Thankful Thursday

Quick post today. I know I'm "behind" but also know that it's more important to me right now to be spending time with my guys. I'll catch up more after the holidays probably. ;) So. Here are some things I'm thankful for lately...

1. Tuba Christmas. Back on December 7, Nathan and I ventured up to Old Town for a nice date lunch, listening to part of the annual Tuba Christmas and doing a little shopping together. 

The weather was much nicer than last year when we first attended, and we enjoyed our people watching immensely. 

2. Tim's gym. More than eleven years in and I'm still enjoying boot camp three mornings a week with most of the same group. During the pandemic, we formed a core group, meeting over Zoom and getting together in person every so often (sometimes just socially, not to work out). Recently, Tim, our evil-trainer-yet-motivating-force, and his wife opened their own physical gym. (They'd been training people over Zoom and in their basement since the pandemic.) While we still do boot camp over Zoom for various reasons, most of us have also joined his gym and have been enjoying seeing each other in person there lately. Thankful for workout buddies who keep me going! 

3. Mr. Asher. On December 12, I helped Asher pack up his dorm room for the winter break. While there, I spotted this on his desk. It makes me smile that this is how students address him when he's teaching for a class.

4. Packages done and wrapped. I got everything in the mail on Monday and have everything here wrapped and am feeling pretty good about it all. I always conveniently forget how long it takes to wrap and package everything, but at least it's done, lol. Along the way, I was particularly thankful for the new postage scale I finally thought to order (I'd been having to go in person for any packages over 3lb but now have a new scale that goes up to 50lb so can print all my postage at home...yay!) and for grid lines on the reverse of wrapping paper (makes the OCD in me so much happier to cut in straight lines, lol). 

5. Fudge gifts. We made fudge again this year for various neighbors and friends. Almost done actually delivering them all, too. Thankful for this easy treat and that we bought this specific cutter tool (last year? the year before?). It makes creating fairly uniform bites soooo much easier and quicker!

We tried two new flavors this year: candy cane and hot cocoa. Oh! I was also very thankful to find pre-crushed candy canes and tiny marshmallows specifically for baking. Hooray for specialized ingredients! (Actually crushing candy canes and using normal marshmallows would work also but this was considerably easier.)

Okay. That's my list for now. Micah's semester finally finished last night and he got home today. Off to enjoy the holiday season with my full house now. Hope you're all able to do the same!

Thankful Thursday...on Friday

So. I wrote this yesterday and then forgot to actually post it. :)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was quiet and lovely and full of gratitude.

1. We were all together. So thankful that my sons all ended up at Colorado colleges, making holidays together so much easier. Micah had the full week off from classes but stayed in Boulder to work and came home Wednesday. Asher still had classes Monday and Tuesday and came home Wednesday also. Thursday, we had a lazy day of food and new games. Noah got this one, called Wyrmspan, for us to play...

It took a good while but was pretty fun (and the artwork was gorgeous)...definitely had a bit of a learning curve, though. :)

2. We decorated. Noah had to work Friday and the other two met up with friends. We also had some time together watching shows and playing games. On Saturday, Micah and I went climbing then we all put up our holiday decorations since we won't be together again until almost Christmas. (I know my years of boys being available are limited so will be thankful we were able to still all decorate together in the first place.) Boys decided our stockings should be hung in order of our scores from our first Wyrmspan game, lol. So, from last to first (and left to right): Nathan, me, Noah, Asher and Micah. 

We also put up our now traditional tree of lights on the climbing wall...

We also took some photos. Some people cooperated more than others, lol. And then Asher and Nathan made sure to promptly hang the hammock back up. ;) 

Here's how it looks at night...

And I love that it still looks "tree-like" even when the lights aren't on. We bought new lights last year after the holidays and used them for the first time now. See? The strand of lights looks more like a tree...

Gotta say...though a part of me misses picking out a tree and setting it up and everything, I'm really digging this climbing wall tree these past few years. It's so much easier and is definitely "ours."

As has become usual, we didn't put out a heap of other decorations. But the ones we do display are sentimental and make me smile and I'm thankful for that and for the memories they bring each year.

3. I've been walking more. A couple years ago, we painted a bunch of rocks. As I've been walking more, I've been trying to remember to take some along and scatter them in the common areas for the kids to find. I saved these for December...

It makes me happy to think about a little kid finding one and being excited. :) Thankful, too, for the joys of walking more...knowing it's good for me, enjoying the (mostly) lovely weather, appreciating our neighborhood and town, and wonderful conversation time (when I walk with someone, obviously). 

4. My dad would have been 75 on Monday. I didn't mark the occasion by handing out his favorite candy bars this year (Sam's Club was sold out for two weeks and, well, it's getting difficult to find enough people to hand them out to who don't look at me suspiciously, lol). My mom and siblings and I traded old photos and memories of him and missed him dearly. He's been gone more than 17 years now and I'm so sad for all he's missed. I'll direct you to these old posts here and here. (There are plenty more but I don't feel like going to find them all and reminiscing just now.) I'm so thankful for the time I had with him and for the foundation he set for our family.  

