I’m thankful today for getting some support, making future plans, and snuggling with the pups.

I’m thankful for family, especially my grandmother who passed away today. She was 98. Sadly, I wasn’t very close to her since I never lived nearby. But sometimes when I was visiting my mom and sisters, we would stop over to see her. We would all talk and she would mostly just listen and smile. She had the sweetest way of saying “oh, honey” in her shaky little voice. And her cheeks were soft and powdery.

Years ago, after my dad’s funeral, my grandmother was sitting at the end of the table watching everyone and nibbling on her food. Emma leaned over to me and said, “grandma looks like a cute little bird.” And that’s how I’ve always thought of her. A sweet little bird watching over her family. We will miss her.

My foot started bothering me while I was visiting Emma. It’s not the first time I’ve gotten a burning sensation and found it hard to walk on. However, it’s lasted longer than usual, so I went to an urgent care over lunch today. They took an X-ray to rule out a break, which I don’t have. What I do have is a neuroma, which is inflammation of nerves. The doctor prescribed a steroid and gave me a referral to a podiatrist in case it comes back. I’m thankful it’s not a break and I hope the steroids work.

A travel day is always stressful for me. Making sure I have everything packed and knowing that I have to be somewhere at a specific time puts a real damper on any free hours that might be open ahead of time. Today my flight wasn’t until 4:45 pm, and Emma lives 10 mins from the small airport I was flying out of, so we knew we had most of the day to do something. We decided to visit an Irish restaurant she likes for lunch after church, only to find it unexpectedly closed for the day. Without a lot of time for a secondary plan, we went for an ice cream lunch closer to her home. It was a good choice. The servings were crazy big and the ice cream was delicious.

That gave us enough time to visit a nursery for a pretty plant for her entrance, watch a final episode of a show we started, and say goodbye to her friends before heading to the airport. I’m so thankful to have been able to spend time with her for a long weekend. I’m gonna miss her.

Unfortunately, due to weather back home, my flight was delayed. They said 2 hours, so I sat down at a nearby eatery and ordered a sandwich and beer. Then before my food was done, they changed plans again and announced we would be boarding soon. Luckily, my sandwich got done just in time to take with me, and the flight home was pretty uneventful. I got home later than I wanted, but I’m grateful Patrick was waiting to drive me home from the airport and I had some pretty great sky views again.

We went to the zoo today! It was a small but really pretty zoo that had a cool dragon exhibit.

Afterwards we ran some errands and fixed up a couple areas at Emma’s place, ate yummy pizza and then hung out with her friends.

I’m thankful for another fun day with Emma.

Today Emma had to work, so I dropped her off and spent the day looking for stuff ahead of time needed. I found a deal on a dresser and a chair for her, which required renting a truck to pick them up after she was done working. I’m thankful for being able to help her out, and grateful for her friend’s husband who got home just in time to help us.

Happy 4th of July! Emma and I went to a cute little town on a lake with her friends and then had a cookout with them. It was a fun day! I’m thankful for our time together and the freedom we have to celebrate.

I left work a little early so we could leave for the airport with enough time to avoid too much traffic. Plus I just wanted to get out of work. It was a short week but still felt long.

My flight was slightly delayed because one flight attendant was late to work. My guess is that she was delayed from whatever previous flight she was on, but can you imagine being the person holding up a hundred folks? Yikes. At least my work day wasn’t that bad. Plus I ended up in first class, which is not normal for me. I upgraded since the price difference was basically the cost of checking my bags, which allowed me to pack all the stuff I was planning on mailing her. Score.

However, first class is wasted on me. When the attendant asked what I wanted, I had no idea what to ask for and just got a diet sprite while everyone around me ordered legit drinks. Ha. I did take a bag of gummy bears though, which was way better than pretzels. I felt special.

It was a short flight, but still had some great views. I never tire of seeing the world outside the plane window.