Gratitude Sunday #11

It's a beautiful day here in Houston, Texas

The sun is shining and it's a lovely 75 degrees out!

I hope you are having a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!

Mom is cooking corned beef and cabbage and I am looking forward to it!

Feeling a little homesick today.  Missing my sweet Tiger.  They got a new picnic bench and I can't wait to enjoy eating out there on my next visit!

Tiger enjoying his first ice cream cone!

Of course I've been missing these boys also!

(I can see that Mr Toes is getting some fur back on his shaved areas!)

This week I am so grateful that I have been able to help family members here in Houston.  I live so far away from my Mom, but I have an Aunt and a couple of cousins who live here and are wonderful about watching out for her and helping her if she needs anything!  So this week when I was able to help them....well it just felt great!  I took my cousin Karen to the ER (she needed to make sure her ankle wasn't broken) and my other cousin Joletta to her Dr's appt.  She isn't able to drive right now with her heart issues.  Both of my cousins are very special to me.  One is older (Joletta) one younger (Karen).  We have grown up seeing each other on vacations and have remained close.  Now that they are in Houston I see them several times a year when I visit my Mom.  We have grown even closer as we all struggle with aging Mothers who are all sisters.  Joletta's Mom has passed away but Karen's Mom and mine are still with us.  We ourselves have had medical issues....Joletta with her heart and Karen with COPD.  I'm the healthiest and hope to keep it that way!  We always have a 'cousins night out' for Mexican food and talk and talk and talk!  I am so grateful for these amazing women who are a part of my life! 

What are you Grateful for??

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

**I am not sure if I will continue this party past Easter.  It doesn't seem that many linkup and since there are so many Sunday parties maybe one more is just too many.   I will let you know for sure next week.  Thanks to all of you who have participated.**

Gratitude Sunday #10

For most of this week I've felt like this tree

Gnarled and twisted...

the cold I've had made me

shall I say 'Grumpy'

Anyone coming near me got this look

'Danger!'

Go Away!  I'm ignoring you!

So this week I'm Grateful for soft Kleenex,  sinus medicine, vaseline for my nose and a sweet Mom that fed me all week! 

It's horrible to come visit my Mom and then get sick.  Thankfully I'm here for several more weeks and we will have time to do some fun things!

What are you Grateful for this week?

(that sweet cat posing for these photos is Sam)

Please link up your post with a link back to this blog. 

 I appreciate all of you that join in Gratitude Sunday! 

Wishing you JOY,

Linda 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Gratitude Sunday #9

Today is Gratitude Sunday

Thank you to all who join me each week with something they are thankful for! 

This week is easy for me! 

I am so happy to be here in Texas and visiting my Mom.

She is in the best health that I have seen in years!

I will be here visiting until March 26th 

Lots of time to spend together! 

I am so blessed to still have my Mom to share my life with!  

What are you Grateful for this week?

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Gratitude Sunday #8

I just returned home from a visit with my grandson Tiger, son-in-law Blake and my lovely daughter Sara!  Today is Sara's birthday and it was such a JOY to be able to spend time with her!  

She and Tiger are just coming off of some wicked colds but I used lots of antibiotic soap and hugged on them anyway! 

Born in 1982, Sara is my second (and last) child!

She has always been a JOY and I thank God for her every day! 

She is the best wife and mama!

A Blessing to all who know her!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

I am flying to Houston, TX on Tue to visit my Mom for several weeks!  I will be blogging and will have the Gratitude Party up each Sunday evening!

What are you Grateful for today?

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Gratitude Sunday #7

Welcome to Gratitude Sunday

If you were looking for the link yesterday I have decided to put the link up on Sunday evening.  I am often away from home on Saturday so this will work better for me and I hope for you also! 

This week has felt like an upward climb

Cloudy rainy days left me feeling down in the dumps

Wishing for some sunny days

The sun came out and I am grateful for that.

Somehow I lost everything on my hard drive this week.  I know!!  Awful.  I had not backed up my files in many months, so I lost many many photos. It's my own fault and I know better! 

I'm grateful I have the photos that I do and that so much of my life is shared on my blog but still...

So lesson learned, back up anything that you would hate to lose! 

Like photos of this sweet boy!  

What are you thankful for this week?

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Gratitude Sunday #6

Welcome to week 6 of Gratitude Sunday!

This week I'm so grateful for any time I get to spend with my family and especially my sweet Grandson Tiger! 

A couple of weeks ago I spent a fun day with Tiger and his Mom and Dad at their local mall!

First we ate at the food court!  Tiger got a food from all of our plates!  

A little clean up and off we go!

Our first stop is this funnel that takes your coins on a fun ride!  

Tiger likes to watch it roll!

Round and round it goes!

Next is Tiger's favorite stop in the whole mall

The Mall Train!

Tiger rides this often since he loves trains! 

This was my first ride in the train and I must admit it was so much fun!  

Tiger takes the train ride very seriously! 

A ring of the train bell and we are off to our next adventure!

He must try out all the riding lawn mowers in Sears

Every single one!  All done!

Next, the escalator!

A couple of round trips makes him happy!

A quick stop at the pink submarine and it's time to head home for a nap!

