Hopefully, you had a good Thanksgiving (if in the United States) and are ready for the holiday season.
Sharing the video of one of my favorite songs of the season as believe it or not, I did not take a single photo yesterday!
To say this has been a week of ups and downs is likely an understatement.
MONDAY and TUESDAY
Monday was a lovely day of mostly happiness. Started the morning with a haircut, always enjoy my “hair-apy” sessions so much. And my lovely hairdresser always gives a small Christmas gift to her clients. Guess I should’ve taken a picture of that. A little plastic cup with a straw filled with candies, lip balm, and lotion. The saying on the cup:
May your day be as amazing as your hair!
*Very grateful for her, she’s been my hairdresser since I was in high school!*
Then, I kicked off my holiday season a bit early by doing a bit of shopping. Hit a few shops on the east side of town that I don’t get toward quite as often. Picked up a tin of my husband’s favorite cookies, J’s favorites, and few other stocking stuffers. Plus a chocolate Advent calendar. The chocolates were so pretty, I couldn’t resist!
A happy Monday, and then came Tuesday. SIGH. Crashing down.
Anxiety rushed back at J. It’s so hard to watch someone you love suffer. And we won’t even get into the guilt it brings. Suffice it to say I struggled the whole day as well.
However, G was kind enough to see just how much I was struggling and bought me lunch. (While his kindness helped my mood, Taco Bell didn’t do much for my stomach already upset from poor food choices from earlier in the day)
Wednesday and Thursday
Wednesday helped me climb back up the good mood ladder a bit. Time spent with loving preschool kiddos is such a mood boost! And J didn’t have school anyway so no worries there.
One of the students in the afternoon class told me several jokes. I love when the preschool kids tell me jokes. Sometimes they make no sense but his were really funny. Sample:
What do lazy dogs do for fun?
Chase parked cars!
Ha!
Yesterday (Thursday) was of course, Thanksgiving. And I’ve had lots of thoughts about the holidays and then, even more thoughts here.
It was a strange day here with just the four of us. My husband cooked the turkey on the pellet grill and I made all the sides: cranberry sauce (Wednesday night), pumpkin and chocolate pies, cornbread, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes (cheated, used instant), corn, and we also had dinner rolls (cheated, bought at Hy-Vee, not great).
As I cooked, mostly, I worked through a bit of grief and memories. Cried my way through some Facebook photos and memories.
I think I needed this holiday with just the four of us to grieve the loss of our Oklahoma holiday traditions. Hadn’t had a chance to do that yet as our aunt passed away in October 2019 so close to the holidays that I think I was simply in shock. And last year, the pandemic didn’t allow much room for any other thoughts as things were just so different all the way around.
After dinner, we did manage to lure the kids from their rooms for a few rounds of Uno. And then, J and I played Go. I think the boys had a good holiday. Hope so anyway.
Upcoming Weekend
While I thought about kicking off the holiday season with a bit of Black Friday shopping, the allure of staying in my pajama bottoms was too great. Did do a tiny bit of on-line though.
My plans for the weekend involve mostly laundry, deep cleaning, and Christmas decorating. Maybe putting together a list of Christmas books to read and movies to watch. Last year I made a point to watch a Christmas movie every day in December (not sure I managed every day) and really enjoyed it. So, a planned repeat of that is in order.
So far, I’ve deep cleaned the main bathroom and put up the Christmas shower curtain. Just taking my time with everything today.
How was your week (and holiday if you celebrated)? What do you have planned for the weekend?