Friday, June 7, 2013

The Inaugural 10 Things of Thankful!!

My family sat around the dining room table, the dinner options laid out before us.  One of my sons inspected it all and complained, "Oh, man, we're having asparagus?"

I hopped all over him.  "Honey, what else are we having?"

"Chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and strawberries."

"Do you like all of those things?"

"Yes."

"And yet, when you came to the table, you picked out the one thing you don't like, and complained about it.  You had a choice; be grateful for the things you like or be upset about having to eat something you don't.  You chose to be unhappy.  Next time, why not choose to be happy? Instead of complaining to me about the asparagus, try thanking me for the mashed potatoes.  Do you think the tone of dinner will be a bit different if you do?"

Yes.  Yes it will.

What we look for, we will find.  If we look for the bad, we will most certainly find it.  There are bad things happening around us every day.  However, there are also good, kind, wonderful things happening at the same time.  We simply need to look for them.  When we do, our attitudes improve.  We become happier. 

This is why I jumped in yelling, "Pick me!  Pick me!" when my friend, Considerer, made a call for co-hosts for her new blog hop.  I'm all for encouraging people to see the good in their lives.

Before you are allowed to share your own, though, I'm going to make you read mine first.

Unless, of course, you are so excited to join in, you scroll right through mine to link yours up.  I'll be grateful for the link-up.


10 Things of Thankful
 
1.  I am thankful for forts.  I know, last year I went on and on about how much I strongly dislike forts, but that was about indoor forts.  Outdoor forts are the bomb.  My kids have grand plans of spending 24 hours outside one day next week.  Yesterday, they spent the entire day outside getting their forts ready.  Two teams.  Two forts.  One quiet house.  One happy mom.
 
2.  I am thankful for over-the-counter medicine (for man and beast).  When one gets poison ivy around her eye, she may want to gouge out her eyeball and rip off her eyelid.  Fortunately, when hydrocortisone doesn't work, IvaRest will usually do the trick.  When a pig gets sick and a vet can't get to it, we can buy all the medicine we need to cure it.

3.  I am thankful for beautiful spring evenings.  Hubby and I use these as date nights by heading out to the garden to pull weeds.  We're outside to feel the warm breeze, to hear the animals chattering, to see the sun setting.  We can talk about anything we want, confident the children will not interrupt us.  (They are way too afraid we'll put them to work if they do.)  All of this while helping our garden to grow.

4.  I am thankful for food in the pantry and the freezer.  By raising our own pigs and canning our own food, I can simply run to the basement at 4:30 and say, "We're going to have pork tenderloin, cinnamon apples, and green beans for dinner.  I'll make some cornbread to go with."  I did that just yesterday.

5.  I am thankful for our dogs.  Sure, they are a pain sometimes, digging up my flowers and eating the chickens that managed to get into the yard.  But they do their job.  A coyote has been coming around in the mornings, trying to make friends.  The dogs will have none of it.  The coyote, so far, has been kept away from the pigs.


6.  I am thankful for kind doctors and modern medical practices.  Since our new home seems to be OrthoIndy, I'm so grateful for the kind, efficient people who work there.  They know what they're doing, they get us in and out as quickly as possible, and they pass out candy.  We have healed or are healing from our injuries quite nicely.

7.  I am thankful for good friends and a playground to meet.  Our kids run around having fun and burning energy while we moms can laugh, vent, and support each other in our struggles.  And I get to hold babies.  I love holding babies.

8.  I am thankful for bright sunshine which dries our clothes so nicely.  I can get so much more done when two or three loads can be hung to dry, while the socks and underwear take an eternity to dry in the dryer.

9.  I am thankful for good, kind, fun coaches.  There has been some unhappiness surrounding one of our soccer teams, and it just makes us more grateful for the wonderful coaches we do have and have had in the past.  My kids have never once complained about going to soccer.  They love it, and so much of that love is a result of the coaches' love of the game.

10.  I am thankful for mulberries.  Unlike the song says, mulberries don't always grow on bushes.  We have an abundance of mulberry trees around our property.  Sure, I look like I am bleeding out when I get back from mowing around them, but those berries taste so good.  The kids don't even have to come inside for a snack when they are outside playing.  They simply go to one of the trees and start eating.  

