Things to be thankful for - everyday edition

For this week’s Writers’ Workshop, there were a couple of Thanksgiving themed prompts since it is Thanksgiving in the States this week.  Canadian Thanksgiving was last month but I figure that there is no expiration date on being thankful.  As a matter of fact, it’s something we should remember to do all year round.

So here we go!

-Name a colour you are thankful for.

I think that I have to go with green here.  Nothing gaudy; a nice deep dark green.  I’m not sure how we’re supposed to be thankful for a colour but it’s my favourite and I have the eyesight to be able to see it……… so, yeah, I’m grateful.

-Something your spouse does that you are thankful for

Well, I don’t have a spouse but I have a pretty decent ex-husband who is there for our kids and almost always willing to help me out when I need a bit of muscle for something.  I guess that I’m pretty lucky in that respect.

-Something that your kids do that you are thankful for.

I’ve raised my kids to understand that every member of a household needs to do their part in keeping that household running.  This means that my kids do their chores with little prompting or grumbling.  Since I have a full time job outside of the home, this makes my life so much better.  It really makes me appreciate having teens who are old enough to contribute like that.

-A food you are thankful for.

Frankly, I’m grateful that I can afford to keep us pretty well-fed when so many families struggle so I guess that I’m thankful for all food.  Specific food though?  Hmmmm….. chocolate is pretty high on my list.  Oh, and bacon!  Bacon makes everything better!

-What recent good news are you thankful for?

Nothing monumentally good or bad has happened recently but I did chat with my sister-in-law the other day and we’ve made plans to see each other this weekend.  Since it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, I’d call this good news that I’m very glad to hear.

-Name a drink you are thankful for.

In the non-alcoholic category, that would be tea with Diet Coke a close second.  Booze? I do love a good glass (or two or three) of wine.

-Name a restaurant you are thankful for.

Right now, that would be McDonalds.  They gave The Boy a job this summer (which he still has) which has (mostly) gotten his grubby hands out of my wallet.

-Talk about an animal you are thankful for.

Aardvarks!  No, no, just kidding, lol!  The real answer would be my cat.  She is so attached to us that she’s practically a dog.  She adores the kids and lands on their laps the second they sit down.  She’s just a little thing but is hard to move once she settles in.

-Name a beauty product you are thankful for.

I love my Olay facial lotion.  I don’t use it so much in the hot weather since I’m usually sweaty anyway but, as soon as the cooler weather hits, I use it every day religiously.  If good old Oil of Olay was good enough for my grandmother, it’s good enough for me.

-Name a cleaning product you are thankful for.

A cleaning product?  Seriously?  Sorry, I can’t be thankful for anything that has to do with chores.

-What social media platform are you thankful for?

Hmmm….. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Facebook these days and haven’t been on Pinterest much.  I have to say that I probably spend most of my time on Instagram these days and use Twitter to stay up to date with my favourite TV shows so I guess it’s a tie between those two for my gratefulness lately.

-Tell us why you are thankful for the last person who texted you.

As I write this, the last person who texted me was one of my co-workers.  I have a good job but not what you would call an exciting career.  It is my co-workers who make hauling my ass out of bed in the morning worthwhile.  We work together like a well-oiled machine AND we genuinely like each other.  That’s a hard combination to find.

-Name a candy you are thankful for.

I love Rockets!  When they went on sale after Halloween, I went and bought myself a big-ass bag of them which I’m still enjoying.  For those of you in the States, you call them Smarties; our Smarties are more like M&M’s.

For my American friends :)

 

-Name an app on your phone that you are thankful for.

Referring to my answer above, I probably use Instagram and Twitter the most.

-What are you looking forward to that you are thankful for?

I’m looking forward to spending time with family at Christmas.  The Christmas lights, good food and good company light up those short winter days.

Kathy

Stain ---- for the Writer's Workshop

When I saw the writing prompt telling us to write a post using the word stain, somehow my thoughts went to dark things like stains on my soul and stains on society.  This is a bit disturbing considering how boring I am.  Believe me; I don’t do anything that’s exciting enough to leave stains on my soul!  As for society, perhaps the events last week in Paris are responsible for those thoughts.  Honestly, I really want to get away from that.  You don’t need my blog to add to all of the commentary that’s already floating around the internet.

There is another sort of stain that plagues my life that would be far better blog material; the kind of stains that I’m hoping I’m not alone in collecting.  That’s right, I’m talking about stains on my shirts.  I’m forever saying “oh geez, you can’t take me anywhere” because I’m always wiping some spill or another from my cleavage.

Somebody please tell me I'm not alone in this....... please.......

I fully admit that I’m a clutz.  I trip over my own feet regularly, can’t carry more than two or three things without dropping something or running into someone and I definitely can’t eat anything with a sauce without dripping it down my front.  Even something “loose” like rice, if I put a decent amount on my fork, will end up in my bra if my shirt is low-cut enough.

When my kids witness this, they are so used to it that they just roll their eyes and keep on eating their meal.  The sight of their mother with gravy splatters on her boobs doesn’t even elicit a comment anymore.

I have a number of shirts in my only-wear-at-home pile, not because they don’t fit well anymore or they are worn out but because they have one too many stains on them to be decent enough for public viewing.  I always know that it’s time to go shopping when that pile gets bigger than my decent-enough-for-public-viewing pile.

I own my clutziness but I’m convinced that the stains are my boobs’ fault.  Those suckers are big and catch everything that comes their way kind of like those big blow-up things that stunt men land on when they jump off buildings.  It’s a cross that all big boobed women have to bear…..

Look, I can't even brush my teeth without dribbling!

Kathy

Fall - A Ten Line Post for the Writers' Workshop

I am so happy that it’s fall.

No more heat and humidity to make me sweat with every movement.

My window is open a crack at night and I have an extra blanket on my bed to snuggle under.

Halloween has passed with all of those wonderful costumes to look at and candy to eat.

Pumpkin chai latté – enough said.

Comfort foods like soup, chili and stews.  Break out that crock pot!

Big pot of chili that disappeared very quickly!

Look at all of those beautiful colours on the trees!

I can make use of all of my scarves now.  I seem to have a bit of an addiction to adding to my collection; send help!

We just booked our Christmas party for work and I have ordered my kids to put together their lists.

In case the last line didn’t remind you, we’re seven weeks away from Christmas! (you’re welcome)

Kathy