Grandma aren't you done taking photos yet??

Yes sweet Tiger I am!

What are you grateful for this week?

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Update:  Mr. Toes is back to his rambunctious self!  We are so thankful he has recovered.  He is back to being our young active kitty! 

A Very Special Heart~Gratitude Sunday #5

Back in the 80's when I had two young children and a decorating budget of pennies I was trying to spruce up my home.  At the time the 'country' look was popular and inexpensive to create.  I wanted some wooden hearts, you know those 'squishy' kind for my kitchen wall.  My sweet Dad made me a  heart and painted it red!

It wasn't a 'squishy' heart and it was not perfect but I loved it and never said anything different.  My then husband made me my 'squishy' hearts that I painted Red and Yellow (interesting combo) and they hung on my kitchen wall until we moved from that house.  My decorating style has changed over the years if not my budget (it is still pennies).  Those squishy hearts are long gone, but the Red Heart that my Dad made me has remained.

It shows up somewhere in my home each February and reminds me of the love my Dad had for me. 

We lost Dad way too soon! He was such a brilliant man and it was with much sadness we realized that  something was not right.  He was finally diagnosed with Parkinson's With Lewy Body Dementia.  While not Alzheimer's, this disease does rob a person of memories.  Dad recognized us to the end and for that we are grateful.  He was a wonderful Husband, Dad and Grandfather.  A retired Lt. Colonel in the Marine Corp, a fighter pilot and a computer programmer.  He gave his family so much!  I miss him always! 

So Dad from my heart

To yours

I love you and I'm so grateful for you!

 The wonderful memories I have 

and this special red heart!

I'm joining 

A Favorite Thing
and
Cowgirl Up

The link for Gratitude Sunday is below! 

I hope you will join in and share what you are grateful for this week!

Wishing You Joy,

Linda

Gratitude Sunday #3

Welcome back to Gratitude Sunday

Last week we had 19 linkups 

The most viewed was

Coffeeberry Cottage

Thank you all for joining in!

This week I am so grateful that we still have our sweet kitty boy, Mr Toes!

Mr Toes found us last summer and as we fed him and came to love him we decided he had found his forever home.  After being neutered we tried keeping him inside but he is very rambunctious young guy and so we started letting him go out during the day.  He is always home and inside before dark.

Yesterday when Mr ALC went to get him in he was on the screened porch.  He came in and was acting funny.  He hid under my bed.  He let us pet him but did not want to move.  Even worse he vomited several times during the evening.  He would not eat or drink.  We knew something was wrong.

First thing this morning Mr ALC took him to the Vet...thank goodness we did

The vet found a wound and shaved the area to find this....someone shot Toesie!

An XRay showed this

A pellet!  Someone shot my sweet kitty with a pellet gun.  They did more tests and felt like he was OK, no internal bleeding and it looked like it missed the organs but he does have a sore rib.  At this time they aren't going to remove it.  

Several shots later (antibiotics and pain) he came home and is resting! 

Toesie is a very sweet cat and we can't believe someone shot him with a pellet gun.  He will no longer be an inside/outside cat.  He will have to just be happy with the screened porch.  As the vet said, 'he dodged a bullet' literally!

I am so Grateful for my sweet Mr Toes!

and before I forget....

**The winner of the Valentine's Giveaway is......

Shelia @ Note Songs!!!

Send me your address and I will get your box of goodies out to you next week! 

I thank all of you for joining in Gratitude Sunday!

Please make sure you have a link in your post back to this party!

Wishing You JOY,

Linda

Gratitude Sunday #2

Thank you!  

To those that linked up to the first party!

To those that read and commented!

To those who said they would join in! 

I thank you all! 

I gave this some thought and decided that this week I am grateful for silence 

HUH?

Yes, silence.  Sometimes the world is just too loud for me.  

TV, Music, Talking, Cars, Trucks...

Just Noise!

I have been able to spend some quiet time this week.  With my nose in a book or just dreaming!

It's good for the soul.  A time to think without distraction.  A time to pray.  A time to relax your mind.  Yes this week, I am grateful for Silence!

What are you Grateful for this week?

Please link up your post and try to visit others that link up also!  

Wishing You JOY,

Linda

Gratitude Sunday #1

Welcome to Gratitude Sunday

I am so excited to host this new linky party!

Back in November I did '30 days of Gratitude' and found that it changed me!  I took some long looks at things that I'm so grateful for; family, friends, pets,home, etc.  I also had some fun 'grateful' moments.  During Dec I realized I missed those posts and decided I would launch this party in January. 

Two kinds of gratitude:  The sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give.  ~Edwin Arlington Robinson

My friend Sandie has shared with me that she keeps a gratitude journal and that is has changed her life.  I know a journal isn't for me but I'm hoping that by doing this I can continue to view the blessings in my life and be grateful!

Gratitude is the music of the heart, when its chords are swept by the breeze of kindness.  ~Author Unknown

I am inviting all of you to join me in this journey! 

Your posts can be long, short, serious, funny and anything in between!  

Today I am so thankful for all of you!

Your friendship and support! 

Let the Gratitude Begin!

Linda