And that's my list for now. Somehow it's already December. Hope y'all are off to a great one!

Thankful Thursday

Slacking on my blogging. :P Just feels like there's less to record with sons off doing their own thing. In any case, here's my list of things I'm thankful for today...

1. Micah's social life. So happy that Micah's thriving down in Boulder and enjoying his roommates, teammates, classmates, and friends. Here's a picture he sent me of him and his roommates earlier this month when it snowed...

They named the snowman Dexter apparently. :) He was made down the street from their house, at a nearby park. (Incidentally, we decided to let Micah take a car to have in Boulder shortly after this. He didn't have a car in his first year at CU Boulder; parking on campus just didn't make sense. Now that he has a place to park at his rental house, though, having the option to drive occasionally and stay warmer seems good. We're hoping he stays healthier as a result. When he picked up the car, he also remembered to take his winter coat and gear, lol.)

2. Asher's social life. Similarly, I'm so happy that Asher has found friends at UNC. He's been spending time with his taekwondo clubmates, fellow PE students (both in classes and through the PE Club), the lightsaber group that occasionally has organized battles, and even his roommates. Last weekend, he and four of his clubmates competed at a local tournament...

Overall, they did better than last year at the same tournament and had a great time together. Asher chose not to compete in all the events, just focusing on the board breaking. 

3. Nathan's new job. I don't know that I've actually mentioned it here, but Nathan started a new job back in October. He's now working at August Health, still doing software engineering/programming. His day to day life is fairly similar (still working from home) but he likes this new company's leadership and team better. He's been both appreciating and battling the challenge of learning new systems. Overall, it's been a good move, resulting in a better work/life balance and a happier Nathan. Thankful.  

(I'm very thankful, too, that we continue to have good medical insurance. I'm less thrilled at the hours I've already spent transitioning things over...still working on getting Micah's monthly prescription filled and learning the new procedures and figuring out what's in network, specifically in the two boys' college towns. Bleh.)

4. Fall clean up. With our gloriously longer and beautiful fall, we had to wait a bit before we could tackle fall clean up in our yard this year. Last weekend, we were finally able to clear the gutters (using the leaf blower), trim back foliage, mulch, mow, etc. 

By the time we'd finished the front yard, our yard waste container was full so we opted to wait on the back yard. Plus, our neighbor's tree along our back yard fence hadn't gotten the message that it was fall yet so was still full of leaves. I'm thankful that our big winds on Tuesday took care of that for us, so now our back yard clean up will be able to proceed this coming weekend. It'll be nice to have that done. (Also, that will be the last opportunity to use the yard waste container for the season anyhow.)

So. That's my list for now. Incredibly thankful for a great many more things but turning my attention, for the time being, to figuring out next week, lol. Safe travels to any of you who will be traveling for Thanksgiving and warm thoughts to all!

Twenty Four

Yesterday, my Noah turned 24. Yup. That happened.

We didn't do much to celebrate...just managed some photos and filling out our ballots and enjoying a birthday lunch before Micah had to head back to Boulder for work. Noah, Asher and I then also got some birthday ice cream and dropped off all our ballots, and Noah went out for drinks in the evening with friends. 

Here's my birthday guy...

For his birthday, Micah got Noah a new sweater (that matched his own), lol...

And they proceeded to make an Asher sandwich...

...but did finally cooperate for at least one decent photo of the three of them...

Not much else to report. Since last year's birthday, Noah bought himself a car and got a promotion at work and has been doing more stargazing and photography. All good things. :)

Happy birthday to Noah!

Thankful Thursday

Happy Halloween, y'all! No big goings-on here. The guy across the street has gone crazy with inflatables again. Asher and Micah are busy with college. Noah wore a costume to work today. That's pretty much it. :)

Today's Thankful Thursday is just one main thing. Today, I'm just very appreciative for fall...and fall leaves. I love fall. And every year, I try to take fall leaves pictures with the boys. (I started gathering them all in one place but haven't finished yet.) This year, though, we haven't all been in the same place while the leaves have been fall-y. So. I tasked everyone with taking his own photo, and this is what I got...

Asher climbed a very tall tree here in town while OneWheeling with a friend. Noah took his shot while hiking to a lake on Longs Peak. Micah finally got some fall color down in Boulder last week. (His photo is taken just across the street from one of his jobs.) And Nathan and I found fall colors in Wind Cave National Park at the start of the month and in our neighborhood park recently. 

So thankful for the beauty of fall...and for the fact that this year's season has lasted as long as it has here. (It's been gorgeous all of October! Some years the fall colors have only lasted days or a week, so this is fabulously appreciated.) 

Okay, that's it. Super thankful. Giving out full sized candy tonight so that I'm not as tempted by little snack size candies. Happy day, everyone!