link-ups and being grateful

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm joining in with two linkups today—Hello Monday with Tanya from The Other Side of the Road and Carrie from A Stylish Fit. 

My weekend was the same as the last week, which is very uneventful. The snow and ice was still on the ground for us, which means I stayed home. I don't love being out when there's ice on the roads, thanks to our notoriously bad drivers here in the Memphis area. I was okay with being home and am a homebody by nature. My first venture out in seven days was yesterday when we went to church. I was thankful to be out and then yesterday I even drove myself and a young friend to choir practice. Our road was slushy, but parts of it were still covered in ice.

I've been dreading today for a while now. Our dog Crash is having his first ACL repair surgery today. I'm not concerned about the surgery, because I know he'll be fine, but I'm dreading the WEEKS of recovery and confinement for him. We borrowed a huge kennel and got him a plush bed for the inside, and that is where he will live for the next five weeks. He'll be able to walk to get his food and water, but will have to be taken outside on a leash so that he doesn't try to take off running. The total recovery time is ten weeks, with five spent in close confinement, which is why we needed a huge kennel.

When I'm dreading something, I like to think of things that I can be thankful for. Doing this helps me to sort it all out in my mind and it helps me to have a better perspective. Have you ever tried this? I do it pretty often, usually in my journal, so I can attest that it really does help with a better mindset. So, here are some things I am grateful for: 

As much as I'm dreading this, I'm glad Crash is having surgery. He's been in tremendous pain for two weeks and has had to be carried upstairs and physically lifted up to lay down on the couch. That is not his best life.

I'm grateful that my husband knew a veterinarian surgeon to do this and to work with us on the surgery. It's very expensive! 

I'm grateful to my friend Jess for letting us borrow the huge kennel. Another friend Vonna had offered us hers as well, but we went with Jess' because it was a few inches bigger than the one Vonna had. We want him to have all the room he can have to stretch out. I am grateful for friends like them—I met both of these ladies through Bible study. Vonna is a friend from our early years of homeschooling and attending a Bible study for the moms while the kids attended classes and Jess is a friend I met last year at church in our women's group on Wednesdays.

I am so grateful I got out of my house yesterday and that I'm getting out again today. I have big plans—I'm going grocery shopping and hopefully to get my nails done. 

I'm thankful that though the snow and ice were inconvenient last week, that's all that it was. We never lost power, we never lost water, we had a warm home to sleep in and we had plenty of food to eat. I know of people who are still suffering the effects today and prayed for the ones who suffered devastating loss in Texas last week.

I am so grateful that I was able to be at church yesterday. Our morning of worship was so very good and the sermon was incredible. I left feeling so encouraged and thankful to have been there in person. I also love my choir family and always enjoy being with them. 

Well, I could go on and on, but I'll wrap up this post with that last one. I need to get up and make lunches and coffees to go and get started on my day. I hope you have a great one! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all.