Looking for the Blessings Faves

It's been a difficult week, physically. Yes, I still am dealing with a horrible sinus and ear infection although I believe it's beginning to heal.  It's the worse one I've ever had and I've had several in the last 15 years.

It's been a difficult, busy week at work.

Things have gone wrong around the house....

But I'm looking for the blessings because there is always something to be thankful for and this is a week where I really need to be intentional. 

I'm linking up with others who look for the blessings.  If you'd like to join in, head over to Susanne's site.

FIVE FAVES

Anette, me, Anita 

Our Destination:  small Waterfalls

Love these trees along the shoreline

Lake Bonita
 in the new section of
Moreau Lake State Park
Southern ADKS

German Shepherd in training as a search and rescue dog

• EASY WOODS HIKE: Last Saturday I was supposed to lead a hike with members of my fitness group.  Originally there were 4 of us going but one cancelled and I almost cancelled as I really didn't feel great.  (Mainly coughing due to post nasal drip...which is so annoying on a hike).  Because one of the members had never hiked in the deep woods before, I really wanted to be there.  Well, I'm thankful  we went because the day was a perfect Northeast June day.  Temp of 74 F and just perfect blue sky.  We had so much fun following a new trail to a little waterfalls where we ate a snack and tried to ward off the mosquitoes.  By then we had hiked just about 2.3 miles so decided to go further in for another 1/4 mile.  We did but the trail actually got kinda boring so we turned around and went back via the loop trail around Lake Bonita. We ran into some search and rescue folks who were training some new puppies for the job.  You can see one of the dogs in the bottom photo, just above the shadows of the trees on the ground. These are my fave pics from the day.  I'm really thankful I went because I had the best night sleep of any night this week!

• SICK DAY: I ended up taking a sick day when consulting with my doctor about why this antibiotic didn't seem any more effective than the last one.  She recommended I stay home and rest and to call an ENT if things didn't get better.  So I stayed home on Tuesday, took a nap in the sun and started some home remedies to get some relief.  By the middle of the day my ear pain was gone so I'm guessing what I did started to work.  That and........
• THE POWER OF PRAYER:  I was so discouraged and a little worried because the ear pain on Sunday and Monday was so intense.  I kept thinking the worse.  I guess because I've lived through lyme disease which was the worse sickness I've ever had, I've got a high tolerance for pain.  But this was much worse feeling.  I finally asked my husband to lay hands on me and pray and some of my closest friends were lifting me up in prayer too.  I'm so thankful we have circle of friends who intercede for one another. I then was able to pay it forward and pray for my cousin and another hiking friend who both needed some major prayer this week.

image courtesy of google

• ESSENTIAL OILS:  I'm so glad I researched how to deal with an ear infection when antibiotics don't seem to be working.  I found that 2-3 drops of tea tree oil in 2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil was very soothing.  I soaked a cotton ball in the mixture and gently placed it in my outer ear letting the oils drip into my inner ear.  I was able to sleep Tuesday night after doing this twice during the day.  As I type this (Thursday evening), I have 2 antibiotic pills left and no pain in the ear.  Also, my sinuses are starting to heal up.  I'm so thankful for  nature's medicine as well as science/medical doctors.

• NETFLIX:  because I've been told by my doctor to lie low this week and just REST, I ended up finishing an excellent Netflix series via instant streaming, called Land Girls, set in WWII England.  What a great series...it's only 3 seasons and I usually watch when I'm cooking, folding laundry, etc.  Tuesday I finished the final 2 episodes and I'm thankful I had the opportunity.  I'm also thankful we have Netflix because we all have different genres we enjoy.  This way we can all choose movies on our own devices and watch whenever we have the time.

That wraps up my faves.

I'm hoping to have an enjoyable, healthy weekend!!

HAPPY WEEKEND, EVERYONE!