1. Survived hosting the Hanukkah party. I grew up with Southern hospitality and good breeding, but having my house full of people is, like, my least favorite thing in the world. At least these were good people that I really like. That helps. A lot.
2. The house is clean. Cuz we cleaned it. For the party.
3. This year is one day closer to finished.

Had a couple of really bad days there, days in which I probably should have looked for the good but just couldn't. But here are some good things from today:

1. House is pretty clean. Nothing like hosting a party to spur you to new heights of cleanliness.
2. Champagne bought and ready for New Year's Eve.
3. Hummingbird!

Additionally, my car has new tires, which I wouldn't have counted as something wonderful given everything that led to it happening, but hey, it's still not a bad thing.

1. Hanukkah with the in-laws.
2. More writing.
3. More Utena.

1. Christmas.
2. Teppanyaki. (Our holiday tradition.)
3. Building a big fort in the living room.

. . . In truth, it's been tough with the youngest having a broken leg. He gets dispirited, is showing signs of depression. It has been difficult to cheer him up, but we keep trying.

1. Introduced my oldest son to Utena. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy that series!
2. Made progress on my rewrites.
3. Managed to find and catch the hamster when she got loose.

Bonus: cool new tarot deck for Hanukkah.

1. Was able to swap wheelchairs with no fuss. (The first one had a wheel that kept going flat.) This one works better for my son to sit at the table, too.
2. Almost done with editing . . . except now I'm actually rewriting the ending of this novel. It's only the last ~40 pages. Hope to have it done soon.
3. Drawful. Love family game night!

1. My son was in much better spirits. Even got out for a walk in his wheelchair.
2. Was able to get back to editing my novel. Can't wait to send it to my advance readers!
3. Family karaoke night + snickerdoodles.

1. Was able to rent a wheelchair for my son. He's supposed to remain in bed with his leg elevated most of the time, but now he can at least sit with us at dinner.

. . .

In truth, it was a day that was difficult to find the good in. It's as if 2016 is trying to get some final digs in, and not small ones. Here's hoping tomorrow will be a fresh start of sorts and more good can happen.

1. My son got his cast on.
2. We were able to get his pain medicine prescription filled (after trying three different pharmacies, but at least it's done).
3. One of my best friends sent belated birthday presents, including an awesome Sherlock Holmes pillow.

1. Nice morning with a friend...
2. Which put me closer to the hospital when the call came.
3. My son's leg is only fractured, not broken, and the joints are okay. (Trying to find the positive here.)

1. Enjoyed Rogue One a bit more the second time.
2. Nice chat with my dad.
3. Doughnuts.

1. My birthday!
2. TARDIS handbag from the in-laws, and the kids gave me some nice jewelry, too.
3. Dinner at Bluestem in San Francisco. Plus, Crabtree & Evelyn soaps and new jeans.

1. My solar return. (Not the same as my birthday, at least not this year.)
2. Rogue One. Didn't love it as much as some seem to, but still had fun.
3. Fab tarot reading with Luna at Mystic Dream! I try to get one every year around my birthday.

1. Salon night!
2. Enjoying a new little writing project I started.
3. The contractor had to reschedule. Yeah, that's annoying but it's also one less thing.

1. A day without errands or appointments. Aaaah.
2. Unearthing old writing and anime/manga treasures (while searching for something else, but it was still fun to find these things).
3. Re-reading and reliving one of those old manga. The tragedy of Subaru/Seishirou rivals Shakespeare. Seriously.

1. New headphones so I can listen to music and podcasts on my walks again!
2. Also, the ability to take at least short walks again!
3. My husband's happiness at being able to fix a light fixture now that he has a ladder tall enough.

1. Hearing from a friend I'd lost contact with.
2. Having fun on an online radio talk show.
3. Good news from my ENT doctor.

1. Tree up and partially decorated.
2. Bought our annual ornaments. (Every year we each get to select one new Hallmark ornament. Makes for a very interesting tree.)
3. Fun new games for family game night.

1. Mobile enough to rush my son's clarinet to him at the last minute because he forgot it (and music is the first class of the day).
2. Lost another pound. (I've gone back to monitoring my calorie intake, and I've now lost four pounds.)
3. 1053 entries into my Goodreads giveaway! I'm so glad it was a success!

1. Writing group.
2. Getting better at walking.
3. . . .

Pretty blah day, really. Nothing terrible but nothing fantastic either. I guess Good Thing #3 is that I have a roof over my head in all this rain. Yeah, that counts.

1. Ankle brace making it easier to walk.
2. Fun new stuff from Amazon courtesy of birthday/holiday money from my parents.
3. Lots of support from fellow writers.

1. Was able to drive to and from the doctor.
2. Kids did great at their gymnastics show.
3. Lots of volunteer readers/reviewers for ARCs of my forthcoming book.

1. Somewhat more mobile today.
2. Crowley (our cat) came out of surgery just fine.
3. My kids brought me chocolate.

Dec 3-4

1. It's not broken, just sprained.*
2. Nice chat with my dad.
3. Finished the draft of the book I've been writing.
4. Snickerdoodles.

So last night, after that nice chat with my dad, I was taking some trash out. When I turned around to go back inside, I saw our little black cat sticking his nose out. He's an indoor cat, so I picked up my foot to nudge him back inside, but then my other foot gave way under me and I fell. I thought for sure I'd somehow broken my foot or ankle, but after a trip to Urgent Care this morning it turns out I've sprained a ligament. They told me that can hurt just as much as a broken bone, and yeah, it hurt all right. I'm on crutches now. But at least it's not broken.

1. Dentist wasn't as bad as I feared.
2. Good report cards for all the kids.
3. Ice cream cake & Drawful.

1. Nice dinner out for hubby's birthday eve.
2. Wrote 1400 words.
3. No other errands for the day.