The Thing Post (July, 2026)

 THING ONE

Last Thursday evening, I was sitting in the lobby of my hair salon waiting for my appointment and admiring the shadows on the wood floor.

Suddenly, a woman entered the lobby from the salon area; she was accompanied by a small white dog wearing –get this–sunglasses.

As you know, I love dogs, and I watched curiously to see what this little guy would do while his mom was checking out.  He made a tentative approach to another customer who ignored him, so he backed off and considered his options. Before I knew it, his cute little self was trundling its way toward me. (Sorry for the blurry picture.)

He got to my chair and looked up at me as if asking permission.

And then he stuck his small nose between my ankles and just stood there, which we all know is dog talk for, “Pet me, please.”  My mama heart leapt, and I immediately reached over to pat his head and say all sorts of cooing doggie phrases.

When his mom got done paying, I saw the reason for the sunglasses.

This was not merely a cute, fluffy dog. No, sirree, this was a serious, dedicated Motorcycle Dude.  His mom tucked him into a little backpack on her chest, donned her helmet, and the two of them disappeared out the door to new adventures. Sure made my day!

THING TWO

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was put on a new medication called meloxicam for the pain in my ankle.  I was really excited about it, because after a week or so, my ankle and back pain had mostly disappeared.

But then the following week, I started into several days of a cough, sore throat, and laryngitis.  (Which makes it tough to do a job where I talk to people all day.)

My doctor was booked up, so I went to an Urgent Care. When the nurse took my BP, it was 144/79, much higher than usual. The doctor told me to monitor my BP for the next few days and send the results to my family doctor.  My blood pressure got as high as 170/78, and my sore throat and laryngitis continued.

I Googled meloxicam, and it turns out it can cause high blood pressure, as well as sore throats and cold-like symptoms. Sigh. Even though it was helping me immensely, I got off it immediately. My BP is down a little but is still way higher than normal, and my doctor has put me on a blood pressure med.

So now, once again, Steve and I are setting our usual example of raucous, rowdy living. Our entertainment is sitting at the dining room table and taking turns taking our blood pressure. How do we even stand the excitement?

THING THREE

On a recent Saturday off, I  dumped the contents of three dresser drawers on the bed.

It drives me crazy to have a dresser full of a mishmash of stuff and that’s what mine had become. I’ve been working on this dresser for several weeks now, doing a drawer at a time, and I’m always astonished by how much miscellany has collected.

Have you ever asked yourself, “Where did this stuff come from?”  I think that while we’re sleeping, it sneaks into the bedroom from the far corners of the earth and takes up residence in the far corners of our drawers without making so much as a peep.

I did manage to get it pared down a good bit but there’s still lots of work to be done.

THING FOUR

I ran across this video and thought it was fascinating. It’s cool look at how the ways we spend our time has changed since 1920.  Very much worth the watch.

THING FIVE

This is probably a wacky thing to do, but on the rare occasions when I pump gas (Steve usually does it), I pass the time by seeing how far through the alphabet I can get by looking at all the words printed on the front of the gas pump.  (No including, of course, the number pad that has the ABCs on it.) I think I’ve made it as far as “p.” You’ll have to try it and let us know how far you get.

THING SIX

My friend, Cheryl, who knows how much I like new and interesting words, sent me this one one recently. Isn’t it so fun to say?  Try to use it in a sentence this week. Or even put it in a sentence in the comments so that we can all be entertained!

THING SEVEN

Yesterday, we had the double joy of having  Nathan attend church with us and come to lunch at our house afterward. Meagan and the kids are with family in Florida, so he is batching it for a few days before joining them.  Always a joy to worship with (and feed) one of my children.

He also stopped in on Saturday and grabbed this photo of Steve and I and our “kids.”

THING EIGHT

One of the families in our neighborhood added a new baby to their lives two weeks ago, and now they have three boys under the age of five.  Steve prepared salmon, mixed veggies, and sweet potatoes for them, and we walked the food over together.  We have been on the receiving end of many meals; it was nice to return the blessing.

Here are a couple of photos of him cleaning up when it was all over, accompanied by his constant companion

It looks a little like he doesn’t have a head but I assure you, it is still attached.

(Note: the two photos of a good example of how changing perspective makes such a big difference!)

What about you?

Do you check your blood pressure on a regular basis?

Have you heard the word “frippery” before?  (Hooray!  I just used it in a sentence.)

If you try to get through the alphabet at a gas station this week, let us know how far you get!

Anything in particular you’re looking forward to this week? Or anything you’re dreading?