I know I'm arriving late to the party, and I won't make it around to all the posts until after the link has closed, but I'm here now and looking forward to celebrating another thankful week with all of you.
1. I'm thankful to have my energy back. I took the time to really rest, and it paid off. No longer do I feel the need to sleep 45 minutes after waking up from the latest nap. Glad to have that energy-draining doozy of a cold gone!
2. I'm thankful for more experienced guide dog puppy raisers. Guide Dogs for the Blind utilizes its own breeding stock, which means that each puppy remains unaltered until it is determined that the puppy will not be used as a breeder. Willow went into heat this week. The local guide dog leader was able to reassure me that dogs can have all sorts of strange symptoms when in heat. Willow had swelling all over; even her ears were fat. She didn't eat much for a day, and vomited what she did eat. She would have been a poster child for an OTC doggie Midol.
3. I'm thankful that Willow is feeling better. She has to stay at home while she is in heat, but she is feeling much more like herself now. She's eating normally, and her ears are not swollen anymore.
4. I'm thankful to be invited to join 1000 Voices for Compassion. I'm looking forward to posting on February 20th. I want to be a voice for goodness, and I'm excited to join so many other voices advocating compassion. Please join with us!
5. I'm thankful for people who ask for help. Part of my responsibilities as the Relief Society (women's organization) president in my ward (church congregation) is to oversee compassionate service. It is hard to do that if I am unaware of needs. I appreciate so much those women who call me to let me know of their own needs, or the needs of others.
It's not easy to ask for help, but compassionate service is a blessing not only for the receiver, but also for the giver. We all get to take turns being on both ends of service. My opinion is that we all have challenges in life so that we will be better prepared to serve others who are going through similar struggles in the future.
6. I'm thankful for people who are happy to serve others. Sometimes, all that is needed is a casserole or a listening ear. Other times, needs are more time and/or labor-intensive. I am so impressed by the willingness of individuals to meet the needs of those around them. I am even more impressed by the many examples I see of people noticing a need and filling it without being asked to do so.
7. I'm thankful for how prayer can answer seemingly non-important requests. Just days before I was to run another 10K at Disneyland, I still did not have my costume together. It is surprisingly difficult to find white running pants. I had ordered some white leggings online, hoping they would be thick enough to serve as pants. They were not. On Thursday, my last day to find something, I said a little prayer that I could find something modest that would work for my costume. Minutes after that mental prayer offered in Kohls, I found a pair of pants that were perfect! (And, as an added blessing, oldest daughter needed a pair of leggings for her costume, and the ones I had previously purchased worked great for her.)
Oldest daughter had suggested that she should run as Princess Leia, and John and I should run as her parents. So John was Darth Vader, and I was Padme Amidala.
8. I'm thankful that, ill-prepared though we were, our previous training paid off and we were still able to easily finish the race. (Next race we will be better prepared, though, and will run more regularly in the weeks preceding the event.)
9. I'm thankful that oldest daughter was able to take a day off of work to join us, and thankful for air travel that made such a quick trip possible.
10. I'm thankful for John. He's as far away from the dark side as anyone I know, but he made a terrific Darth Vader, and is a terrific running partner. I love the fact that we both run together, and both enjoy the experience.
(As an added thankful, I'm glad the link is still open. I'm squeezing in just under the wire this week!)
Your hosts
A Fly on our (Chicken Coop)
Wall, Amycake and the Dude, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting
Literal, I Want Backsies, The Meaning of Me, Rewritten, Thankful Me, The Wakefield Doctrine
Join the Ten Things of Thankful Facebook Group
Betcha I'm FRIST!
ReplyDeleteYes, you are!
DeleteI am up way past my bedtime tonight getting some writing done and saw your post come in. I am so glad you're up and around and feeling better!
ReplyDeleteThe #1000Speak initiative is awesome - I'm so glad to be part of this, too!
I love the Star Wars costumes and hooray for finding pants at the last minute. Maybe Kohl's is a prayer vortex or something? I said a similar prayer on the morning of my sister's wedding when I had absolutely nothing to wear. Please pleas please let me find something - anything - that fits and doesn't look hideous on me. BOOM! Absolutely gorgeous blouse that I wore to the wedding (now a favorite), a beautifully soft sweater in a very unique shade of blue, and a cool green top as well. All for the price of ONE of the shirts. So maybe it's a thing if you pray for a good find in Kohl's.
