I’m thankful today for safe travels.

The month of love has begun! It’s the last day of the work week for me because I’m taking tomorrow off to visit family. Patrick’s sister had a daughter four months ago and we finally get to see her. I’m thankful for the opportunity to get away for the weekend and I’m excited to see baby Maddie!

My workout from yesterday showed up this afternoon in the form of sore muscles. I’m glad for the reminder that I pushed myself towards a health goal. I’m also grateful for the reminder that I’ve been trying to be better with my health because it made me feel less guilty for getting together with a friend to bake Florentine bars. They are an amazing combination of candies fruit on a shortbread crust. My friend usually makes them around Christmas time and gives me some. This year I asked for her recipe but hadn’t made them myself yet. So tonight my daughter and I went to her house so we could make a couple of batches together. We had wine, chatted, and played with her cat while we waited for the bars to bake. It was a lovely evening and I ate a couple of the bars without guilt. I’ll workout again tomorrow, but tonight I’m thankful for indulging a bit with a friend.

Today I’m thankful for friends. Although I wasn’t planning it, I ended up at the gym today at the same time a friend of mine was here. With her encouragement, I went to an exercise class that showed me I wasn’t as terribly out of shape as she thought. At least I made it through without having to stop. I’m grateful she pushed me out of my comfort zone today.

It’s hard to see some gratitude. I’ve been disappointed more than once today. With the same person over the same topic. It’s hard when you disagree with someone you love. It’s hurts when they can’t or don’t acknowledge your point of view and how their words can seem so harsh. But I’m still optimistic, so for that I’m thankful.

I worked out today! I don’t always stay on track with my workouts, so I’m thankful I got to the gym. It actually felt good. I felt strong.

Monday’s. Ugh. I’m actually grateful that it wasn’t too bad of a day. It didn’t drag on awfully much, and there was a hail storm that I avoided.

Today we met friends in Chicago and the day couldn’t have been better. There was a warm up and it was nice enough to be outside without a winter coat. We went to a beer festival then had a Greek dinner at a friend’s apartment. I’m thankful for our group of friends that make it is easy to get together.

It’s so good to get to Friday knowing there’s a couple days break to look forward to. While I’m grateful to have full-time employment, I do enjoy the days off, especially when there are fun things to look forward to.