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.

How amazing is this?? Fancy ice cream delivered to my front door! What a sweet surprise from my sister/brother-in-law. I’m touched they thought of me and so thankful for them. I think I’ll have some of each tomorrow when I celebrate my last day of radiation.

How lucky am I that my trek to the hospital every day includes a drive down this lovely road? I’m grateful for these beautiful Fall views.

Happy Halloween! We ended up having more trick-or-treaters than we’ve had the last few years, which was great. As usual, I dressed up and sat on the front steps. Some kids didn’t want to come up to the door, which was funny. The ones that did, especially the young ones, kept telling me they liked my animated cat, which was cute.

One of the nurses who work in the radiation department came by with her kids. We discovered we lived in the same neighborhood last week. It was weird to see each other outside of the normal environment, but it was fun to meet her adorable kids. I’m thankful for a bit of normal fun on this Halloween. Now if I can just stop eating the leftover candy.

I love Fall. The colors have been changing quickly around here. We now have bright red and yellow leaves on trees throughout town. Even though it’s been raining a lot this month, we’ve had enough lovely days in between to still really enjoy the outdoors. I’m grateful today was one of them.