Busy

Pretty tree

 We've been busy enough that we don't get too restless but not so busy that we feel like things are "too much"!

Since we had no winter, our small portion of the world feels like it's alive with spring.  The trees, shrubs, grass - everything really - are blooming, greening, fragrancing (yep, made up word) and enriching our lives.  The forsythia are the ones that are the first to herald spring.  This year, they have plenty of company blooming and making our world so pretty.  Everything is at least a month early - snapped this picture on our walk to church yesterday morning:  the lilacs are generally just finishing up their bloom by Mother's Day - May!  It feels kind of scary to me to contemplate what the summer is going to be like.  I'm already grateful for the air conditioning that will help alleviate the heat and keep us comfortable.

For a couple weeks we've manage to use neither the furnaces nor the air conditioning (yay!).  That cost savings just transferred over to the guy mowing our lawn.  He started last Friday.  It feels fundamentally wrong to be mowing the lawn in March.😮

We finally bit the bullet and had the guy come to measure for a replacement blind.  It was supposed to take two weeks.  We're at 2 and a half weeks and still no sign of the blind.  Not that we're in a real hurry, just that I super dislike unfinished tasks.  Had a bid on replacing the filters on our reverse osmosis unit (yes, I's aware it's controversial to drink that water all the time, but we like the taste so much better that we'll actually drink our water instead of avoiding it) and of course it was astronomically high.  Our grandson, and the two of us will attempt it this afternoon.  Fingers crossed.  Yet again, a reminder of all the things The Husband has easily done over the years, saving us tons of money.  It's hard that it is no longer possible for him to do what he previously did.  I'm grateful our two sons and two daughters inherited that "can-and-will-do" ability.  Wish I had more of it.

Lilac flowers already?!

So, let's see:  the grass is mowed, the sprinklers are fixed and working, the blind is ordered, the RO unit filters will either be replaced or not, the weeds have been sprayed again, the iron put on the tri-color beech (hoping for pink again this year), plans have been made for Easter dinner, our larder filled from a Costco trip (while our account was depleted), we have a meeting with one of our financial guys this week along with a couple lunches planned.  Right now no one is sick, the aches and pains of aging are mostly semi-controlled, we've food in the house for lunch and dinner and I've plenty of books on my eReader (though I intend to hit the library today or tomorrow - I need a real physical book to read).  All of that considered, I'd say we're in decent shape right now.  I always want to be grateful - and I truly am.  But when things are getting accomplished and there's no really unpleasant issues, I get a tad-bit nervous about what's coming.  The world is in a bad and extremely concerning situation.  I do my best to be at least a small contributor to the good. And I pray always that the will of our Creator will not only be made known, but happen according to what He knows is best.  Can't actually do any more than that, can I?

I'm grateful to still be able to physically move pretty well - sometimes (rarely) without pain.  Grateful for the beautiful world we live in.  Grateful for some small things to look forward to (including a new working blind) and grateful for a very small stash of chocolate. 😍