35. Thanks

  Just a few things on my mind recently that seem like they should be shared. That is, I'm never grateful enough, and even when I am I rarely express it. I'm not sure why I never think to post things on Facebook right away, but then it seems silly to post about something the day after it happened. I should also tell people I'm grateful more often (I work every year on Thank You cards after Christmas, and yet I never finish them. I finished about half of them this year.)
  So, since these things have been building up in my mind, I figured why not post them here, where it's less silly that the thanks are slightly stale (especially because next to nobody reads my blog). I've posted things I'm thankful for once in the past, and that list was quite enjoyable to come up with. I doubt I will ever write such a long list, but maybe if I practice being thankful.... I like Kari Patterson's sweet Week's End with Thanks posts (example). But, here's my list for this (month?), that I should be/ am thankful for. Or, praising God for.

 1. I am so tired of my car. Okay, that doesn't start out right, and from the context you'll see in a moment, I actually am not trying to make a pun either. To be technical, it's not my car, it's my parent's car which they have let me use without payment to them. For this I am incredibly grateful (not that you would ever know it because I might complain about the car a lot.) However, the poor thing is getting older and having problems with more things (oil, transmission fluid, coolant all leak, I'm not fond of the gas mileage, seat belt doesn't latch in its own slot, and so on.) Thankfully, it runs.
  Last month it was not running well. The car was beginning to shake. As per my usual, I avoided doing anything about it because I didn't know exactly what to do. Was the engine about to blow up on me? Not that I could tell by looking (and no, I really couldn't tell anything by looking.) Was it the tires? At quick glance, not that I could see. So it was getting worse.
  I am quite grateful, then, to the gentleman who pulled up beside me as I parked at work one day who told me that my tires were shaking. This certainly wasn't something I wanted to hear! However, it narrowed down the problem. I think the guy actually followed me just to tell me because it seems like he left right away, he might not have been going shopping.
  I called my dad after I got home and he looked at my tires the next day. Sure enough, much more obvious to his eyes than mine, the belt had slipped on my front passenger tire and there were wires sticking out (it's possible the wires were hidden or not sticking out when I looked, because I'm sure I would have seen them at least). I am probably most grateful to my Dad for then calling around to find places that had used tires. (Because I really don't want to buy more new tires for a car I want to get rid of. I don't have $120 dollars, and since the other front tire is getting worn too, $240.)
  I was off the next day, so Dad met me at the tire shop and checked out the used tires they had at the moment. There was only one decent one, unfortunately, so my other front tire has to wait a little longer. (It's getting cracks along the side, should really remember to drive carefully.) But, yay! One less problem to worry about. And driving the car home felt so strange, I'd forgotten what it was like to drive without the steering wheel shaking.

 Well, that could have been it's own post, couldn't it? And if I'd written it when it happened, almost a month ago, it could have been. But, today it isn't.

 2. My sister came and visited me during spring break. Gem is working as a teachers assistant, so she had time off that week, and we haven't really visited since before she got married (in September). She moved about 45 minutes away. (Not terrible, but there is nothing besides her out that direction to see.) It's okay, we at least see her a couple more times a year than holidays. They visit our church (her home church) occasionally, or come for special events when they can. Sadly, they come for dinner with the parents sometimes when I'm working. (Edit- She was even randomly at the parents house when I went there for dinner before Awana.) Anyhow, Gem and I end up fighting if we spend too much time together, so it's not huge that we don't hang out a lot. We text occasionally.
  But, it was great to sit and visit with her about things. I admit, we did probably talk about the baby quite a bit. (She's pregnant, due September. I'm gonna be an aunt, yay!) And decorating/ organizing things. She borrowed a couple movies since they don't have tv and don't really have internet so they can't watch tv online like I do. She was disappointed that I hadn't made her peanut butter cookies like she'd been hinting earlier in the week. Problem is, none of us are really sure what recipe I used to use, so they can't copy my skill (and neither can I.)

 Wow, I really didn't think I was going to elaborate on all of these quite this much. I must be in some sort of chatty mood today?

 3. Movie night with my cousin and his girlfriend, who I quite like. Watched a couple movies and they made a yummy dinner (chicken, salad, greek frozen yogurt for dessert). Saw where my cousin lives for the first time; though he intends to move to Portland soon.
  Even the night was good because on my way there I stopped at Goodwill to look, well, I can't remember what exactly I was looking for, but I found a couple things that were pretty well perfect. You'll see them in a couple posts "coming soon".

