Thankful Me

Photo: A lush flower bed, with blue and pink flowers, sits in front of the administration building at Brigham Young University I drove my mom to the airport Saturday morning, after a week of fun together. I told her we should list the same items in our TToT posts this week, but we never coordinated that, so I'm curious to see how similar our posts turn out to be. There were more than ten things to be thankful for this week, so I imagine we won't have identical lists, but we'll see. 1. I'm thankful for the chance to speak in church last Sunday. We don't have a preacher/minister who speaks each Sunday; members are asked (ahead of time) to prepare an address (about 12-15 minutes long) to share. My assigned topic was the importance of remembering Jesus Christ. As is so often the case as I study for talks, a seemingly simple topic grew in depth and breadth, and I ended up touching on not judging, forgiveness, the sacrament (communion), names, and the love of God. H...

Photo: On a green chalkboard background is written "August 16, 2019" and below that "I am thankful for Education Week" repeated 10 times.  If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that I look forward each year to attending Education Week at Brigham Young University. Why should children have all the fun of anticipating a new school year? Next week I will spend five days attending classes, recharging, and enjoying learning without the dread of final exams. I'll give you a recap next week, but this week, my post will be anticipatory: I'm thankful that my mom will be joining me for Education Week again this year! (Thankful #1) I know it will be a week filled with laughter (Thankful #2)  and fun  (Thankful #3) . (And, let's be honest, BYU mint brownies  (Thankful #4) and ice cream   (Thankful #5) !) I'm thankful I've "tidied up" a bit this week  (Thankful #6) . My mom is a super easy guest (Thankful #7) --but even ...

Photo: The words, "CODE: instructions for a computer (as within a piece of software)" on a white background When the prompt word (code) was given for this week's Six Sentence Story , it didn't take me long to come up with a topic. As a host of a blog hop (the Ten Things of Thankful ), I have been frustrated trying to find a link-up code service that is truly accessible to those who use screen readers. The company I use used to work with screen readers, but they have "improved" their service, much to my chagrin, and the frustration of some bloggers. If any of you know of a blog link-up service that is accessible, please  let me know! Thanks! There once was a service called Inlinkz Once useful, but now it stinks. The link-up code, I find Is unfriendly to the blind. And Inlinkz doesn't care, methinks. (A sad, but true tale.) #PleaseIntegrateAScreenReader #BringBackTheOldInlinkz

Photo: The storefront for an Italian clothing company named "Stop Here."  When in Italy, be sure to stop in Rome. Multiple days are best. I've written about our time at the Rome Italy Temple , our visit to the  Capitoline Museums , the walking tour we took, and the experience of visiting the Vatican . Today I'm going to share some photos from the Domus Aurea, and the church of St. Peter-in-Chains.  The Domus Aurea was Nero's extravagant palace. Nero (he of "fiddling while Rome burned" fame) was not a popular leader, and after his death, the Domus Aurea was looted (our tour guide emphasized that Italians were big on reuse/recycle!) then buried in dirt. Now, excavation is ongoing, and we donned hard hats to tour the site. Because so much that was there in the past is now missing, or at least incorporated into other buildings, it is difficult to imagine how it appeared in Nero's time. Fortunately, our tour included a virtual reality experience ...

Photo: An avocado seedling has two branches. The branch on the right is much longer than the one on the left. Sometime between 1-1/2 to 2 years ago, I decided to plant an avocado pit. It took what seemed like forever, but it finally sent up some green growth. The plant got taller and taller, but did not branch out. I made a drastic decision to prune it back in an effort to encourage some lateral growth. At first, I thought my action would be rewarded, but only one sideways branch developed. The other side remained only a tiny little bud.  I moved the plant outside this summer, so it could soak up some direct sunlight and bask in the warm temperatures. It is enjoying its new locale (and I'm not telling it that it will need to move back indoors in a month or so) . A couple of weeks ago, I was delighted to notice that it was finally developing another lateral branch. I'm looking forward to watching it become a more balanced plant. I love balance; whether it is in the form ...

Photo: View from the front passenger seat of a car shows the highway extending toward mountains in the distance I'm a little bit later than I normally am in linking up a TToT post this week, but I have good reason: I was at a friend's cabin in Idaho from Thursday-Saturday, and there was no wi-fi there. (And I'm glad there wasn't; it's really nice to disconnect every so often.)  Before I tell you about that, though, let's start the list with things that happened earlier in the week: 1. I'm thankful that Drexel stopped limping. The last Saturday in July, I noticed Drexel wasn't putting weight on a front paw. I couldn't find any reason, but he was a bit better on Sunday, and by Monday was back to his usual self. I imagine he must have just strained a muscle on our Friday afternoon hike. In any case, I'm glad he's feeling better. 2. I'm thankful that I finished a little quilt for my granddaughter's first birthday. I just used a pa...