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?

How about a few favorite things instead of a summary of this week. Let me tell you it’s been a week and a half. It’s Friday afternoon and I’m still in my pajamas yet to shower. I did get up and at them the rest of the week but…whew, this week was a bit of a tootsie pop-y week. Guess that’s a nice way to say it?

And it took more than 3 licks to get to the center (end) of it. I always enjoyed this commercial.

There is so much I’d like to say about this week and so much I don’t feel like sharing. Monday was J’s birthday, that was good. Tuesday through Thursday, I worked and that was okay. I did set off their alarm accidentally on Tuesday morning (Oops! Thankfully, I could quickly call and let the alarm company know it was an accident. Getting proper codes and the alarm turned off inside the building took a little longer.). Between some rough mornings at home and kind of tough (not terrible though) work days, by yesterday afternoon I felt pretty much emotionally depleted. Still kind of there if I’m honest.

Like I said earlier, instead of too many details, I’m just going to share a few favorite things that got me through the week.

Snacks and Drinks

So, I’ll just confess I’m a stress eater. Sugar? Okay. However, some days just call for CRUNCHING. And these are my latest favorites for that. They’re also a little salty but that’s okay as well. 

(By the way, I know I don’t talk about our other “football” team often but I hear Sporting KC is in the playoffs! Someday I’d like to get to one of their soccer games as I hear they’re quite fun)

I try not to indulge in soda or pop (my dad called it soda pop so don’t ask me) too often but this is definitely my all-time favorite. As a mostly Coca Cola fan, that’s saying something. Mango Pepsi for days when it’s just too warm out there for hot tea. And hey, it does have 1 percent of mango juice.

Aroma Therapy

My current favorite scents. I know I mentioned being taken with the cold brew Irish cream coffee at Starbucks. This candle is a cheaper way to get my thrill.

And for the diffuser, here’s a rather odd scent for a summer lover to be a bit enamored with lately:

It’s a very peaceful scent. Not sure how else to describe it. (Please forgive the blurry photo)

Self-Care

Not my favorite term but it fits for this category. Of the few, 21 for 21 items on my list from the beginning of the year, a skincare routine has actually somewhat lasted.

Maybe because I allowed myself to indulge in these Philosophy products.

Today, I tried a sample of a clay mask which I’ve added to my list of full-sized products to buy. Thankfully, they last a long time. The sample sized set pictured was on sale so I went with it.

Shall We Just Howl? Or Cry?

At least as possible explanation for the week, I saw the full moon starting on Wednesday evening. And again as J and I walked around a local park late yesterday afternoon. Missed the eclipse though. Went to bed early last night and just couldn’t quite get out of bed this morning. I must’ve needed the sleep. 

A Theme Song For My Week? My Month?

Seriously, this week has just left me a bit burned out. Perhaps the whole month.

And of course, I just found out that we need to go get J sized for a tux for concert season. (My fault a bit as I forgot about it and sizing/money is all due on Monday) So much for pajama day.

*I should say that I did stop and find bits of gratitude that helped get me through this week as well: beautiful weather early in the week, time with those wonderful preschool kids that filled my heart, time with my own kids as well, open bathrooms at the park yesterday afternoon (always a gamble in November!), and amazing helpful co-workers. And a spot on verse in the Jesus Calling book this morning.

What kind of week have you had? Any favorite things helping you get through it?

The week moved at a slightly slower paced speed for the second week of November. As I review my week for you, I’m again sharing bits of gratitude I found in each day.

MONDAY

Worked half a day and would you believe it’s the only day I worked all week? I’m still in a bit of shock about that. In the afternoon, I ran to the grocery store where I discovered a new Starbucks favorite treat. Though I probably wouldn’t want it in today’s cold blustery wind, the 70 degrees on Monday was perfect for an Irish Cream Cold Brew. It’s definitely going to be my treat drink of choice on warmer days. Finished off the day by taking J to his lesson and reading my book for a bit.

Gratitude items from Monday: Beautiful weather, discovery of a much needed new favorite coffee treat, and a chance to work and see my favorite preschool kids. (Hint: They’re all my favorites!) 

TUESDAY

Our beautiful weather continued on Tuesday. And since I had the day off work, I took the opportunity to finally go for a walk at one of my favorite local parks. After picking up J from school, I then went with my husband so he could complete his purchase of a new truck. He’s been driving an 2004 with many miles and has been looking for almost a year now. So it was quite exciting that he finally found what he wanted and got a deal on it (no small feat, it’s definitely currently not a buyers market for automobiles).

Gratitude for Tuesday: A beautiful much needed walk in the nature of the park, my husband finding a truck after a very long search, GPS in my car to help navigate rush hour (he found his truck on the Kansas side of the state line and I had to make my way home through downtown during rush hour traffic). 

WEDNESDAY

Another day at home for me. Such a strange week, needed the down time but still had lots of people in this house still needing me. Had to find insurance information for my husband. G borrowed my car for most of the day (better gas mileage) to do a school project. I spent a bit of time working on a new blog post about some of my favorite authors. Later, my husband took J and I in the new truck out to Culvers for dinner. A no cooking night is always a win!

Thankful Things from Wednesday: Another day to enjoy being at home, dinner out with (most) the family. 

THURSDAY

I found myself shocked (and if I’m honest, a bit relieved) to once again not get called into work on Thursday. Did a little birthday and Christmas sorting (J’s birthday is next week). Got a wild hair and baked a fruitcake, we’ll see how that turns out. And had a nice get together/Mom’s Night Out with friends. I missed the last one so it was nice to catch up with everyone.

Thankful Things from Thursday: another day to relax at home (almost caught up on the laundry even!), time to bake, a chance to see friends.

FRIDAY

We went from super sunny fall days early in the week to a cold, blustery 38 degrees currently. And I know I saw snow flurries earlier as well! So far today, I’m just having a lazy day. Ate some snacks, watched some TV. Honestly, I’ve done pretty much nothing so far with my free Friday. Did remove some weird looking white cocoon thing from my Meyer lemon tree (whole branch is gone now) but that’s about it. G even bought my lunch at McDonald’s so I didn’t have to worry about that either. 

Gratitude so far for today: a cozy warm house, spotting the weird white cocoon thing before whatever was inside it joined our family (we’re at occupancy around here!), a thoughtful older son who always asks if I want something when he goes out for lunch, a free day! 

Our Upcoming Weekend

For the first time in probably 2 months, I can sleep in tomorrow morning. Probably won’t but it’s nice to know we have nowhere to be. G and J have dinner plans with their grandpa but I don’t know what I’m doing yet. Sunday morning, J plays with his baritone instructor’s band during a church service so I’ll probably attend that. Chiefs game on Sunday evening of course. Over all, a nice slightly slower paced weekend even. And for that, I’m very grateful. 

Where did you find gratitude during the past week? Or what about the upcoming weekend makes you want to give thanks?