Anyway, have a great week!
Prayer vortex in Kohl's--love it! :-)
DeleteOh my you guys are so funny! Glad you're feeling better! ! And yup people who ask and people who serve (often one in the same)..... awesome.
ReplyDeleteWe joked that with the level of training we did this time, we would even sound like Darth!
DeleteGlad to read your post and see that you are involved in compassionate giving every day through your Church. The #1000Speak project is an amazing way to share love across the planet. Finishing the 10K - in StarWars garb is pretty cool. Have a good week.
ReplyDeleteNo lack of opportunity, that's for sure. I feel like religion really should be an every-day thing.
DeleteSo glad you are feeling better and you were able to do the run. You all looked great!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea dogs in heat had so many weird symptoms.
It took me a long time to realize that my asking for help was not a burden to others. People want to help, they just aren't mind readers to know that help is needed or in what capacity. I ask for help when I need it, and I make sure to let others know that asking for help benefits both the helper and the helpee. Don't know why I just felt the need to say everything you just said in your post. :)
I appreciate the repetition--it's nice to know I'm not unusual in my ideas! :-)
DeleteCertainly glad that you feel better and took the necessary time to shake your cold. Here's to a good week.
ReplyDeleteThank you! So far, so good. :-)
DeleteLove your costumes and so glad to read that you're feeling better!! Also the #1000Speak is going to be EPIC!!
ReplyDeleteEPIC is the right word! :-)
DeleteAnd I thought I was going to be the last one in the link!
ReplyDeleteGood for you, running another 10k. And in quite the costume, no less! Glad your daughter got to join you; what a cute group you made!
Poor Willow! It hasn't been that long since I felt the same way sometimes for the same reason!
I skated in at practically the last minute. It seemed to be a theme for the weekend; the costume wasn't complete until the day we went down to Anaheim. We were not the last ones to cross the race finish line, though. :-)
DeleteWillow is feeling more herself now, thank goodness! (Although she is still stuck at home for the duration of her heat--which for dogs is weeks!)
I'm not a runner Kristi but I think your daughter's idea was great! If you have to run a long race, why not dress as favorite characters?! So glad you were feeling well enough to participate:)
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear Willow is feeling better.
I still have a hard time calling myself a runner, but Disney runs are so much fun! Costumes are almost a requirement. :-)
DeleteWhat a great list--energy, feeling better, helping others ....You're an inspiration.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.36hourworkweek.com
I'm just glad the run was the week it was--a week before, and I probably would have slept through the whole thing! :-)
DeleteI am thankful that none of you got the measles while you were at Disneyland!
ReplyDeleteWell, me, too. We were actually at the park the week of the outbreak. I was in bed with my exhausting, stupid cold when the news reported the first patients. But no, I did not have the measles.
DeleteI actually have had another measles vaccine as an adult; when I delivered my oldest daughter, I was told my lab work showed no immunity to measles. I had been vaccinated 3 times during childhood (once by accident!), so that was surprising to me. Now, after hearing that some of the Disneyland patients had been vaccinated, it makes me wonder if the shot as an adult did any good, either.
…speaking of 'late to the party' lol (this reply has to be my personal best for Comment Lag Time )
ReplyDeleteah! that running thing. I still can't account for my own belief that I should engage in running as an activity! … no really, when I read about it, it has that element of irresistible challenge, but there are my established routines that seem to be sufficient to prevent taking on (this challenge))… close one! lol
Well, maybe you are FRIST, too, then. Established routines can be tweaked, you know. You can do what I did: Sign up for a race, months in advance. That seemed to provide the motivation to prepare (at least the first few times; I really dropped the ball this time!) If you do a Disney run, though, you need to sign up early; the registrations tend to fill up in one day.
DeleteI am also late to the party!! But better late than never. :) I so agree with you about being thankful when others ask for help. It is so hard to serve when you have to first remove the mask of pride that so many of us (especially myself) wear and refusing to ask for help!
ReplyDelete