Well, I finally let my employer know the date for ¹my hip replacement surgery. Yes, I’m thankful that it’s going to happen. It gives me hope that when the pain is bad it will not always be so. It took me a couple of weeks to put that date on the work calendar, in part because the news had to settle in my head before I could share it. I haven’t had a surgery in close to 25 years so this is a little anxiety-provoking.

My son had ²hip surgery on Monday. His was a bigger and different surgery than what I’m having. He was told he should plan on five days in the hospital following the surgery. He went home on Wednesday, though. I’m taking that as a good sign.

My replacement for my church job has been struggling. I went over multiple times this week to help her. I am SO thankful that — whether it’s genetics or how I was raised — I have the ability to ³listen, to ⁴think, and to ⁵learn. Honestly, those are things I take for granted. Seeing them missing in someone gave me pause.

I am also thankful for ⁶Frederick Buechner. I’ve had a bookshelf of his books for years, but I finally started reading him. SO GOOD. I find that I am constantly jotting down quotes from him to help me remember his wisdom, his humor, the way he ties together everyday things with the spiritual. In fact, the book I started the other day, Whistling in the Dark: An ABC Theologized, gave me the idea of using him as a launchpad for the ⁷April A-to-Z Challenge. I didn’t complete the challenge last year, but I’ll try again this year. It will be a Buechner quote and a little collage to go with it.

The new director of the facility where I work started having ⁸staff meetings once a month. You are probably wondering what’s so great about that. Let me tell you — we’ve never had staff meetings before, the kind where anyone who works there can attend. It’s huge. He has had two now, and after each one I have felt encouraged and happy about the place I work.

The director shared a recent ⁹story about staff intervening on behalf of a little girl. It was the kind of story that made me feel sad for the girl, sad for the world, angry at the situation, and proud of my co-workers.

I had ¹⁰lunch with my youngest daughter yesterday. Grown up children are the best!

I realized today that I forgot to write Ten Things of Thankful last week!

Does that mean that I wasn’t grateful for anything last week? Absolutely not! It simply means that I forgot because I was pretty busy.

What was I busy with? Well, I was quite honored to be chosen as the ¹Poet of the Week for the W3 Challenge. That means that the previous Poet of the Week (Val/Murisopsis) liked my poem, Personal Creed, so much that she chose me to be the next one. It also meant that I was charged with the task of choosing the next Poet of the Week by giving my own challenge. I challenged the poets to tell me a story in any poetic form.

That meant that I was reading, rereading, commenting, and rereading again (is that re-rereading?) the poems that were submitted for my prompt. Gosh, I loved so many of those poems. In the end, I chose a poem by a poet I don’t remember having read before — Jaideep Khanduja — who wrote a poem called, ²‘You, Me, and the Catastrophe of Love (A Love Story With a Side of Chaos)’. I laughed. I cried. I wish I lost 15 pounds, (obscure Stephen Colbert reference), but I mostly fell in love with this poem.

So — there you have it. My excuse for not writing a gratitude post, and two things for which I’m grateful.

For over a year now, I’ve been working two jobs. My first job — at a fitness facility — is literally the first full time job I’ve held since 1984. When my oldest son was born, I quit working. I did a little part-time work here and part-time there. I’ve learned that if you want to impress “accomplished” people, just tell them that you’ve lifeguarded part-time or been a stay-at-home mom. They’ll offer glib patronizing nonsense. Meh.

Anyway, I took a job working full-time at the front desk at the fitness facility in 2022. As it turned out, I asked too many questions and moved up the ranks. I’m now in my own office selling memberships. I miss the front desk. Members tell me they miss seeing me. I tell them that they moved me into an office to keep me out of trouble. That may be partially true.

All this is to say that I am thankful for ³my job at the gym.

Recently we got a new facility director. I met with him Friday to ⁴pitch an idea for a new position: Senior Specialist. We focus on families and kids and young adults, but our country is aging. Heck, I’m aging! I want someone to understand and be the voice for our seniors. I have SO many ideas.

I pitched my idea. ⁵It was well-received. YAY! Now, it has to work its way up through Foundation that oversees us.

In the meantime, however, my second job is at a church. I told the rector in January that I couldn’t continue the two-job routine. Honestly, I loved that job too — maybe more than the gym job. I needed the benefits offered by the gym so I put in my resignation at the church. ⁶The rector hired my replacement. I worked with her last week to train her — and, just like that, I’m done. It’s a relief. Imagine working only 40 hours in a week. I’ll find out this next week.

Quick — four more things for which I am thankful

⁷Lunch with my son and his family today. Delightful!

⁸A lesiurely walk on a nature boardwalk through a swamp

⁹Pussywillows — I saw them in the swamp. I love pussywillows.

¹⁰An edgy sermon at church, reminding us that God is the God of the oppressed. (Exodus 3:7-9) “I hated that sermon,” one woman whispered to me as she passed me on the way out of church. I smiled inwardly and was grateful. Maybe she will think about what was said.

¹Cleaning is cathartic. And, by cleaning, I mean getting rid of stuff. I’m getting so much better at it.

For instance, today I came across a photograph of my parents that I really dislike. It’s a fine photo of my father, but my mother may as well have “DEMENTIA” written across her forehead. I looked at it and thought, Nope. I took it out of the frame and put it in the trash pile. Shortly after, one of my siblings called. I told them what I had done. They said, “I know exactly what photograph you’re talking about. I have a copy. I’ve never hung it in my home.” That ²confirmation, the fact that we don’t want to remember our mother in her dementia, was HUGE.

Also, while cleaning and sorting, I came across this:

It’s a ³change purse made for me by a ⁴friend. I don’t always talk to change purses, but I did today. “I need you,” I said. “I’m so glad you’re in my life!” And I promptly took all my change and loose bills out of the little zippered Celtic bag that I had picked up at a Scottish games and put them back into the clasp purse that will inspire me. And, actually, it’s not so much that change purse as the friend who inspires me. When I look at it, I think of her.

Speaking of ⁵inspiration, that’s another thing that’s pretty huge in my life at the moment. Ideas have started to flow again. Once they start, it’s like a onslaught, a tidal wave. Sometimes, that’s overwhelming. Other times, when they haven’t been there for a while, it’s an awesome reminder that I’m still alive and well and have something to contribute to this world.

Speaking of alive and well, I had my annual physical this past week. I’m actually very alive and very well. My ⁶blood pressure is the lowest it has been in over a decade. It had skyrocketed due to stress in my life. Now it is not just barely normal, but good.

⁷My cholesterol is high. My doctor said, “You need to remember to eat a healthy diet [I do] and get exercise.” I used to walk, on average, 12000 steps per day. Now it’s less that 3500. My hip bothers me SO MUCH when I walk that I just don’t. However, this is a thing to be thankful for in that I am seeing an orthopedic surgeon this week. He might say, “You’re not ready for hip surgery,” which is what I’ve heard before. However, not being able to exercise without pain is really affecting my life and that cholesterol number attests to that.

⁸Swimming is the one exercise I can do that gets my heart-rate up and doesn’t hurt my hip as much. I had stopped swimming when I had the flu. I had absolutely no energy. This week, however, I swam three times.

Friday was ⁹National Staff Appreciation Day. Our new director appreciated us with a bunch a homebaked treats: mini-cheesecakes and an assortment of scones. DEE–licious! I would blame my high cholesterol on him except Staff Appreciation Day fell after High Cholesterol Day.

Finally, I had a lovely ¹⁰lunch with a friend yesterday. It was around 2:30 PM and neither of us had eaten lunch yet. We were talking and decided, spur of the moment, to go get lunch together at a local restaurant. It was great decision.