Fall is here in the Midwest USA. Our local Apple orchard opened today, so Patrick and I got there when it opened. Apple cider donuts, mmmm. I also found some Halloween spiders. I’m sure they’ll make their way into the blog soon.

The morning started well, and my afternoon got better. I spent a little time with my friend Ann after I dropped off some garden vegetables to her.

Then I had a massage. OMG. I had to use rolled up towels and a pillow to keep the pressure off my implants, but I’m glad I was face down for most of it. That way my masseur could not see me grimace. Everything hurt. I had knots all throughout my back. My legs. My shoulders. He also worked on the super tight muscle under my left arm that has bothered me since my very first surgery. I won’t be surprised if I see bruises over the next couple of days. But I’m so thankful I went. I think I can already feel some relief. As I told him when he commented on how well I was tolerating things, I’d rather suffer some short term pain for long term relief.

I’m thankful for a pretty good day, and I’m thankful for Ann who gifted me my first massage.

We had a random shower after work today, and the sky celebrated. I’m thankful for the li sky colors of this rainbow and the end of the work week.

I’m thankful tonight for friends, conversation, and smiles.

I’m thankful today for fresh cut grass, hot lattes, new shampoo and chocolate.

I got things done today! Mostly laundry, but it needed to be done, especially after all the lost time yesterday. Plus we dragged new items to my antique booth. I’m thankful for getting some stuff done and for having time to sit outside in the sunshine.

Well, today was all about my phone. Again. I went back to the T-Mobil store this morning when they opened at 10 am. The guy who helped me was nice, but when a new SIM card didn’t fix my phone, he sent me to the other store across town to see a technician.

After trying several things, the guy there deleted everything off my phone, setting it back to factory defaults. But then couldn’t restore it. After 2 hours, he admitted they couldn’t help me and left me with a completely useless phone. So Patrick and I drove 45 mins to an Apple store where we had to wait 2 hours just to get it looked at. They finally determined it was a hardware issue that required replacing everything but the glass front and would take another hour and a half to fix. At this point, Patrick left me to go home and feed our poor pups.

So…it took about 11 hours and numerous trips back and forth, but I now have a working phone again. What a waste of a day.

Still, I’m grateful Patrick was willing to drive along. Then home. Then back to pick me up. Ha. I’m thankful the Apple store was at a mall so we had a spot to eat and wander around while we waited. And I’m thankful it only cost me a day since my phone insurance covered the replacement.

I went without a phone for most of today. For some reason, my cellular service disappeared. Patrick and I were out shopping for a tv cabinet, so I had to wait until we were back home and on wi-fi to try to figure it out. I spent 2 and 1/2 hours on a chat with my phone provider and they couldn’t figure it out. I finally drove to a store to see if they could switch out the SIM card or something before they closed. OMG. The teenagers running the store were useless. One ignored me completely as she finished up someone’s purchase and went on to chat about where they lived and how much their rent was. The other one asked what I needed and after I described the problem, pointed out the other two people waiting in the store, saying they had the same problem. He then told me it could be a tower issue. I said the online support already checked that the network near me was fine. He then said changing the SIM card didn’t help the others. I asked what the solution was then. He said he didn’t know and when I asked if he could check on it with someone else, he just walked away. I waited a minute to see if he was going to follow up, but he started helping one of the others instead. Since it was already closing time, I just left the store. ARGH.

Big sigh.

I’m thankful I didn’t make a scene at the store. I’m also thankful we have another store in town that I can go to in the morning. I really hope they have someone helpful working there.

A year after we were engaged, Patrick wrote this on the chalkboard before he left the house. We were married by then, so it was sweet that he remembered. I’m thankful for these memories pop up on Facebook.

I’m also thankful for my work friends who have my back. And feed my love of Halloween and skulls. I had to literally fight Barley who kept trying to yank this soft blanket from me.

I’m thankful today for authentic tacos, a busy day, conversations about the future, a glass of wine, and loving puppy stares.

Ok, ignore the pace section on my watch. I was walking. I’m so thankful today that I walked almost 4 miles and did not feel like I was overworked. I’m finally gaining some stamina which is a good thing. Now on to losing some weight.