 4. That my organizing as of recent has been quite helpful! It is really great when more items have a spot, it's a lot easier to put things away that way, you know? Yes, maybe the room staying cleaner has been influenced by me working on a not very messy project (finally really working on transferring my money information from the old computer to the new one... which is over two years old now?), but I had a day off last week where I realized I didn't need to clean anything. That was quite nice.

 5. My roommate invited me to have dinner with her one night. Meatballs, noodles and asparagus. Quite good. And, for a strange turn of things, we both sat at the table for dinner and talked about a couple things. (Including how we're both content living here and uncontent at the same time.)

 6. A friend on Facebook, after realizing per my organizing photographs that if I have lots of art supplies I probably have some art to go with it, requested that I show said art. So, for her, I took lots of photos and posted them on Facebook. It was nice to show people a bit of proof that I do have some artistic talent... I'm just lacking creative inspiration. Okay, so most of my artwork is old, so maybe I don't have any talent anymore, and you random people here shan't get to see more of it right now (except the snowflake/flower thing that currently sits at the top of this blog, if it's still here when you read this.)

 7. I finished taxes and get money back from both federal and state, yay!

 8. Most recent, had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday. (Well, would have been wonderful if I didn't have to go to work before dessert.) Our choir did a great job, one of their best ever. (My parents are both in there. I don't sing in choir, partly 'cause I don't sing wonderfully, although my Aunt who sat next to me and doesn't regularly attend church so she doesn't know the songs said I sang well, so that was nice. Anyway, but mostly because I have to work when choir practices.)
  The day was gorgeous! (Back to rainy days again now.)
  Dinner was at my parents house with lots of delicious food.  I brought rolls and a dessert (Mom said it was good, hopefully other people agreed. They saved some dessert for me, hopefully I remember to get it tonight!). I made the dessert up again. Of all foods, I like experimenting with pies the best. This was raspberry something. A bit cheesecake, a bit chiffon (jello and whipped cream). And I prefer making the graham cracker crust myself.
  And, I should not forget to make known that I am grateful beyond words for what my Lord has done for me!

  Thanks for reading.

18. Family Trips

This summer my family drove up to visit some of our relatives. I haven't been on a car trip with them for a while, so it was a fond reminder of all those hated family trips. Most of my extended family lives in Washington (this being where my parents grew up), so most family vacations growing up consisted of driving to Washington. Happily, we were meeting the extended family at a campground 3 hours away instead of the 8 hours away that they live.

So... car trips. I'm sure you've experienced a few... telling younger siblings to stop singing because you want to listen to the music, only to have a hard time not singing yourself. The annoying feel of your brothers sleeve constantly brushing against your arm. How boring it all gets so that you desperately start looking for letters on license plates and signs to keep yourself entertained.

Well, there are a few things that are annoying even as an adult. The major one, now that I can drive it is certainly harder being a passenger! I admit, I don't really care for the way my dad drives. This isn't because he's a bad driver. After all, he's worked many years as a driver... but this also means that he's driven a lot by himself. He also tends to get mad at bad drivers, and if you're tailgating, he'll stomp on the brakes to get you to back off. It's very hard to stay asleep when the car jerks suddenly.

We also have assigned seating in the car, and my place sucks. Gem gets carsick (even still as an adult, just not near as bad), so she gets to sit up front. Dad drives of course. Mom sits up front in the middle (I think because she's smaller, and because she likes sitting next to dad). Ian has long legs, so he sits behind Gem, because her seat is normally not quite as far back as dad's (which makes it a bit awkward for mom in the middle, especially in this car which doesn't have a real seat behind the middle, just an arm-rest in up position). This leaves shorter me behind dad... so I have to lean one way or the other to see out. I don't get motion sick as easily as Gem, but I will if I'm not watching out the window. Then, dad is constantly putting his arm up on the window sill and taking it down, so if I'm watching that way, I have to lean the other way... and leaning means I end up putting my arms to sleep.

So... I sleep most of the way there and back, because otherwise I go crazy! The main problem with this is that my dad prefers to go up the back way, and that is closer to their house. So I'm the one that has to get up and drive over way too early (though with 4 people in the house with 1 bathroom vs 2 people with 2 bathrooms, I don't have to get up earlier than them), and then drive the half hour home, by myself, after sleeping (which can sure make it hard to stay awake while driving), at about 11 pm.

But, if it wasn't for the travel... it was really great to see my relatives since I haven't gotten to see some of them for quite a while.