Another week has come and gone. I did get a lot accomplished though. Thursday - the day I dreaded - is past! It went better than I expected though. I had to travel 3 hours each way to one of our other offices, but the weather was good and it was a good experience. Now I need to catch up on things at work after being out for a whole day. It always takes me a week to catch up on things. You know, nobody does my work for me when I am out of the office, I just have to fit it in and catch up when I get back. today might be a fun day. We are going to go car shopping. My 2005 Impala is starting to have problems. We will see what we can find!

The tears are flowing as I write this tonight. Yes, part of it is because I just watched a sappy Halmark movie. And yes, part of it is because I am a little over tired. We kept the 3 grandchildren overnight last night. They were very good, but sometimes I get a little wore out. The 2 year old threw up after supper so I was a little worried about her. But I believe the biggest reason the tears are flowing is because it is Sunday night. I am sad that the weekend is over, and I am sad that I have to go to work tomorrow. Some weeks are better than others, and this week is going to be a hard one. I know, I know I should not wish my life away, but I will be happy when Thursday is over. Back to the weekend - it was such as nice weekend. The weather was fabulous, I got a lot done around the house, and it was great to have the kids around. I don't have a lot of weekends that I get to spend time at home. I must be weird, but I crave my time at home. I feel warm and safe and comforted at home. Am I agoraphobic? Well, maybe a little. Tonight I am grateful for my cozy little house.

I am moving a little slow today. I spent Sunday afternoon painting our master bath. We got the shower door replaced (it was leaking) and the adjoining wall has been replaced. so now it needed to be painted. It took me 30 minutes to unload all the stuff in bathroom. Get the stuff off the wall etc. It took 2 hours to do all the "cutting in". Then it took an hour to actually get the roller going and finish painting. That wasn't so bad. Yesterday, Monday was a holiday so I didn't have to work. I spent the entire day painting our bedroom. Again it took an hour move furniture, get stuff off the wall, etc. Then it took almost 3 hours to do the cutting in and another 2 hours to do the rolling. I was exhausted last night, but it was a good feeling to get it done! I guess I am just getting to old to do this stuff. Even worse, I was so stiff this morning! I had a hard time getting out of bed. Now today was the day after a Monday holiday. Those days are always crazy busy! And today was no exception. It was wild!!! A lot of off the wall stuff. Tonight my brain hurts. I have a feeling I won't sleep well. All of the events of the day will continue to go through my head all night long. That happens so often. If I have a really stressful day, I don't sleep very well. Anyway, today I am thankful for a clean freshly painted bathroom and bedroom. Next will be the dining room!

It has been a very busy couple of days. My brother from Las Vegas flew in with his "significant other". She is very nice. But she is from Guatamala. they thought about moving back to Minnesota to be close to family. Kelly is kind of homesick. The cold Minnesota weather was a little too much for her though. I think that being here the past few days changed her mind. I tried to do stuff with them, but I had a lot of other things I had to tend to. I felt really bad. But they spent time with my Mom and went out to the farm where my brother has a huge milking setup. So it isn't that they were just sitting around doing nothing. I shouldn't feel guilty, but I do. It is warming up a bit this week. The high by Saturday will be 30! It's a tropical heatwaive! It is a really good thing as I have a lot to do. Today I am grateful for new relationships. I love meeting new people and making new friends.

All I can say is brrrrrrrrrrr. The temp is supposed to be down in the -20 range with wind chills that should be around -35 to -40 by morning. I don't think I am going to go work out in the morning. I will just work out here at home. I will find something to do around here that gives me a workout. With all the flu and cold bugs going around, I don't want to wear myself down by being out in that much cold any more than I have to. As for tonight, I am back in my sewing room where it is warm and comforting. On another note, I was worried about how much weight I would gain over the holidays. I was thrilled that I only gained 2 pounds. Today I weighed myself and I was able to lose those 2 pounds again. So now it is back to work on the rest of the weight loss. I have 2 1/2 pounds more to lose to reach my goal. these last few pounds have been so difficult to take off. I don't know what I am doing wrong. I may not be getting quite enough activity in. I try to work out 3 or 4 times a week, but with it being so cold, I have a hard time making myself get going at 5 a.m. I just have to force myself do more at home then. Today I am grateful for my weight loss. It has been a long haul, but I am healthier.

And the winter weather continues! It is snowing right now. We are supposed to get about 5 inches. Then the wind is going to come up and stay cold. I thought maybe we would have some overnight guests. Some of the people at the shop live out of town so Leon invited them to stay if they couldn't get home. They all left work early though, so they made it home. The nasty weather kept the lobby traffic down to a minimum for me. It let me start to get caught up. I am so far behind right now! Now if the rest of the week could stay slow like this, I might get completely caught up. I have a small block of time to get things done before IRA season ramps up. My sewing machine and I are also getting to know each better again. The "therapy" time I have with my sewing machine is very relaxing. I am trying to create a crazy quilt and it is taking more time than I thought. I have such a huge amount of scraps that need to get used though. I love being in my sewing room. Just me and my sewing machine (and the TV of course). No stress!!!!!! Love it!!!! So today I am grateful for a box of fabric scraps! It keeps me relaxed.

Today is a day of winter weather. We started the day sunny and about 29 degrees. We washed the car and ran a bunch of errands. The clouds slowly moved in, the winds are coming up and the temps have dropped. Right now it is pretty blustery out there. I am glad I didn't have anyplace to go tonight. It is so nice to be cocooned up here in the house. I got a lot of cleaning done as well as laundry and a few tasks I have been putting off. Right now I am in my sewing room. I have a huge box of fabric scaps and I am sorting them into piles to make quilts. It feels so good. So today I am grateful for winter weather. It not only helps me get a lot done around the house, but when spring comes, it helps me appreciate the warmth and new life that spring represents.

It is New Years Day 2015 and my goal for 2015 is to resume my gratitude journal. I already know that some of my depression (perhaps an undiagnosed bipolar condition) will sneak into these posts, but I feel like that may be okay. In order to be grateful for things, I need to recognize what is making me depressed. Today I am grateful for 2014. It was a year of good health - both mine and my family's. We are very blessed to have a year with no serious health conditions. both Leon and I have had co-workers with serious health conditions that they are dealing with. I have a co-worker whose husband was diagnosed with multiple myloma in 2012. He went through a bone marrow transplant as well as chemo. He was pretty healthy in 2014, but now is facing a possible recurrance of this terrible disease. They will be doing some testing in the next few weeks. My prayers go out to them for good news from the doctors. Leon also has a coworker facing serious health issues. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 2 years ago. He went through surgeries and treatment and thought he had it under control. In the last 6 months the cancer has come back with a vengence. He is young with 3 young children. He is under hospice care. We are praying for a miracle! We have many, many other community people who have or died from very serious health conditions. So, today I am eternally grateful to God for the good health in our family. You just never know when something can happen!