what I have

 Plenty to want, nothing wrong with that
But I'm happy with what I have

- Kelsea Ballerini-

[What I Have]

 

Thanksgiving Day is coming to a close. Everyone has left the festivity at our house; It’s now just my parents and I in the living room watching Christmas movies. Because the Christmas season is officially here. 

 

I took a few vacation days in front of the four-day weekend work already gives us. I’d made a list of things I wanted to do each day. If I have too much time with nothing to do, it gives me too much time to think, which isn’t always the best. 

I was so excited for the time off. I’d mapped out things like baking day (making Mama Kelce’s cookies), a craft day (playing with my Cricut to make an Eras sweatshirt), coffee dates or dinner with friends or just getting out and doing something for the heck of it. 

Instead, I ended up getting sick on Friday, which turned into the rest of the weekend, which brought us to Wednesday of this week. I was throwing up, coughing, had a terrible headache and sinus pressure, body aches… I had it all. I was miserable. 

I was on the couch for days — Eating soup, drinking 7up, living on Dayquil, Nyquil, Sudafed, whatever else would help ease the pain. And I slept a lot. I read a lot (“Fourth Wing” - OBSESSED and a couple other random cheesy holiday books from Kindle Unlimited) and watched a lot of Hallmark movies, mostly older ones - so much better than most of the movies now. 

Yesterday was the first day in about a week that I actually made it out of the house and felt normal. My mom and I went to lunch with my aunt, picked up my dad’s chocolate meringue pie from Marie Callender's and ran to Walgreens. Good times. We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and straightening up the house. Then we prepped food that we were able to, like the green jello salad, listening to Christmas music (shoutout to Kelly Clarkson for bringing the jams) and pulling out the last of some of the Christmas decorations. 

 

Today followed the same agenda as all the other years before it, for the most part, but it was nice. It’s something you can count on. Now that I’m living at home again, my parents and I had cinnamon rolls and watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is my absolute favorite. Maybe it’s because it reminds me of childhood and one of the constants that is always there, no matter what. 

As usual, it had me reminiscing on my trip to New York City with one of my good family friends in 2015, when we went for Thanksgiving week - we went skating in Rockefeller Center, watched the Macy’s parade from the sidewalk on Avenue of the Americas, walked through Central Park, wandered through SoHo, stayed up all night and froze outside in the Plaza for the Today Show, ate a fancy Thanksgiving dinner at The Bowery Meat Company and so much more. One of the best weeks of my life. 

 

 

 

My uncle got here earlier so it was nice to chat with him more. Then, once my aunt arrived, we helped my mom in the kitchen to finish the rest of the meal. I made mashed potatoes, my usual dish, struggled with the can opener (like every other year), set the table and then it was dinnertime. 

There was a noticeably empty seat this year at the table as my cousin passed away last month, almost to the day. From year to year, you never really know what’s going to happen. Another reminder that life is short and there are no guarantees. My other aunt was sick and one of my other cousins and her family moved out of state. So there were just five of us. 

 The guys watched football and we stayed at the kitchen table. Normally we decorate gingerbread houses, but decided to go a different route this year, since they can usually be frustrating. Instead, we decorated cookies and painted ornaments. We had a great time! 

 

And just like that, it was over. 

There are only a few more days of the break left, and I’m trying to soak up all the time that I can, away from work notifications - social media comments and incoming emails, scheduling social media content and strategizing all the things coming up with video and promotional ideas. I just want to relax my brain from thinking of anything for a little bit longer. 

Logging off for tonight and going to chillax. 

 

Now it's time to celebrate the season of Jesus' birth and listening to *NSYNC's "Home for Christmas" album on repeat. I can't wait.

 

 

That's all for now,

 Shelby