I’m super happy for Friday and that I left work a couple hours early. I ran errands again but still got home early. Yay!

My cough is back. Grrr. I blame being out in the cold, shoveling the driveway, but I am happy about the snow. It feels like Christmas time now.

I’m thankful for sunshine, hot tea, laughter at work, chatting with Patrick and my sister, and dinosaur pajamas.

Today I was productive. Sort of. I left work early and ran a couple errands before I headed home. Then I decided to make cookies—only the brown sugar was too hard, and I didn’t soften the butter enough. Rookie mistakes. The texture of the peanut butter cookies wasn’t right, and the sugar cookies melted into each other. They actually taste ok but they are not pretty.

I also got a lot of presents wrapped while watching Christmas movies, even though I had to fight Cooper for the wrapping paper. I really hope he leaves the presents alone tomorrow.

The pups and I also played a little bit in the snow. They both like eating it which is funny.

I’m grateful for getting some stuff off my list, so I won’t have so much to do over the weekend.

The pups were ridiculous tonight. Well, Cooper was extra silly and Barley wasn’t sure what to do with him. After Cooper went literally bouncing off the walls, Barley gave me a look like, “Can you make it stop?”

It’s was a pretty funny moment. And one I would have missed had I been as industrious as I had planned for this week. I had a lot of holiday stuff on my list. And so far, I’ve done…basically nothing. No wrapping presents. No making cookies. No cleaning up anywhere. I’ve done nothing but come home from work and hang out with the dogs on the sofa. We’ve sat 3 across, me and my bookend pups and watched Hallmark movies. Tonight we had popcorn and hot chocolate. It’s been great, and I’m thankful for the down time. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get to my list.

I’m thankful today for a decent nights sleep, for Patrick making it safely to Texas, FaceTime with Emma, ugly Christmas sweaters, and a surprise present at work. My team knows me well—it was mostly snacks for my “food box” in my office. How great is that?!

Patrick left for Texas this morning. He’s taking a couple of days to drive there, and I’m thankful he made the day’s drive safely. I’m also thankful my work day wasn’t too crazy because I made it home in time to feed the pups. Then we had a dance party in the living room and watched nothing but holiday movies until they fell asleep.

After a quick breakfast with my sisters and father, we headed home. I’m thankful for a safe drive home and for happy pups.

My mom hasn’t been feeling well herself this week, and felt lightheaded this morning, so we took her to the immediate care. Unlike ours back home, this immediate care wasn’t busy, so she got in right away. The ran some tests and didn’t find anything major, which was a relief. They suspect some gastrointestinal distress, and suggested over the counter meds for now. She will follow up with some additional testing but ended up feeling better, which was a relief, especially since tonight was our planned family dinner out.

We got a little time this afternoon to check out the local christkindlmarket and then went to our dinner, where my mom rented a private room. It was a beautiful and classy setting for us rowdy bunch. But it was good food and a good time. Since my mom was hosting (and paying as our Christmas gift) we all went around the table saying what we loved about her. It was a really sweet moment that ended with my niece’s boyfriend saying, through emotional tears, how much she reminded him of his own mom. I’m thankful for a lovely time with my family and grateful my mom felt well in time to enjoy it.

I’m grateful today for getting out of work early and getting to my mom’s house before any snow that was predicted. It was easy drive, especially since Patrick was driving. We made it there by dinner time and had a nice night with my family, playing games and exchanging presents.

I’m also thankful the pups are in good hands and probably loving that we are gone for a bit. They love the snuggles.

Finally, I’m thankful that my medicine seems to be helping because my cough seems to be getting a little better.

Since my cough isn’t going away, I called my primary care doctor who didn’t have appointments until January (of course). I was told I should go to the prompt care, which is a complete misnomer. It was two hours of waiting, and a flu and Covid test by a nurse, before I ever saw the doctor. Both came back negative. The doctor says I clearly have a virus, unsure of what. Given my symptoms it could be bacterial, so I left with four prescriptions: an antibiotic, prednisone, an inhaler, and a cough suppressant.

And with my luck, the pharmacy won’t have the cough suppressant until tomorrow. Oh well. I’m thankful to have one dose of antibiotic today, and grateful the inhaler has helped my cough a bit already. I have high hopes for getting some sleep tonight. Good thing too, because we are supposed to see my family this weekend for an early Christmas celebration. Yay!

I went to work today, although after a few coughing fits, I don’t think anyone was glad about it. There were some things I needed to get done in person, so I intended to do them and then leave to finish my day at home. Sadly, it took longer than I thought so I ended up there all day.

I’m thankful that I felt somewhat better than yesterday. Maybe I’m finally on the mend. Fingers crossed. I’m also thankful for chats with Emma, soft sweaters, and Christmas shipping help from a friend.