It’s time for another week’s worth of gratitude, led by Elisabeth as part of this month’s F.I.G. Collective.
Sunday, February 8: I made these apple crisp bars on a whim, and they were SO GOOD. Easy to make, delicious, and they reheat exceptionally well.
Monday, February 9: GUESS WHAT?! My treadmill has magically healed itself!!!! My husband came home last week and took the treadmill apart, trying to fix it. To no avail. Then he and our child and I researched treadmills all weekend and even went to a big box store to try out the most likely candidate. Then, for some reason, he decided to plug in our existing treadmill one more time, and it WORKED. (We think that it may never have been broken; instead, we may have accidentally removed the emergency stop key, which makes me feel like a Grade A Dumbass, but whatever.)
Tuesday, February 10: The temperature SOARED to 40 degrees F (5 degrees C) today! I took a walk outside and I wasn’t the least bit chilly. The SUN was out. It was magnificent!
Wednesday, February 11: YOU GUYS. I went to the post office to mail a couple of books to some out-of-state friends, and I decided to ask whether my mail carrier might have accidentally removed a package from my mailbox. The postal clerk was very friendly about it, and said she would find my mail carrier… at which point I fretted and fretted about how it sounded like I was accusing my mail carrier of stealing my package. My normal mail carrier was out, so the substitute came over and I explained my issue to him. He said that Amazon isn’t supposed to put packaged in mail boxes (did you know that?!) and that the post office had a storage locker where they kept Amazon and FedEx and other non-USPS packages that they would simply send back to the shipping companies, and he would check the locker for me. So he did, AND HE FOUND MY TEA!
Thursday, February 12: Usually I drink a smoothie (made with high protein yogurt and high protein milk) for breakfast, but sometimes I opt for sourdough toast with butter instead. No regrets.
Friday, February 13: Carla mentioned recently that she was hoping to find a necklace that matched her favorite earrings, similar to this one. She told me that she’d seen the exact necklace that she wanted – and had taken a photo of it. Well, I looked back in my photos and she took the picture in September of 2025. So I was pretty sure the store would no longer have the same necklace in stock. But I went while she was in school and, lo and behold, the necklace was there! And it was only $6.99. What an easy way to make her Valentine’s Day a little more fun and special, right?
Saturday, February 14: Family movie night! We borrowed Psycho a week or so ago from the library. I have never seen the movie before, even though I know the general idea. And reading Birchie’s Hitchcock rewatch recaps has piqued my interest about trying some classic Hitchcock movies… plus, my husband and I watched Monster: The Ed Gein Story, the subject of which helped inspire Psycho, which edged up my interest a little more. (I would not necessarily recommend this series. It was riveting and fascinating and horrifying, but also felt problematic in a way I’m not sure how to pinpoint.) (Also, there are a few scenes in Monster: The Ed Gein Story that depict the audience reaction to Psycho in the theaters, and I am always interested, if a little wary, of watching something that causes people to vomit, faint, and run out of the theater.) The three of us watched Psycho and I will admit that I may have dozed off a little bit at one point, but mainly we had a blast making fun of the characters. Horror movies have come a long ways since Psycho hit theaters, and all three of us – yes, even Carla – have a much higher tolerance for gore and terror than 1960s moviegoers.
That’s all I have for you today, Internet! I hope you’ve found many joyful moments in your days lately.
I’m glad your treadmill is working again! And look at Leo getting a workout in. The weather has warmed up here, too. It was above 50 yesterday so I took the boys to a park and sat on a park bench in the sun and soaked up some vitamin D. It was so wonderful!
I plan to watch 2 Hitchcock films this year. I don’t know if I can handle Psycho as horror is not my thing! But there are lots of great options. I need to figure out what we will watch first. Right now we are in the midst of watching The Sopranos. We are almost done with season 6 so don’t have too much left to watch.
I had no idea the post office would remove an Amazon package from your mailbox. Now that you wrote this, I guess it makes sense. It would be nice if they left some kind of notice, though! I’m glad you got your tea! And glad that your treadmill is working again! It looks like Leo approves!
