Thank You

I've long been a supporter of the "thank you".  For gifts, for time, for help, for kindness.  I love that people are willing to spend time, money & emotion in support of others. 

I understand that it isn't a priority for everyone.  And I am ok with that - in theory.  Emotionally is a bit harder for me.  But whatever.

Here it is, the beginning of February and I don't even know if I sent thank you notes for the Christmas gifts I / received.  So do I send them, and risk sending a duplicate?  Or do I just forget about it and hope that those who were so kind will understand?  (After all, those of us who send thank you's are so in the minority.  Often those things I gift aren't even acknowledged.)  So it's not as though I think people are wondering where the "thank you" from me is, they probably don't even think about it.

But I do.  It's been bugging me. I don't want to be thoughtless.  Or selfish.  Or lazy. I want to always be grateful to whoever, for whatever, whenever.

So if you're one of the few that I received some tangible love from this last Christmas, and haven't received a written expression of thanks, please forgive me and consider this my manner-fulfillment. 

Thank you.  I love it.  Because I loved everything I received.  From everyone. 

I'm grateful to you all. 

Gorgeous day out!

And today:  it's beautiful out.  The air quality was predicted to be in the orange / unhealthy category.  It surely doesn't look that way.  I can see across the valley, and in the other direction the mountain peaks.  The breeze is blowing and it's 55 degrees out, doesn't even feel remotely chilly. It's a gorgeous day.

Seriously - 55 degrees out in Feb?

Tomorrow will be different, we're supposed to have the first of a couple large-ish storms.  And it'll be a busy day for us.  I play for a baptism in the morning, head to Orem for a wedding open house in the afternoon and host our dear friends for dinner in the evening. Today is the calm before the storm and I'm enjoying it.

And we're almost there.  Getting our hands on that cord to cut our cable service (except for the internet).  We've been increasingly disenchanted with the constant rate hikes, and the service we receive from our local cable provider office.  They are pretty much uninterested in us.  We've discovered that our Tivo (which is completely paid for, including the lifetime programming guide) works with our OTA antenna that's in the attic.  We get the basic channels we generally watch.  (And none of those ten million sports channels that we've absolutely NEVER watched but still pay an access fee for.) That means we can still record what we like.  Thanks to our daughter we have Netflix access and we already have Amazon Prime Video that actually receives some Hallmark (which for the last year or so is basically the only cable channel we watch) programming.  So, why are we paying for cable TV?  That's a really good question that will probably result in us saying:  we won't, anymore.  And since we're doing our best to live off of social security (and the resulting tightening of expenditures) it'll be a good thing.  We might miss a few things we've become accustomed to, but it's all optional.

I was ready to go over to the cable office and discontinue it today.  But The Husband very wisely suggested we try it out for a few days and see how it goes.  I'm crossing my fingers (and toes) that we can eliminate that particular charge.  I know we're old-fashioned in that we like to record shows, but we like it that way.  And in this case, "if it's not broke, don't fix it!"

I'm so grateful for being able to talk things out and figure out better ways to do things.  I'm grateful for beautiful days in the middle of winter.  I noticed some peony shoots starting to poke through the dirt.  Yay for spring, but not quite yet. I'm grateful to be loaned a book that promises to be enjoyable.  I'm also grateful for all those hundreds of free books on my Kindle and Nook, I'll never run out of recreational reading.  I'm grateful for leftover soup for dinner.  And for a day tomorrow that promises to be fulfilling.