Happy Valentine’s Day! I know it’s not a holiday everyone celebrates, but I enjoy having a day reserved for love—and not just romantic love, but friendship as well. And I felt the love today. I’m thankful for my friends and family. And for dinner out with Patrick and Emma.

I’m thankful for having a day off and having a fun time today with Emma. We went out for breakfast, and then drove to a cute little town and did some shopping. It was a lovely, warm day to be out and about. We finished our day with dinner with Patrick, manicures, and Ted Lasso repeats.

I’m thankful for a beautiful day today. It was warm and sunny and felt like spring. We went to church and had lunch afterwards and ran a couple of errands. Emma then went over to a friend’s house. Since I’m taking tomorrow off work to hang out with her, today feels like an extra Saturday. Yay!

I’m so thankful today that Emma is here to visit this week. The pups are happy about it, too!

Yup, I’m thankful it’s Friday! Even more so because Emma is coming to visit tomorrow and will be in town for a week. Yay!

Well, today was my appointment with my new plastic surgeon. It was the one day in our week where the weather was bad—a mix of rain and snow. His office called me to offer an alternative appointment next week, but I didn’t want to postpone, and I’m glad I didn’t. It sounds like I’m in for another long haul.

I have a couple of options but both entail multiple surgeries. One would use skin and fat from my stomach, the other would use skin and muscle from my back. Both have long recovery times—6 to 8 weeks—and would require hospital stays of 2-4 days. And I wouldn’t be able to get scheduled until several months from now. He also suggested I either have my ovaries taken out ahead of time, or wait until my second surgery with him.

I left feeling like I wanted to cry, mostly from the exhaustion of knowing I’m starting over again. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t multiple surgeries.

On the upside, this doctor has done thousands of the option I’m leaning towards and even teaches at a university hospital, so I feel confident about his ability; I could get rid of the implants; I don’t need to worry about losing weight because he’ll use the fat for the surgery (more fat = bigger my boobs); I’ll essentially get a tummy tuck; and I have options when I was worried I might not. I’m thankful for the upsides.

I recently wrote this poem, and it sums up my feelings today. I’m going to leave this here, and then I’m going to focus on the positives.

It was a long day again starting with a 6 am, four-hour training. I feel like I spent 90% of my day in meetings, so I’m thankful for an easy evening and a glass a wine. And with so much devastation out there today, I’m grateful that a long workday is the worst I’m dealing with.

I’m thankful for a busy day and for a bit of exercising after work.

We got a warm up today which made it feel like spring. In our location, 37 F was a huge change. Families were out in our neighborhood, with kids on bikes even. Patrick took the pups out for a quick walk and then he and I went around the block, too. I’m thankful for the brief look ahead.