I’m thankful today that my daughter and her grandmother are ok after they got into a car accident. A girl turned into them and hit the front of her car, bending one of her front tires. No one got hurt, but we are hoping her car is repairable.

Despite my sister’s driving skills, we made it to my mom’s without a hitch today. That’s my niece buried amongst the pillows in the back seat. I ended up working just long enough this morning to answer some emails, and then we packed the car and headed out. I’m glad we left a little early because it was our first day of snow this year. It was really mostly sleet off and on, but even that is bad enough while highway driving, which I hate. I spent a lot of our 3-hour drive saying such things as, “watch out I think that guy is gonna cross into our lane,” “you don’t have to look at me when you’re talking,” “slow down-slow down- slow down.” I’ve officially become THAT annoying side seat driver. But I’m my defense, My sister started our drive describing a horrible car accused witnessed where the driver had been texting. And then she put her phone in her lap.

But as I mentioned, we made it ok and I’m thankful for that. Tonight the rest of my sisters arrived and we spent the evening laughing and drinking wine and eating off this lovely charcuterie board. Tomorrow we travel another couple of hours to the haunted mansion…

My sister and niece are here! They got here a little later than initially anticipated, and we chatted nonstop, so I forgot to get a photo before they went to bed. Oh, well. I’m thankful they got here safely and we had a chance to visit tonight. Tomorrow we are going to my mom’s place to meet up with our other sisters for a weekend together. It’s been years since we’ve all seen each other face to face, and I’m really looking forward to getting together.

I’m thankful for a few things today:

Work was fairly quiet so I actually got stuff done.

I got to see a friend briefly after work.

I was able to cut back my pain meds a bit.

I finished a book while getting some pup snuggles.

I don’t like the time change. It feels like bedtime by 6:00 pm. And the darkness coincides with the change in temperature where we live, which makes it extra hard to want to venture out of the house in the evening. I realized today that it makes me feel extra isolated again too. And I’m not ready for that.

Which is why I was thankful Patrick agreed to drive me to a couple of stores after dinner so I could do a little Christmas shopping but mostly get out of the house. I know, it’s still a bit early for Christmas talk, but I’m going to see my daughter and her husband during Thanksgiving week and I want to send presents back with them. Plus I have to mail a lot again this year and need to plan for delays. Still, I wasn’t ready to hear Christmas music playing in the stores. Yikes. Too soon.

Oh! I’m also thankful for leftover Halloween candy which works well for ice cream toppings…a nice little post shopping treat.

Today I’m so thankful that my skin is starting to turn around. It’s peeled quite a bit, but it is drying a out now and isn’t so dark red. Some areas are light pink. It’s tight and sore and feels bruised but I think I’ll make it. Yay! I’ll spare you another visual.

I’m grateful for another beautiful Fall day where we could sit on the deck without a jacket. I have the feeling these days are numbered.

It’s Friday! Again! What’s better than a weekend? Unless you’re retired and every day is a weekend. I’m not going to write about my follow up visit to my oncologist today because it was disappointing. Not worthy of the new celebration boots I wore there.

What was worthy of them was the dinner we had at a friend’s house. Mmm. Steak dinner and good conversation is an excellent way to end the week. Plus they gave me this great book, which works for Halloween and Christmas, my two favorite holidays.

I’m thankful for friendship that involves good food and shared experiences, impromptu dinner invitations and laughter.