I’m thankful for my daughter Brianna who turned 28 today. I wish I could have celebrated with her, but I had to be happy with sending her treats. I’m also happy she has her husband to celebrate with her.

I’m thankful today for friendship, exercise, cheese popcorn, and whiskey.

I’m grateful April is a thing of the past. I’m hoping it takes the cold weather with it, although today was not the case. I’m looking forward to future flowers and sun and longer days.

In true April fashion, today’s weather was wonky. Heavy showers off and on. Spots of bright sunshine. Cold. Then warm. But still we managed to venture out to a barn sale and a few other junking spots around the area. I bought a vintage suitcase to store stuff in. And Patrick found some discounted whiskey at a store he visited after he dropped me off at a Salvation Army.

It was a fun time until we realized we were almost out of gas and taking country roads. We searched for the closest gas station and once we got there, discovered that every pump was out of order. I reminded Patrick that I have no chest strength anymore, so I’d be no help in pushing the car. We were down to 10 miles left and made it to the next station with only a couple miles to spare. It was a nail biter.

I’m thankful for our little adventures, especially when it’s a lousy day for much else.

You guys know I’m thankful today is Friday.

So is Barley.

I’m also thankful for a productive (if long) week. And for my sister-in-law Megan, whose birthday is today. And for my brother-in-law Cliff, who retired from the Army today.

I’m grateful today for fancy shoes and after work side hustles.

I’m thankful today for honest conversations, for vanilla ice cream, for connecting the dots, and for Patrick having dinner ready when I got home.

I was digging around in a box of old papers today looking for some old school documents when I came across a couple of poems I wrote. One was for Brianna when she was in grade school when I used to put notes in her lunchbox. The other was about Emma just before she turned 5. I love stumbling across these memories and I’m thankful for the reminders of when my kids were little. It seems like such a long time ago.

It’s still hard to find things that I’m grateful for on Mondays. I haven’t figured out how to wake up refreshed and ready to start the week. And last night my dream catcher failed because I ended up dreaming about work. Work!? Boo. Today was also cold and overcast, the total opposite of the warm, sunny weekend.

But work went fairly quickly. I’m thankful I forced myself to go to the gym after work. And I’m grateful I chatted with my sister for a bit.

We stayed up too late last night with my mom and sisters, so today was a day of lounging. I’m thankful we didn’t have anything that needed to be done. Instead, we watched tv, went to a garden center, sat on the deck for a bit once the sun came out, then watched more tv. I wish weekends were 3 days long. I could use another day like today.