10 things of thankful - The Considered edition

After doing this for several weeks now I'm getting bored of talking about me, and fancied a break from it, so I wanted to talk about 10 aspects of someone else who means a lot to me - The Considerer!  As she reads this (which I'm sure she will) I can picture her squirming with awkward embarrassment, and that is not the aim, just an unwanted side effect, but you know how it's easier to sometimes put words to paper (or the web) than verbalise them?  The following is all true, and VERY warranted, I promise :), and she WILL accept these accolades ;).

1.  The great Considerer came up with this almighty 10 things of thankful bloghop.  Which is amazing.  And for a good few months now has got me coming up with lots of things to be thankful for.  And lots of moments where I've thought 'oh I'll just take a picture of that, that has to go in my thankful blog post'.  It is a wonderful idea, and it is a wonderful exercise, so long live the TTOT.

2.   I had been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a while, but being lazy too busy to get organised and actually do it, I needed a push and someone with know how to get me started.  And there Considerer stepped up to the plate.  And now I have not just one blog, but two!  Wooo hooo.  She liked a little piece I wrote for a Facebook group and effectively told me I MUST start blogging, so that little nudge and encouragement has got me here now, and hopefully, if I put the time and effort in, all these posts I am planning in my mind will come to fruition!

3.  The Considerer has got me walking, a lot more than I ever did before!  And she makes me go faster!  And we go further.  And we get lost (which apparently is always MY fault???).  And we fall in streams (oh no, that one was just me!).  And while we walk we talk and have a jolly good time, stop to attempt handstands and cartwheels (oh yes, that's just Lizzi, I cannot do them!) and throw pebbles in ponds (oh to be a child again).  There is definitely something about going out walking with someone else that makes it much less arduous than doing it on ones own, and I really do love our walks.

  4.  On more than one occasion, I have made use of the spare room at Considerer's abode, generally at short notice after a begging from me that I need her company, want to get slightly tipsy and then won't be able to drive home.  Her hospitality is lovely, you can just be at home there, and on these evenings, and on our walks, we can talk about anything and everything and generally put the world to rights.  And I always leave feeling better.

5.  Now let's just say we both have *interesting* family set-ups and history, and things from our childhoods we'd maybe like to push to the back of our minds.  Well Lizzi has listened to more than her fair share of me lamenting the trials my various family members like to put me through.  And again doesn't judge, just mostly offers very sound and sensible advice.  Much to my uncomfortable embarrassment the other week she was present for a mahooosive barney between my Mother and sister, but she was very unphased by it all, didn't mind, and just offered suggestions to remedy the situation - family counsellor at hand ;).

6.  Now on the occasions we help at the youth club once a month we have started a tradition.  There is a takeaway close to the building the youth club is held in called Twisted.  I'd driven by it lots and meant to try it, but Lizzi and Joe being regular customers got me in there, and now after every youth club we have to bring food home.  The spaghetti and meatballs are amazing!  And I love that I now know another great takeaway to frequent.

7.  While we eat said takeaway, another tradition has started.  Lizzi has The Big Bang Theory box set, and we watch and laugh and enjoy.  And it's okay to be a geek here.  Being like Sheldon, which my sister throws at me as some kind of insult, is okay!

8.  I have Lizzi to thank for another weight-losing idea.  We both LOVE cheese.  Can't get enough of the stuff.  But one day, Lizzi said "why don't we just not buy cheese, use what we've got and not buy any more?".  THE HORROR!!!!  But actually it's not been that bad.  There are other things to go in sandwiches.  I appreciate the cheese when I'm out elsewhere a lot more.  And my accountability to her (she knows when I'm lying) has  kept me on the straight and narrow in the supermarket!

9.  I am no gardener.  I neglect my garden horrendously, and when I first employed Lizzi's help to sort it out, it took us a little while!  Thankfully she knows a lot more about gardening and plants than me, and is very motivational!  We have also painted my fence (well, half done, half to go - thanks Dad by the way for the ginger 'Autumn Red' colour (I'm sure he thought he was being helpful trying to match my shed).

10.  The Considerer is a battler.  A trooper.  You throw stuff at her, and she just gets on with it, marching on, not giving up.  She thinks, A LOT, sometimes too much probably (hands up here as well!), and doesn't realise how jolly fab she is, so there we have it, 10 whole reasons why I'm glad she is in my life.