Yay, for your healed treadmill!
(I should have suggested that your mail carrier may have removed your tea package as I did know from previous experience that the P.O. thinks only USPS material belongs in the mailbox. But it’s *my* mailbox, I remember thinking.)
Hope Carla had a lovely Valentine’s Day!
The apple crisp bars look yummy. I might have to make those. Whew that your TM decided to come back to life!
I approve of the family Valentine’s Day Psycho watch! Someone recommended the Bates Motel TV show, which is a prequel. I might check it out after I’m done with my Hitchcock rewatch in [sob] three movies.
I saw Psycho for the first time probably ten or eleven years ago, on a plane by myself. I was surprised at the story line – it was so much more interesting than I had expected! I won’t say anything here just in case someone doesn’t want a spoiler from a movie from the 1960s.
I don’t think there IS such a thing as too much butter, especially on sourdough!
The film that had and has a neverending effect on me is “The Birds.” When I see a bunch of birds clustered on a phone line, I get a little antsy. LOL Those are gorgeous clouds and I love walking when it’s in the 40s. Perfect temperatures. Good news about the treadmill too. That’s a beautiful necklace and very special.
That is a lot of good things, but I am especially happy for you that you were able to track down your tea before it got sent back!
What a great list of little gratitudes! I like how the clouds have parted to celebrate your found tea 🙂 Now excuse me while I RUN (like Lenny on a treadmill?) to make those apple crisp bars. That will be just the thing to assign some older, softer apples we have banging around in the fridge.
There is no such thing as too much butter on warm bread. I looooove butter. I don’t actually eat it that often, but at the right time/place, butter with a carb is one of my favourite things in the world!
Our washing machine is like your treadmill! It self-fixed itself (after I had gotten myself all worked up about what a nightmare it was to be get it fixed vs. buying a new one).
We were also riveted and fascinated and horrified by Monster: the Ed Gein story, and I feel like Charlie Hunnam did an amazing job portraying him. We didn’t finish the series though because I discovered that the director had taken (and is known for taking) a lot of artistic license in these series and I couldn’t really trust anything onscreen anymore. Not that you ever really can, 100%, but there’s a difference between embellishing for shock value and making things up wholesale, and he tipped too far on the wholesale side for my mind.
YAY on the Tea turning up, the treadmill working, the pretty necklace for Carla, all of it! I think the USPS taking the tea to the post office and not letting you know is weird. I know that only the post office is supposed to put things in your mailbox, but couldn’t they have moved it, or left you a note? Were you just supposed to guess???
Now I’m off to look up the story of the fig tree in the bible.
I’m so glad you asked about your tea package and got to rescue it from USPS! Amazing!
I’m also very glad to hear that your treadmill is working again AND that Leo is able to get his steps in again. Whew!
Sourdough bread is my very favorite thing, but I don’t know what it says about me that I consider eggs + sourdough toast to be my “healthy” breakfast. HA.
I’m glad you got your tea and found the necklace. What a fun Valentine’s Day gift. I like the picture of Leo (Lenny? what are you calling him these days?) on the treadmill. He looks so dutiful. Also, hooray for not having to replace it.
Hmm, we have some sourdough on hand. I can’t eat it for breakfast (extra reactive to carbs on waking) but i can have it once I’ve been up a few hours.
Leo on the treadmill #hearteyes!!!!
LENNY sorry
I love that you watched Psycho on Valentine’s Day. You are my kind of person! And that photo of your cat on the treadmill is great! So glad you got your tea, too. Sometimes you’ve just got to ask! Here’s hoping you have a terrific week!
Is there such a thing as too much butter on toast? I think not. 😋
If only we all looked so good exercising as that floofy pantsed cat 😍
Take the win with the self-healing treadmill, but maybe keep the info on the one you were going to buy in your back pockets? I can see it deciding to kick it in a few weeks, just when you’ve decided it’s okay. 🙂
Also, what the heck with the mailbox? Don’t you think a notice would be nice? A little note saying, “We removed a package from your box”? How else are you supposed to know to ask??