2026 F.I.G. Collective - Week Two

Elisabeth challenged us all to find gratitude in February, so she created the Finding Joy in Gratitude Collective. Here are my FIGs for last week.

Sunday, February 8
My husband ran an errand in Chicago and I stayed home by myself. I love having a house to myself, even if I did exactly the same things I would have done if he were here (finishing my CBBC post, doing some cooking/baking, laundry, and working out). 

Monday, February 9

I'm so thankful for my good health. My colleagues were mostly out of the office today for the following reasons: cancer treatment, a random virus, woke up worried that the tickle in her throat might mean she has something and was worried about coming to work with the cancer patient (not knowing the co-worker with cancer would call out), and then there was me and my boss talking about the Olympics. 

Tuesday, February 10

The super cold snap appears to be over. Hannah and I enjoyed a long walk this morning (about 35 minutes, which is long for an old dog) in the just above freezing temps. It's amazing how warm 31F/-0.5C feels these days. 

BONUS: Look at how much sunlight is left when I go to my fitness class after work! Also, I didn't wear my winter boots! 

Wednesday, February 11
Beautiful stars in the sky on a clear night. 

Thursday, February 12 

We're taking the dog to the sitter tomorrow and she smells bad and your hand gets super oily if you pet her. I tried to get her to the dog wash in the town where I work, but it closes so early that I just couldn't fit it in. My co-worker found one a few towns over that is open daily until ten. I am so thankful that we won't be taking our stinky dog to the sitters. She's fresh and clean!

Friday, February 13

My Zelda cat. She is so perfect. Look at her attack eyes! She's about to lose her mind. I love that she's a "senior cat" who still plays and has zoomies. I love that she is a heat-seeking missile who climbs on my lap the second I sit down. I love that we had a play session before 6am this morning. All cats are perfect, of course, but she's the queen of our house. 

Saturday, February 14

A long tradition is that we spend President's Day weekend with my husband's brother and his family. This year my nephew had a basketball tournament, so we went to them and hung out. My SIL and I are peas in a pod and we went to an art museum where we had a blast. Yay for fun hanging out with relatives.  In a mini-frugal win, admission to the museum was free because it was the second Saturday of the month. Don't worry, I spent more than the price of admission at the gift shop.

We did a scavenger hunt. Here are our finds, starting in the upper left corner and going clockwise for:

1. Thing you'd most like to have in your house

2. Awesomest hat

3. Cutest animal/creature

4. Most interesting face

Do you do scavenger hunts at museums? Do you have a stinky dog?