Thankful Thursday

This is the tenth Thankful Thursday since we started this social distancing dealio. Still mostly hanging at home. :) Still mostly all good. Here's this week's list of things I'm thankful for...

1. Hot water. Tuesday morning our hot water heater died. It was 12 years old so apparently it had lived a full life, lol. Even though it died while I was in the shower (brrr!), I've got to be thankful that it didn't die more catastrophically...just stopped working and, upon further investigation, was actually leaking a little in the furnace room. Thankful, too, that we're in a position that we were able to call around, find a repairman and get it replaced yesterday. I recognize that that's not always possible. 

Also, from our almost 30 hours without hot water, we have a new appreciation for hot water, itself. :) So very glad we were able to get things up and running again so quickly! (Tangent here to say that we definitely live a privileged life; having (mostly) reliable hot water to sanitize things and the space to socially distance aren't givens for many.)

2. Getting things sorted for next semester...kinda. Noah signed a lease for an apartment off-campus for next school year. He'll be with his roommate from this past year, and it's a pretty nice set up...fully furnished, individual leases, two bedroom/two bath...fairly new complex, close to campus and he has friends who've already lived there a year. Especially thankful for the situation since dorm life this coming year is so uncertain right now.

On top of that, he's been offered a part-time LA position next year for mechanical engineering's thermodynamics class (MECH 337). (TAs (teaching assistants) are graduate students; LAs (learning assistants) are undergrads. To be considered for the position, you had to have gotten an A in the class.) So, whew. Noah's mostly sorted for next year...whatever that's going to look like. 

3. Getting all the boys' textbooks returned easily. All three boys' textbook returns went very smoothly and easily this week...dropped off books and materials to CEC at our assigned drive by time and Noah only had one rental textbook to return via Amazon. (His other books were either online or ones he purchased and will keep.) Glad to have that all out of the way so I don't worry about losing them in the house over the summer, lol.

4. Memories popping up in my Facebook feed. I don't generally pay attention but am thankful this week for the Facebook memories that have been showing up. Today, Facebook reminded me that I'd posted pictures like this two years ago today...

Such awesome memories from that Europe trip! (2018: Noah was 17, Asher was 15, and Micah was 12.)

And then, just for fun, I realized that this picture was taken five years ago today at Mesa Verde National Park...

(2015: Noah was 14, Asher was 12, and Micah was 9.)

...and this one was taken TEN years ago at Mt Rushmore (not exactly on this day, but within a week)...

(2010: Noah was 9, Asher was 7, and Micah was 4.) Look how adorable they were! :) 

5. Lunch dates. And, I'm thankful, too, that I continue to have lunch dates. Today, Nathan and I enjoyed another take-out picnic at a park. We didn't take pictures during but got this one after we'd finished eating and talking and such. Beautiful weather today and not as hot as my lunch date yesterday with Deanna (also a take-out picnic at a park). It was fabulous catching up with her now that the weather allowed for getting together outside on our own blankets. But we maybe should have moved to the shade sooner. ;)

So. Things are going pretty well here. Nathan's busy with work and trying to make all of that work in this new normal. Micah's been meeting up virtually with his climbing team (they have a new team fitness challenge going), and boys have been able to go to a couple in-person karate sessions (limited to four people with masks and distancing). Boot camp continues and is good for my mental health. We've been binge watching shows as a family. Yup, we're settling into summer here (and making plans to at least try to be productive during that time, lol). Thankful.