Happy Holidays!

It seems the holiday season is upon us once again. The weather down here has been sunny and warm, but rumor has it, there's a storm headed our way. And, besides the increased discomfort associated with lower pressure, I'm definitely hoping for a white Christmas this year!

I somehow managed to get all of my Christmas shopping done over a week ago, so I'm pretty much just enjoying not being involved with the last minute shopping madness that is going on around me. My wonderful mother sent me a box of holiday decorations, including the mini tree featured in last year's Christmas posts, so the house is even decorated. In fact, my roommate went out and chopped down a real tree this year, so we have not 1, but 2 trees. Beat that! There is a pile of gifts under the tree and most of them are for my dogs!

I'm looking forward to a relaxing Christmas spent drinking eggnog with Jared and snuggling with my babies. The one thing I better do is figure out what we're eating for Christmas dinner though! Or it's gonna be Panda Express...ugh. After eating Sonic by myself for Christmas last year, that does not sound very appealing!

Now, since I've made it a habit, I shall share with you, some of the things that I am thankful for this year. :)

~My spinal surgeon and my physical therapist. Dr. Reyna actually listened to me when I told him I couldn't deal with the pain anymore and did something to make it better. (He even gave me some robotic parts!) And Char has once again, come up with a way to work the rest of the kinks out and to help me feel better and recover more quickly. While recovery has been a long process, I'm SO much better than I was a year ago and so much happier because of it!

~A safe living situation. It is miserable to not feel safe at home. I'm so happy to have a roommate who is not scary and place to lay my head that feels 100% safe. It is something I hope to never take for granted again.

~My crazy mutts. Once again, my year has been better simply because I have them. They are a constant source of entertainment, doggy kisses, harassment, and smiles. Although it sometimes seems as though they cost me a fortune, I can't imagine how boring my life would be without their fuzzy faces running around and being literally smothered in doggy kisses!

~Family. My family has been an amazing source of support, both financially and mentally, over the past year. My mom came down and stayed with me for a month while I was recovering from surgery, my dad helped me get a new car when the Quackmobile was nearing it's death, and my little brother is just awesome. They do so many things for me and I always know they are there for me. I love you!

~Friends, old and new. Even though I haven't seen or talked to many of them in a while, it's nice to know that I have friends, even as far away as Nepal, who I can still talk to as if we saw each other yesterday! I miss you guys! It's also nice to finally meet people down here who I can just be myself around and who put up with my mangy mutts!

~Jared. All I'll say is that surprising and amazing things find you when you least expect them and that sometimes they have been right in front of you all along!

~Having my credit card payed off. Being in debt, even just a little bit, had been weighing on me for a couple of years. Last week, I decided to cash some savings bonds and put my Christmas bonus and some other cash toward getting my balance to zero. I did it! And I feel absolutely fantastic about it!

Happy Holidays!