I have not been good about storing these berries.  I don't know exactly what to do with them.  Do I need to take the stems out or not?  Taking them out would be a pain!  The kids pick a bunch, so I am going to try to make a pie with them.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm sure there is a recipe for syrup out there somewhere I could try, too.

If you have a good recipe for anything mulberry, let me know!!  I'd be so grateful.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...

The new blog hop is here!  The new blog hop is here! I'm somebody now!

Happy thanking and linking and hopping!!


Ten Things of Thankful


 Your hosts

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36 comments:

  1. Love these. Especially the mulberries. There used to be a tree where we lived before and every so often I'd pass by underneath on the road and steal one :)

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    1. Aaaaaaand now that I'm back and it's not 4.30am (and the wrong side of wine!) I love how you brought that attitude change to the table. That's a really important bit of teaching right there, and I love that you're joining with me in this, in trying to get that message further out there.

      Sunshine helps so much - I'm watching some out of the window now and everything is *so* beautiful, and there's nothing that helps a household run like laundry that smells of the garden :) (talking of which, I still owe you a mow...)

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    2. I love sunshine. For so many reasons. I never knew laundry could smell so good until last year when I started hanging our laundry out. Fantastic smell!
      So thrilled to be able to co-host with you. Thanks for setting it all up!

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  2. Great Grat Post*!

    Seriously, nice Post.
    In other blog hops, I tend to avoid reading the other Posts/contributions until I have written my own. In this case, being a co-host ("...and now representing the honorable State of Y Chromosomeland.... Mr....") I am way more concerned with 'doing a good job'.
    Considerer has done so much with getting this idea off the ground, I am reading everything else first. I suspect though, my original Post will have to suffice, even though these others are so damn good.




    *if I can't think of something cool to say, I almost always default to the catchy name thing**
    ** don't tell anyone!!***
    *** (insert scottian-toned joked or retort here)****
    **** yes, I claim credit for the joky device of multiple asterixeses

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    1. Hey, don't be claiming the credit for those asterisk! I just did it the other day.

      I don't usually read others' first either, as I don't want to "steal" ideas, or be unable to come up with my own because I've read other good ones. With this hop, though, that's not a problem.
      Don't sell your post short, dear. I'm sure they'll get better as we go along. :)

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    2. lol* I agree, good turnout for the first (of the hop series)


      * did too**
      ** I suspect we might have some fun on this here blog hop here

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    3. Hahaha! I just reread my comment and realize it sounds terrible offensive to all the lovely folks who linked up! I won't steal any ideas or worry about other good ones because we all are thankful for different things!! Otherwise, they'd be completely "steal" worthy!

      In the future, there will be nothing but fun with this blog hop, I just know it.

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  3. I love your list, especially the one about having canned items on hand. I want to achieve that one day so bad!! First I need to master growing enough to have some left over though. Ha... I have a LOT to learn. :D

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    1. Thanks! We've been at this for 8 years. Actually, I just realized, we moved into this house exactly 8 years ago today! We have learned an incredible amount, usually the hard way. I'm sure you'll get it much quicker than we did.
      Thanks for linking up with us!

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  4. Mulberries are GREAT to throw at someone. Don't ask me how I know this.

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    1. Of course you would know that. Those things STAIN!

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  5. Wonderful first post and I am so with you on #2, as my younger daughter was sick with a fever this week (this past winter was doozy in our house with illness) and truly was so thankful for Motrin and Tylenol to help with that fever. Thank you for co-hosting and again so happy to linkup!! :) :)

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    1. Thank you! I'm so glad you joined us.
      It's amazing what a little Tylenol can do for a child.

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  6. It brings joy just to see the lists of things we all have to be thankful for. We are blessed indeed.

    http://mary-anderingcreatively.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-first-ten-things-of-thankful-blog.html

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    1. Indeed! My spirits rise a little more with every post I read.

      Thanks for joining us!

