"R" Faves

 

Well, here in eastern New York, March arrived like a lion with temps in the teens and 20s and a messy, wet snow on Tuesday.  But thankfully the temps started to warm up and the sun was shining in full force on Wednesday and began to melt the 2 inches of slush on the driveway and deck.  I, for one, am glad March is here and that Spring isn't far off. 

I'm sharing FIVE of my FAVE blessings from the week and linking up with other grateful bloggers at our host's site:  Susanne from Living to Tell the Story.   Join in!

• RELAXING NIGHT:  Dave and I had an in-house date night after picking up some dinner at a new fast food place about 3 miles from our house. In fact, in nice weather, we  could walk or bike there. It's on the main drag that our oldest daughter's apartment complex is on.  It got good reviews but honestly it's just like a Popeye's so isn't all that great and there's really no healthy choices and definitely no plant-based choices.  I ordered the classic chicken sandwich and some iced tea. It was ok.  I won't be choosing their food again although Dave wants to try their beef smash burger. I told him to count me out.  😏 The thing I'm grateful for despite the mediocre  fast food is that we had time together and watched a hilarious movie...a total comedy that although it had some crass language, we enjoyed the story. We had had a somewhat stressful week leading up to date night so I was thankful for the down time and that I didn't have to cook. 

• REFUND!  Imagine my surprise when I was checking something on our online banking site and saw that the IRS had deposited a nice tax return to our account! I knew Dave had finished the taxes but I wasn't expecting such a good return!  He was shocked that it was in our account already, too.  Last year it took far longer. It's the highest it's been in quite some time.....Dave says it's because I'm retired now and that our house is paid off.  I'm thankful for the nice surprise to give us some extra money. 

• RENEWAL:  I'm thankful I received my Adirondack Mountain Club renewal card in the mail this past week.  I'm also thankful I  now qualify for the "senior citizen" rate. This gives me a discount on a lodge in the High Peaks wilderness region ( which I've never stayed in although it's on my bucket list) and also gives me discounts on clothing from the ADK Club store as well as discounts on the hiking guidebooks. Not that I need any of those books..I think I own just about all of them!  (I even gave 4 away to a thrift store recently!) It also gives me lists of various hikes that the various ADK Club chapters engage in.  I've gone on only one ADK Club sponsored hike in the last 3 years because now that I run my own hiking group, I simply haven't had time to join others. I'm thankful for the options, though. 

family room couch 

• RE-DECORATING:  We've had our family room "cottage couch" (Cape Cod style)  for about 21 years.  It's starting to fade and there's a couple of very small stains on a cushion that I can't seem to get out no matter what product  I use. Dave doesn't want me to buy a new couch right now so when I saw this slipcover on sale at this online store which I love and have ordered decor from in the past, I went for it. It's a tad bit big even though my measurements matched theirs but I'm thinking I'll wash it and since it's cotton I'll toss it in the dryer on hot air and  hopefully it will shrink a little bit.  Overall I like how it looks. It The  darker blue stripe in it  is the same blue as the couch so it's not a huge change decor-wise.  Yes, I still have a Valentine's and Winter pillows on the couch.  Those will be replaced by some Spring ones as soon as Spring arrives for real. 😉

• RANDOM POP-IN: Our youngest daughter gave us a surprise pop-in visit yesterday morning before she had to be at work. She had had an early morning hair appointment and decided to pop in to say good bye to Dave (he left on a missions trip to Guatemala at dawn this morning) knowing he had taken the day off to pack. I had just come in from a power walk and was so happy to see her as it had been over 2 weeks since we hugged on our Claire. She could only stay and chat about 20 minutes as had to get to work, but we made plans to do brunch in a couple weeks on her day off. I'm thankful my daughters live in the area for these kinds of visits! 

Those are just some little things I'm thankful for this week.  Nothing very exciting but all special things that made me smile and say Thank You, God. 

What about you? What's one thing you're thankful for this week? Drop me a comment!