Food, Food, and oh, yeah, Food

 It was a quite a week.

Beautiful!!

Had a birthday so I'm now more fully into my 70's.  People have been so very kind and thoughtful.  I was surprised with gifts of food, and more treat-type food than I usually consume.  Some of it is in the freezer, much has been shared, some will keep in the pantry.  And the ice cream is being saved.  Let me think:  cookies (the milanos will be portioned out one-at-a-time, such fun!) including an entire box of Crumbl cookies, gift cards to places to eat that I will thoroughly enjoy (any meal I don't have to fix is the best meal ever) more cookies, (I'm not a fan of frosting - on cookies or cakes or anything - but the Crumbl key lime pie cookie was just scrumptious, and no frosting) a free birthday pizza from Papa Murphy's, dinner at one of those Asian cooking tables (my favorite way to have food), Leatherby's for an ice cream treat and lunch out with the ladies. 😊

Yum.

I love handmade items, the crocheted and then embroidered beauty is hanging in the  kitchen where I can see it all the time.  A new pair of walking shoes (love that they were on sale) will cause gratitude in every step. New socks - one of my mottos is "you can never have too many socks".  And a surprise visit at the Bishop's storehouse for a delayed birthday hug.  It was just a nice week, I felt "visible"  which I don't very often do and that was so needed and welcome.  Everyone needs to feel seen and valued.  Everyone.    

The Husband brought in one of our watermelon from the garden.  I can't tell if we should have picked it earlier or if it wasn't yet fully ripe.  We don't even know what kind it is.  But...while it isn't the very most flavorful watermelon we've ever had, it isn't the worst one we've ever had either.  And even better that it came out of our very own garden.

And more yum!!

Got a call yesterday just before five p.m.  Could I come over and play? Robert was invited to sing at one of his primary girl's baptism today.  He had invited a sister to accompany him on the violin.  Decided they needed a bit more support, so we're now a trio.  Vocal, violin and piano.  And it's a lovely arrangement of "I Am A Child Of God". I've spent some time practicing and after the rehearsal at church today I think it'll be just fine.  So nice to be invited.

It's easy to be grateful when things are going well.  This last couple years have found me feeling discouraged more often than I'd like, and more often than I should.  I keep writing here to actually put down in black and white some things that I'm grateful for.  I find that it seems to be a catalyst for actually feeling not only gratitude but some hope as well. 

I'm grateful today for another birthday.  I'm not ready to leave this world yet - I haven't had enough fun, so I'm glad to be alive to have another birthday to celebrate.  So grateful that I'm generally healthy and able to physically do things without too much effort.  I might be 20 pounds too heavy, but I'm grateful that we've always plenty to eat.  I need to work on controlling that appetite and intake.  (It's the ice cream and cookies that are doing me in.) I'm grateful we've been able to share some garden produce with those that don't have a garden and that appear to be glad that we share. I've been grateful to have a new song to learn, those religious songs that speak to my soul are such fun to play, I love the peace they bring.