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  7. I like these types of blog hops where I really have to sit and think about what it is I am thankful for. I have the typical cliche ones but this time I really going to think outside the box!

    www.jamiedimmitt.blogspot.com

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    1. http://jamiedimmitt.blogspot.com/2013/06/10-things-i-am-thankful-for.html

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    2. I will be right on over to read it. Thank you for joining us this week! I really like hops that make me think, too, especially positively.

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  8. Great post! I especially loved your introduction that it is all about perspective. So true!

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  9. your farm life sounds so great. I love the flowers and animals and mulberries. I LOVE to hang clothes on the line, and sunshine is one thing I'm so grateful for too. We pick mulberries from a friend's tree, and the stems are a prob. I made a cobbler with them, but they stems still annoy. I think just sucking the fruit off the stems is the best way to eat them. Wear plastic nurses gloves (thin latex) and that eliminates the mess. I use the gloves when we pick them too. :-) Great list!

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    1. Thanks! Those blasted stems. I agree, just eating them is the best way. Unfortunately we have too many to eat, and I hate to waste them. Perhaps next year we'll have a mulberry eating day/contest...

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  10. I am so coming for dinner. We had ice cream for dinner. Yes it was that kind of day

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    1. Aaaand, I will come to yours. I love me some ice cream!

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  11. I remember picking mulberries as a kid! The park near our house had a huge bush of them and we'd go there to play, then pick a pocket full before we went home. I don't think our mother was quite so happy about the mulberry stains in our pockets though.

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    1. Your mother probably wanted to hurt you. Those things stain so horribly! Reminds me of when my brother filled his pocket with mussels when we went to an all-you-can-eat seafood place. Ew.

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  12. OOOH! Forts. What a cool thing to be thankful for. And good friends and playgrounds. What a wonderful list.
    PS - I've never had a mulberry. Now I must find one.

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    1. Thank you.

      You must. They really are delicious.

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  13. What a wonderful list!
    Mulberry trees! I never ever saw one, in fact, I don't believe I've ever even TASTED a mulberry!

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    1. I hadn't either until we moved here. There is a reason they don't sell them in stores or markets. Those silly stems! Try and find a bush or tree, though. So good!

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  14. Thinking of canned goods (and mulling a little smugly through the blog hop again) did you ever go to someone's house and play 'can roulette'? You take all the labels off their cans, mix them round and stick them back in the cupboards...

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    1. As you should. You did a great job coming up with a wonderful hop. :)

      I have not done that in anyone's home, but there is a similar game for wedding or baby showers. For wedding showers, regular canned goods are used. For baby showers, the labels are taken off baby food jars, then guests are allowed to taste them to see if they can guess the correct one.

      By the way, when you come to mow, don't do that to me. It would make me bonkers.

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  15. Ouu...ouuu...ouuuu...are you picturing Horshack from Welcome Back Kotter about now??? :)

    What a great idea for a blog hop! To think I knew you when you were just a contributor and NOW...cohost! Yah!

    Can't wait to give this one a try. D

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    1. I wasn't, but I am now. :)

      I know. Don't worry, you'll be on the short list of invitees to my compound once I am rich and famous.

      Look forward to seeing you next week!

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  16. This is an awesome link up idea!! I'm behind!! But, I promise to link up next time. I once heard that the root of pride and selfishness is a lack of gratitude. If that's true, then spending more time giving thanks and pondering our blessings can only bear much fruit - your blog is a ministry :)!!!

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  17. I really like your words of wisdom/lesson during dinner. Your kids are well brought up lol I would have been like... "Just give me the F#&@en mashed potatoes!" And then been slapped and sent to my room :-)

    Great list! Do you think that coyote will do some damage to the pigs? I'd thought it would be afraid of them. Maybe if there were chickens... You had quite the smorgasbord spread of thanks. I don't think I know what a mulberry is, but can you possibly make a jelly/jam out of them? Or a pie? :-) That sounds mighty good to me!

    Awesome you are Co-Hosting this. I signed up on the other post, but my link still showed up here, so it's connect (or same link) I assume? Must have done it right I guess lol I'm a nOOb.

    Jak at The Cryton Chronicles & Dreams in the Shade of Ink

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  18. I love the dinner time story. It's a perfect way to describe our need to focus on the positive.

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Thank you for taking the time to tell me what you're thinking!