Thankful Thursday

1. Nadia had her first day of work at her first job on June 12. She worked 17 hours last week over three days, and she worked from 8:45-5:00 this week on Monday. She's scheduled to work seven more hours on Saturday. 

2. I hadn't had routine blood work done in quite a few years. I took care of that on June 15, and I'm thankful that even with us paying cash (no insurance) the bill was less than $30 and all of my results were normal. 

3. Oliver attended a birthday party at a trampoline park on June 16. Nadia and I did some shopping together and picked up some pizza from Pizza Hut, which we typically only visit in June each year as it's a birthday treat to get stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut for Nadia's birthday.

4. All three kids were able to participate in a free Young Eagles flight on June 17. Ian flew in a red airplane from the 1950's that is similar to my grandpa's airplane which I flew in many times. Oliver went up in a helicopter, and Nadia flew in a sleek airplane. 

5. We had nine people join us for dinner at our home on June 17. Three of the girls spent the night with Nadia, and we took them to church with us in the morning on the 18th. 

6. Paul's dad came up to spend several hours with us on Father's Day. Ian, Nadia, Paul, and Pop Pop had steak for dinner.

7. I took my three kids plus three of their friends to Montage Mountain water park on Tuesday. Our admission was free due to our WVIA membership. 

8. Yesterday and today Ian and Nadia helped with the 2nd graders at our church's VBS, and I helped with the four-year-old girls. Tomorrow morning will be the last day of VBS. Oliver has been attending as a participant. 

9. On Tuesday Margie decided to do one more radiation treatment to try to alleviate the pain in her ribs. Today she began three new medications that she will take as long as they help with the quality of her life. If they don't help, she will switch to hospice. One of the drugs (Ibrance) would have cost them $2,643 every month out of pocket, but they have been approved to receive the medication for free!

10. They recommend having your first colonoscopy when you turn 50. Paul had his first in 2020. I "should" have had my first one last year. I didn't because of our gigantic ankle surgery bill. The Christian medical sharing program doesn't allow members to request reimbursement for screening measures. We had to pay in full for the mammogram I had last year.  Because I don't have a family history of colon cancer and a colonoscopy costs thousands of dollars, I opted to go the Cologuard route instead. The test is much easier to complete than a colonoscopy (no prep for one thing!), and because we prepaid, the company gave me a $299 discount which brought the cost down to $381. It's definitely not the most exciting way to spend money, but I'm thankful for the prompt pay discount and as long as I get good results from the Cologuard analysis, I won't need to have a colonoscopy. 

11. Things are still progressing well for Paul at work. Closing is supposed to happen the week of July 10. PTL! 

12. The drought has ended! The grass is green again! 

13. I made a LOT of pulled pork last Saturday. Five pounds of potatoes wasn't enough for leftovers on Father's Day, but I've been enjoying leftover pulled pork. I make a salad that rivals the one I love at Panera. Mine contains their poppyseed dressing, strawberries, blueberries, romaine lettuce, pulled pork, and sometimes I also add pineapple. YUM!!!

14. I've seen a lot of animals on my walks lately! I usually see birds, chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels, and groundhogs. Lately I've seen a black bear, deer (that allowed me to walk rather close to them), and a mink! 

Ian was in this airplane.