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I Like Me

1. I wanted to be able to say something positive to myself everyday, but I am still struggling with this. I mentioned above that an older ham radio operator stayed in the house and talked to me while the younger members were setting up. I don't do well with inactivity. Even when I watch tv, I either have a book in my hands, sewing, or the computer. I also don't do small talk well for very long. So I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for making this man, and another, for sitting and visiting instead of running off to do my own thing.

2. This isn't an I like, as much as it is a self pep-talk. Venture outside your comfort zone and join the ladies at coffee in the morning, or see what is going on at the senior citizens center. When my In-Laws first moved here, my mother-in-law was very resistant to even visit the senior center. I think it made her feel old. I finally understand how she felt. But who knows, maybe it will make me feel younger instead.

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LeeAnnas thought question today is: What do you think of the panetone color of the year, Magenta?

I love magenta. It's a great jewel tone color, rich and vibrant, and looks good on most people. I don't think I would like it painted on the exterior of most houses though there are some "gingerbread" turn of the century houses around here that would shine with that color as trim. I think it would be pretty overwhelming inside as wall paint too, but as accent fashion, it would be fantastic.

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I'm joining the following Thankful linkups:

Thankful Thursday and Fashion Files (I don't know what Fashion Files are though.)

I like Thursday

Thankful Thursday