I spent the day with flowers, getting my pots together for on the deck and planting a few more perennials in the front yard garden. It was a warm business but I managed and even got a bit of a tan. I’m thankful for a productive day in the sunshine!

Our friends left this morning and Patrick spent the first 1/2 hour afterwords saying, “It’s so quiet.” He wasn’t wrong. Haha. Although we were so thankful our friends made the long drive to visit us. We don’t see each other enough anymore, and their kids are growing up so fast!

We spent the rest of the day wandering about out of town for a bit and then just relaxing. It was another beautiful day, and I’m also thankful for that.

It was another great day of perfect weather and a great day to sneak out of work early, which I did. I met Patrick and our friends for lunch, which was fun.

Then after stopping off for a few groceries, I got back home just before a couple other friends showed up. We had a lovely day hanging outside on the deck and then cooking out. It was a wonderful start to a long weekend.

It’s Patrick’s birthday today! I’m grateful for him every day, but of course, today especially. I won’t say WHAT birthday year it is for him because he’s not happy about it. He’s still young, though. And still old in all the ways he has been all along, so really nothing has changed. Haha.

He didn’t want to celebrate so we didn’t plan anything big. But some friends of ours from out of town came to visit and arrived with cupcakes, which made our pizza dinner a party. I’m thankful he had a good birthday. And I’m thankful I get to begin another year with him.

I got to work early for a 6:00 am training, and I am reminded of why I’m not an early bird. I wish I could enjoy getting up and starting my day, but no. I quite like getting at least 7 hrs of sleep and I refuse to go to bed early since I’m usually tossing and turning for a while anyway.

Despite my early day at work, I’m grateful the training was interesting and useful and my day didn’t drag on. I’m also thankful for a chat with my mom, for strawberry dessert, and that I got more done at home this evening in preparation for our friends coming tomorrow. And I’m going to be extra thankful for a good night’s sleep.

It was warm today and I wasn’t sad by it. I’m loving the sunshine, even when I’m inside working all day. After work, I got a few necessary things done. We have some friends coming to visit on Thursday and staying a couple of days. It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen each other, so we are looking forward to seeing them. But having guests always brings to light the areas at home that need cleaning or sprucing up and there never seems like enough time. Still, I’m thankful for checking a few things off the list and having a couple more evenings to prepare.

We spent half of our day working in the yard. Patrick planted his garden in the backyard, and I trimmed, weeded, and put down mulch in the front. So far, I used 25 bags of mulch and need at least 5 more. My arms are scratched and my back is sore, but things are coming along nicely. I still have some pots to plant, but I’m thankful for the work done.

I’m thankful for a fun day of junking with a friend and Patrick. It was a perfect day and now I’m sore from all the walking. We didn’t find everything we wanted, but we did get a few treasures.

I’ve heard from a few people who listened to the podcast this week that they appreciated it. Yay! My friend who co-hosted it shared some comments she got as well, which made me realize how much meaningful conversations can impact people. I’m grateful for that since I wanted to be truthful about my journey, and I hope maybe it helps others to be willing to share their own difficult experiences. Burdens are so much lighter if we aren’t carrying them alone.

I’m also thankful today for a bit of time outside, dinner with Patrick at a place we haven’t been in a while, and for fun junking plans tomorrow.