How often do you say “Thank you”? How often do you hear someone say “Thank you” to you?
I don’t think I say “Thank you” enough. I certainly think it. I’m behind in my written thank you notes, but I’m getting them done. Still, I think I could take the time to let people know that I really appreciate what they do for me. It bothers me that personal notes are going the way of the dinosaur. My youngest sister writes exceptional notes, and I love to get them from her, but I’m very bad about writing back to her. I send her a lot of e-mails, not just the forwarded type, but also short thoughts and responses to her e-mails, and I talk to her on the phone, but I don’t make the time to write personal notes.
I’ve been pondering this as I reach a point in my life where contact with family and friends is more important. I need to shape up (in more ways than one), get my act together, and take this show on the road. I need to stop saying “I need to…” and “Just DO it!” And I haven’t a clue how to make these life changes.
I think I’ll start by telling people “Thank you” more often.
For those of you who have come to read this blog, Thanks! It’s nice of you to stop by, *S*
Daily Archives: September 15, 2008
Ike
“I Like Ike!” was a refrain from the election pitting Dwight D. Eisenhower against Adlai Stevenson in the early 1950’s I was a child, but I recall the campaign buttons.
I’m not so sure how I feel about our recent visitor, Ike, the hurricane. The Midwest had an extended line of showers crossing from west to east, and Ike rolled up through Texas, steamrolled over Oklahoma and Kansas and Missouri and attached himself to that line of showers. The forecasters were predicting three inches of rain over a three day period. That’s a lot of rain, but manageable. In reality, O’Hare Airport measured 12.61 inches of rain by early evening on Sunday. Parts of Chicago and the surrounding counties have been hit hard, and farmers are saying that the corn and soybean crops may be damaged. We were fortunate. We’re high and dry, and still have all our utilities.
I went out Sunday morning to collect the newspapers. We have a fairly long driveway, and it was pouring out, so I took the car. While I was down at the end of the road, I stopped to collect Saturday’s mail, too. As our road goes to the east, it passes between two retention ponds, and the road crews had put up barricades to warn drivers of water on the pavement. The ponds were so full that they overflowed their bounds and met on the road. You could get through, if you went very slowly. The barricades were set up so that you had to slalom to the left. and then again to the right. Apparently everyone got the idea that you had to slow down, because there were no cars stranded in the water.
It rained almost non-stop from Friday morning to Sunday evening. It was still sprinkling Monday morning as we went off to exercise, enough to need window wipers, but not enough to keep the standing water from slowing draining off.
The record rain for my area was 17 inches in 24 hours. I can recall pictures of people canoing or rowing from house to house looking for people who needed help. What amazed me was that people would walk in the water without regard to raw sewage or downed electrical lines. What happens to people’s brains when we have unusual weather!?? Our underpasses were closed for a couple of weeks with that storm. I think we’ll clean things up faster with this one, but it will take a lot of work to bring some areas back to where they were before the storms.
Touching Base
It’s a heck of a state of affairs when you have a blog and can’t seem to make the time to type entries! This past week we were busy. Wednesday night we took Elegante Mother out to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. She ordered guacamole and wallowed in avocado!
Thursday, EM did hair and nails at the salon, (I worked on thank you notes while I waited for her) and we made a run on her bank and the post office. She treated me to lunch at Panera. She had a Greek salad, and I had the tuna sandwich. That evening, one of my nieces came to sit with Mother and Dear Husband and I went out to dinner. We very rarely go out more than once a week, usually less, so it was quite a treat. We did a run on Chili’s, which is close to home, and quick.
Friday, we got off to a late start and missed exercise (bad me, bad me!). I worked in the office and did some laundry, all the things we have to do to keep our lives going. That evening, despite the fact that the rain from Ike was coming down pretty hard and fast, we drove to visit with Dear Husband’s daughter and her family, and we ate out, AGAIN! EM and I had the most amazing petite fillets, and DH chose bouillabaisse that looked incredible.
By Saturday morning, the water had begun to rise in the retention ponds, but DH went off to the boat anyway. He is not bothered by the idea of sleeping overnight on a leaking boat. EM and I made it to the Red Hat luncheon for our chapter. A surprising number of women turned out given that the roads were starting to flood, and the rain was coming down HARD! We thought we had it timed to leave when the rain had eased, but by the time we got to the door it had returned with a vengeance. We made it home, safe and sound, but a bit wet. The first order of the afternoon was to change into dry clothes. The second was to take a nap!
That evening I cleaned out the refrigerator to make dinner. Sunday, with the still cool weather in place, chili seemed like a great choice. I’d teased DH that we were going to have it while he was away (It’s one of his favorite meals), but I waited to make it on Sunday. I plan to add macaroni to it, and serve Chili-Mac for dinner to polish off the left overs.
So, there you have it….our meal plan and activities rolled up in one! Elegante Mother held up to the demands of all the travel pretty well. She enjoys the scenery, and I think we need to be out and about before snow comes to make us rethink travel. This week should be a little quieter than last, but I hope to plan something different each week, either short trips or different activities. We’re blessed that EM is able to get into and out of the car on her own, so that she is able to make these visits.