Thankful Thursday

Man, it's a hot one. Like 7-inches from the mid-day sun.

Linking up this morning with Rebecca Jo @ Knit By God's Hand for the the most positive thing happening on the internet these days...Thankful Thursday!

This week I am thankful... 

** (can't say it often enough in this heat) for good air conditioning. How the heck did we survive back in the days when hardly anyone but businesses had it?

** for a fun night of tacos, fellowship, and prayer with my Bible study group. Some just got back in town from vacations, many are going to be gone next week. So we just got together to catch up, chat, and offer up prayers for everything that's going on.

** the sports injury clinic was able to fit me in for an appointment this week if I didn't mind seeing the PA. I didn't. The good news is that there isn't anything major or unfixable wrong with my leg. I have a severly inflamed IT band (a thick bundle of "fibers" that runs from the hip to the outside of the knee and hooks on to the top of the shin bone). X-rays showed slight arthritis in the lower spine (knew that) and hip (didn't know, but figured since I seem to have it everywhere) and moderate arthritis in the knee (good news that there isn't anything worse going on there).

I start physical therapy to try and loosen up the IT band on Friday and they gave me a prescription for a topical pain cream. If pt doesn't help the other option will be steroid shots in the hip.

** for an unexpected lunch out with Megan, the kiddos, my sister-in-law, a niece, and her kids yesterday...and my sister-in-law kindly picked up the tab. So nice of her! We don't get together with Tim's family much so it was nice to see some of them.

** that the news' reporting of restaurants and bars being closed down again in our county starting today, seems to have been false. Neither the governor nor the secretary of health as said anything. Not sure why the news reported it as being so, but talk about throwing the business community into an uproar! It may come yet, but it will come with a timetable and clear plan...not just a deadline. I hope the news outlets have learned a lesson, but I won't hold my breath.

** we've had rain, glorious rain, two days in a row! Tuesday we had a couple of hours of good steady rain and last night we got one good dump. We still need more. Everything is so dang dry. Everyone's yards are brown and crunchy. We are ripe for forest or field fires to start, but so far we have been blessed...especially with all the folks who set off their own fireworks on the 4th.

** that when it rained on Tuesday we didn't get the same storms that hit on the other side of Pittsburgh. One area got upwards of 5 inches of rain in just a couple of hours! Flash floods were a big problem.

** to have been able to picnic with my mom, stepdad, Megan and her family on the 4th. It sure didn't feel like normal with everything cancelled, our son's family away, and the oppresive heat...but it was good that we were together and enjoyed a meal of steak, taco salad, grilled potatoes and onions, and a red, white and blue dessert I made.

** to Mom and John for buying the steaks for everyone.

** for the joy spending time with Colton and Leah brings me. Many reasons contributed to us not having close relationships with our other two grandchildren and that makes me sad, but what I now have with these two is a precious gift that I cannot thank the Lord for often enough. 

** we live in an area that is largely unaffected by the ugliness we see happening on the news or read about on social media. When I get tired of hearing it or seeing it, I can just turn off the electronics and escape. I did that for most of yesterday and felt the better for it.

** for the blessing and priviledge of being born an American. For all her faults, this is still the best country, the country with the most freedoms, the country with the most opportunities.

** for a loving, forgiving, merciful God who is always and will always be in control of what is going on in this world. 

** as always, for each on of you!