Thursday Thankfulness on Friday Morning! MAJOR UPDATE!!!

 UPDATE:  AT 2:30 P.M. BLACKIE FINALLY CAME HOME!! The little stinker didn't have one word to say about where he'd been or what he'd been doing. He just nonchalantly jumped up on the back porch when I called him (for the hundredth time today), and came inside and said "What's for dinner? I'm starved!"  So of course I fed him the whole can instead of just half (but he only ate half!) and now he is sitting in one of his favorite chairs (they are ALL his favorite, and he thinks he owns ALL of the chairs in the house), and it looks like he's going to take a nap!!  

King Blackie on his throne.  I said to him, 

"Pussycat pussycat, where have you been?

I've been up to London to visit the Queen.

Pussycat pussycat, what did you there?

I frightened a little mouse under her chair

MEOWW!"

Thanks for caring and praying for him! All's well that ends well!!

Original Post this morning:

I don't think I've done a Thursday Thankfulness post in a while. Certainly not because I haven't been thankful! Probably more because I've either been busy or preoccupied with other things  and just haven't taken the time to "count my blessings" on a Thursday! But I do count them all the time, I just don't always write about it on Thursday!  And guess what?  I started this post on Thursday evening, but I was too tired and preoccupied to keep writing, and now here it is Friday morning, so I guess this will be a "Thursday Thankfulness post on Friday!"  LOL.  I am thankful that I am awake and alive and well enough to sit here and write to you this morning!

Lamentations 3:22-26

"22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I hope in Him!”

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,

To the soul who seeks Him.

26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly

For the salvation of the Lord."

This was the view from our back porch this morning (above)

And here's the view from the front porch before the sun came up:

I was out on the porches early because I was calling for Blackie.  He did not appear at the back door for breakfast as per his usual routine at 5:30 a.m. (sometimes earlier).  It is now 6:30 a.m., and he still has not appeared.  I think I know why.  We have these "Blink" cameras strategically placed around our property, and they showed an unusual amount of loose dog activity in the neighborhood during the night...with several dogs running through our yard.  Whenever that happens, Blackie goes into hiding and won't reappear until he feels safe enough to come back out.  I've been calling him and calling him (I'm sure the neighbors love hearing me calling in the early morning hours), but there's still no sign of him. Hubby says not to worry...he will show up when the sun comes up and he feels safe enough to come out of his hiding place.

I am thankful for the cameras, because they do give us an extra layer of "security" as we are able to see whatever is happening on our property even when we are not at home. 

We also have this "Ring" doorbell/camera at the front door, which not only shows us "who's there", but we can talk to them even when we aren't at home! I am thankful for this new technology and also for our "kids" Benton and Rose, who ordered them and set them up for us. It really helps to have smart and talented kids.

Now, you may wonder why I said I was too preoccupied and tired earlier in this post.  Well, it has to do with all this wonderful technology that we have and are indeed thankful for.  On Monday morning hubby and I had made a decision to change our WiFi provider to a different company, because they were offering a deal that we really couldn't pass up...a price for  WiFi service at less than half the cost of our current service, and that price was guaranteed for FIVE YEARS!  We were excited to discover that the new company had recently extended their fiber optic cables into our neighborhood so it was now available to us.

I don't know if any of you have ever gone through the process of changing from one system to another, which also included changing our cell phone provider to the new company, but if you have, you know that it is a time consuming (on the phone with technicians) process,  and not for the faint of heart or for those who are not too savvy when it comes to modern technology.  And you better not have anything else planned for a day or two, because there are so many details involved in this process that you won't be able to leave your phone or your house until everything is figured out!

New Modem

Let's just sum it all up by saying that I am thankful that it is now done...but let me tell you...it can be a real learning curve for those of us who are older and somewhat behind in the latest technology. I was shocked to discover that I would have to figure out how to switch from the old provider to the new on every piece of technological equipment we own:  Desktop computer, Laptop Computer, Smart TV, Printer, Cell Phones, and yes, also those wonderful Blink Cameras and also the Ring Doorbell Camera! Without physically going through the steps on each device, they would not work! Trust me, it was an ordeal, and I was on the phone with the technicians more than once while they walked me through it (especially for the cell phones, because hubby's phone is an older model and it required a new "SIM Card", which they mailed to us next day mail, and I had to figure out how to install that as well as make all the necessary transfers.)

Hubby sent this picture to me this morning from Facebook, because he said this was a good picture of how I looked this week! LOL!!!

I am very thankful that all of my "work" this week will be well worth the savings we are getting on our WiFi and Cell Phone systems.  When I figure it up for the five year period, we will be saving over $4000.!!!  I'd say that's worth all my trouble, wouldn't you?  And that doesn't account for the possibility that our old WiFi company might have continued to raise their rates each year, as they have done pretty consistently over the past few years.  They weren't happy with me when I called them to cancel the service, and they tried to offer me all kinds of discounts...but I told them they were too late! They should've offered them BEFORE I felt frustrated with their rising prices so much that I looked elsewhere.  

Well, friends, it's time to get a move on. Blackie still hasn't come home, but I expect he will show up when he gets hungry enough.

This is Blackie's favorite place to be.

Oh, and I got a slip cover for the new recliner this week at Ollie's (where you can buy "Good Stuff Cheap!")  That works better than all the other things we were trying to keep Blackie's sharp claws off the chair...

And since that cover was blue (the only one we could find that would fit), I decided to get a blue cover for the couch as well...

Okay, folks...Thank you for being here. I appreciate each and every one of you and your sweet comments.  I thank the Lord for this place where we can meet and visit throughout the week!  You are all very special friends!

Have a blessed and wonderful day and weekend. Don't forget to "spring ahead" on your clocks Saturday night!!