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OT - Thankful Thursday

Aniki-Moderator's picture

Happy Thursday, STalkers! This has been a crazy work week for me and I'm happy to be winding down to the weekend.

I am thankful for:

  • New glasses. They'll take some getting used to (my first pair of progressive lenses), but it's really cool that I no longer have to take off my glasses to read!
     
  • My new employer. SO awesome to finally be treated like an adult!
     
  • Knowing how to cook AND how to cook creatively. I'm so glad my Mom taught all of her children to cook - starting around age 5. It began with helping Mommy find the right ingredients in the pantry, then handing them to her, then being allowed to measure, crack eggs, stir things, and so on. Mom's teachings are how I learned to cook by smell and taste because ingredients are NOT created equally. When I'm making an old family favorite that Mom taught me, I can almost feel her hands guiding me. When I wing it and "throw some things together" to create a new recipe and it turns out delicious, I can feel her approval. I've been cooking for darn near 50 years and I LOVE it! And I'd give a year of my life to spend one more day in the kitchen with my beloved Mom.

What are YOU thankful for?

Comments

Siemprematahari's picture

I love the way you talk about your amazing mom! Glad you have so many wonderful memories of her and keep them going.

-I'm thankful that I graduate with my Bachelors this month Clapping

-I'm thankful for the wonderful vacation I just enjoyed which motivates me to look into traveling more.

-I'm thankful for clear blue skies and beaches with a Pina Colada in my hand, nothing beats that!

Glad you have an awesome new employer. Wishing you a great day Amiga Biggrin

 

Aniki-Moderator's picture

Congratulations on your Bachelors, Amiga!

I am so very thankful for both of my parents and how they raised us. When I was a kid, I had absolutely NO idea just how blessed we were. Things I thought were the norm:

  • A loving, extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins - family is important!)
  • Two parents who loved, cared about, were interestesd in, and WANTED us.
  • The ability to love and care for non-biological children as your own (limitless capacity to LOVE).
  • Importance of caring for furbabies (proper food, shelter, grooming etc)
  • Parents who cared that we knew how to succeed and thrive and taught us to:
    • Maintain a living space (cleaning, basic home maintenance)
    • Do laundry
    • Cook (much more than just the basics!)
    • How to do yardwork and plant/tend a garden (flowers AND food)
    • Basic car maintenance
    • Basic clothing repair (one of my brothers still knits!)
    • How to manage money (at age 10 you opened a Savings account AND began helping with grocery shopping)

By age 12, we could cook a multi-course meal for the entire family, do all laundry/ironing, deep clean the entire house, all yardwork/gardening, do ALL of the grocery shopping... Hell, the only thing we could NOT do at 12 was drive! Age 14 was when we were allowed to back the car up/down the driveway.

I had NO idea that these things were not taught by all parents. And even though we didn't have a lot of material things, we had the most important basics: clothes, food to eat, shelter, and a loving family.

advice.only2's picture

I love your stories Aniki, when you write about food I can tell its your passion.
I am thankful for three day weekends.
I am thankful for a great best friend who will go out of town with me since I am going stir crazy.
And I am thankful for my son's first full time paycheck and knowing I don't have to give him rent money tomorrow.

TrueNorth77's picture

Thankful to be in a financial position where I was able to book my dream trip to ITALY yesterday!!! 12 nights with my SO in Rome, Venice, and Tuscany with no skids and lots of wine and good food! I cannot WAIT!!!

Thankful to feel like my SO and I are in a good place. Yes there are always skid annoyances and issues will arise, but overall we have made good progress recently and are really happy.

And, I am thankful for the relationship with my brother (half brother, although in my mind he's 100% blood) and SIL. Last year there was an incident where I was defending my brother and SIL, but she took it as me "meddling", and was so mad at me we didn't talk for 8 months. We finally talked about it all a few months ago, and since then we talk all the time and are closer than ever. The 3 of us (my SO is always working) love hanging out, plus I am their Realtor so we have fun looking at houses for them. I love our relationship now, and my SIL messaged me to say how happy she is we mended it, and that she missed me. Makes me so happy! Smile

And last but not least, I'm actually thankful for SD! All this week we have just "clicked". She has been great, and I can tell she's genuinely happy to see me and has been telling me things she doesn't tell my SO. All of this despite the fact that I am 100% sure Crazy spends much of her wknd trying to PAS skids. It's been a really good week!

Aniki-Moderator's picture

I am in serious need of getting out of town!

Thank you, advice. Being in the kitchen and cooking positively screams FAMILY to me. I remember making pie crust cookies with my paternal grandma. And cooking on a wood burning stove! My maternal grandma calling us into the kitchen to taste yumminess. So it was only natural for both of my parents to do the same. Dad making rieska (Finnish flatbread) had us eagerly waiting for that first rieska to come out of the oven. Every single one of us gladly suffered burned fingers and tongues because we couldn't stand to wait for it to cool. Cooking was always a family event, followed by the family gathered 'round the table to enjoy the meal. Family reunions simply meant sitting on the steps or the floor or sharing a chair (kids) so that we were all together. In fair weather, we ate outside. They are some of my happiest memories.

Aniki-Moderator's picture

Right?! I've been thankful to STalk for almost 5 years. I honestly believe it saved my marriage AND my sanity!