Okay,, I did it again. What week is this, exactly, that I came late to the party and linked up last? I keep this as a priority, but it does end up falling down a point…or five.
Birthday photos come a week later, first of my time holding my niece, by the swing set she is too young to enjoy just yet. I am still thinking birthdays…my parents and a friend and so on.
But forest fires continue to burn on the west coast and far away there is violence, such that I cannot imagine, and here I sit, writing another list of what I am thankful for in this life.
I am thankful for the best spaghetti dinner ever.
My brother made it. spaghetti has been a favourite food in my family for a long time, since our traditional spaghetti dinner, every Christmas Eve when I was young.
Now my brother makes it so well, as he’s been perfecting it. We went another way with the food in the title of our podcast (the one I was there to make when this meal was made) but, if I could have come up with a clever enough name using spaghetti, I would have.
He now takes care, not to eat sauce from a can, but to make it with vegetables and spices, allowing it to simmer.
My brother has perfected spaghetti and my sister has perfected cupcakes.
I am thankful for the birth and birthday of a lifelong friend.
We’ve been friends since we were ten. She was one of the few kids to approach me, on that first day at a new school. I had felt like a bit of a sideshow then, but our friendship grew into so much more.
I think of her now, so far away and on a path I never could have guessed at, and I smile and put my hand to my heart.
I am thankful for a long chat with a writer friend.
She writes about science. She is a scientist who loves to write, I suppose it would be better to say.
We talked for a long time, about everything concerning writing, as we are both trying to make it, using our skills, on our own.
Though our lives are vastly different from one another, our thoughts often come back to the same thing, something involving the art and the struggle of being a writer.
I am thankful for a gift of Gummy Bears.
I was working on a piece, on deadline, and someone knew it.
They sent me a treat, even if it was just a picture of that treat, a virtual treat as it were.
Still, to know they were thinking of me, there in that moment, was a nice thing, plain and simply.
I am thankful for superstitions like the famous Friday the 13th.
They have given me something to write about and to think about. They have caused me to challenge what I think and what I believe.
I am thankful for a visit with my neighbour where she helped me figure out how to take action in a few areas of my life.
She is good at narrowing an issue or a particular problem down. She keeps me thinking ahead and on task. Checking in on me periodically has helped a great deal since knowing her.
I am thankful for a delicious lunch/latte with another writing friend.
The wrap and the latte were just the thing for a Friday, as tired as I felt. I like hearing her take on things and I hope to be an ear to listen with for her, someone she knows she can trust.
I am thankful for a challenging violin lesson and yoga session, both within two days.
New poses to strengthen. New parts to repeat and drill into my thick head.
It is all a challenge, but a giant breath of fresh air too.
I am thankful for a friend’s writing getting published and read this week.
Kerra makes her opinions known on CNN.
She is speaking up, speaking out, and writing.
THE PRICE OF REDEMPTION – Panorama Journal
I am thankful we got a 60 minute episode of Ketchup On Pancakes recorded and up on our SoundCloud page.
KETCHUP ON PANCAKES: Episode 6 – Mom and More
When I think of my mom, I think of growing things, like flowers.
Apparently, so do others.
Her Headache 
I am sorry for being even later to respond to this lovely post, it’s been a challenging week… I’ll save that for my TToT. 🙂 What impresses me most with this post is the number of wonderful, caring friends you have meaningful relationships with! That speaks to your character and the fact that they obviously find you as thoughtful and kind as you find them! Having just the right someone to connect with or talk to when life is presenting ups and downs, or when we are just tired and need someone to light the way, is such a blessing! I am thankful for each of these lovely people who share their lives and hearts with you… for virtual Gummy Bears, for the perfect neighbor, and also for family who fill your life with joy and love! The photo of you with your holding your little niece close is the sweetest, the love radiates from your face! The cupcakes for your Mom’s birthday were indeed beautiful, and I love spaghetti with homemade sauce. My mom always made it from scratch and the kitchen smelled so good when it was cooking. In fact I requested it for my 18th birthday supper with friends. 🙂 Flowers and my mom go together in my mind too… and her love of pink, even her kitchen and bathroom were pink!
I think superstitions are fun too, I started reading some online and was amazed at how many different ones they are, and how often they repeat in various cultures!
It sounds like you and your brother are doing great with your podcasts, and I’m also pleased to read that you are hanging in there with both violin lessons and yoga. I just know that someday you’ll be ready to share a short violin piece with us via video and we will all be clapping out loud for you. Nothing beats success fueled by stubborn determination! I love you for taking on life’s challenges when it would be so much easier not to, but not nearly as much fun or as much life in the living!
I hope this week is going great for you, your posts are always uplifting and that’s a real gift to me this week, I think it came in right on time as God intended! 🙂 XOXO
I requested lasagna for my 18th birthday.
I have often gone through life feeling like I have very few friends actually. That is why this thankful exercise each week is such a blessing and so sorely needed in my life. It helps me see, reminds me just how wrong I am to continue to think that way. Friends are just not what I used to think they were. As I grow, I am learning more.
I love this post on being thankful ☺️
Glad you like it.
Nice cake, whats the pink stuff around the edges and top of those cap-cakes made out of?
spaghetti can be such a fun food as well. Have ya ever race anyone with it? Me and my sister use to, bug mom she would say your spaghetti is food not a game. Then there lady and the tramp, come to my mind when i think of spaghetti.
Love that your keeping in touch with your life long friend. That one long time friend tend to be the one that will always give ya the best advice and comfort.
The night of the bike’s Friday 13th. Glad a day like the 13th give ya writing inspiration, i wounder what your mind have written up.
I don’t know. You’d have to ask my sister. She is the cake maker in the family.
I personally had never heard of racing with spaghetti before. Kids love to play when they are supposed to be eating.