Friday! I’m so thankful for the weekend. And that Patrick made it to Texas safely today. And that I can sleep in tomorrow.

Patrick left me today. And he got me up at 5 am to say goodbye. He’s on his 17-hour drive to see his family and will be gone for a couple of weeks. I’m thankful his drive today was safe and he made it farther than he originally planned. Since he still has some lingering Covid fatigue, he wasn’t sure how he’d do with the long drive, so it’s a good sign that it wasn’t too taxing.

I’m actually looking forward to having the tv to myself (hello, Christmas movies!) and hanging with the pups. Maybe I’ll spend time in my craft room. Oh, and definitely eat popcorn for dinner.

Today was one of those days where I needed to look for the small things. Here’s what I found:

Hot tea with honey

Christmas carols

Freshly bathed pups

Peppermint ice cream bars

The Christmas Clauses

I’m thankful today for an evening wrapping gifts in front of the fire with a wonderfully obnoxious Hallmark movie on. And so starts the season for me…

I’m thankful today for sparkly Christmas lights and really good wine.

Even though it was cold today, Patrick and I went to a Christkindlmarket about an hour away. We’ve been to others in the past and found them fun. This one was a little disappointing because it was quite a bit smaller. We usually find a new tree ornament but didn’t see any we really liked. It was ok, though. I’m thankful for the seasonal activity to get us into the Christmas spirit. Plus we stopped for a great burger on the way home.

I was on a mission today to get more decorating done, but I needed to run errands first. Thankfully, I accomplished both. I’m not quite done inside the house, but I did get my pots of greens and front door finished. Well, I may move the wreath…

I’m grateful today for a bit of warmer weather, a couple of hours off work this afternoon, getting a little more Christmas decorating done, feeling accomplished, and spontaneous dessert.

When we had to put down our 18-year-old cat a couple of years ago, the clinic offered different memorial options. We asked for his paw print but never got it. We were pretty upset over his loss at the time and just chalked it up to a miscommunication. But the other day, the clinic contacted Patrick because they had the print after all. It was just overlooked. Today I attached a hook and put it on our Christmas tree. I’m so thankful for this unexpected memento today.