Thankful Thursday

It's been an incredibly hectic week, so I can't believe it's Thursday already! Here in no particular order are some of the things I'm thankful for this week:

1. Finding out that my insurance company had not submitted the expenses they were supposed to to my Flexible Spending Account BEFORE the submission deadline, so I could gather the paperwork & get them submitted. It would have been awful to find it out too late to do anything about it.

1b. Being in the electronic age so that I could log into said insurance company and download any documentation I couldn't find among my records at home.

1c. Having a wonderful SO who was willing to give me a ride home when I stayed late to get them all submitted, therefore missing the last bus home from the subway. I took the subway to his place instead and he gave me a lift from there. What a sweetie!!

2. My new digital camera. I have a fantastic film camera, but hadn't gone digital yet because the camera I really want (the Nikon D80) isn't in my budget right now. I finally broke down and got an inexpensive point-and-shoot model. Once I figure it out, I'll be able to post my own pics on the blog. Yay!

3. Sitting next to the most adorable 2-yr old girl and her daddy on the subway yesterday as they traded "Gimme 5"s. They were on their way home from her first-ever major league baseball game. My commute home is usually not nearly so entertaining.

4. Finalizing plans for 2 friends of mine from Sweden's visit. They will be here in a month!! I can't believe it's been 4 years since we've seen each other and I can't wait til they arrive!!!!!!

5. Starting the planning in earnest for a surprise that will take place in '09. This is a big deal that will take coordination from many different people from various parts of the country to pull off. It's gonna be fun!

6. Making Mindi's blurker roll. ....I've arrived!

7. Having azaleas and tulips blooming. You may wonder why I keep mentioning the various flowers -- well, it's like this: I have neither the time nor the inclination to spend a lot of time on a flower bed. I also really don't know much about what one is supposed to do. Given those 2 facts, I planted the azaleas and some perennials a while back, hoping to get flowers for most of the year. So far, it seems to be working. I had daffodils in March. Tulips in March/April. Azaleas in April/May. And the lilies I planted are pushing through as are the gladioli, so hopefully I'll have lilies in June/July and glads in July/August. Not bad for someone who has no skillz in this area!

8. Having my male dog *play*....this might not sound like much, but he's a Hurricane Katrina evacuee & in the 2+ years I've had him, he's never really played before. My 2 females romp and wrestle and chase one another, but he's stayed more aloof about it all. He's very cute and endearing and does silly things, but had never chased a ball or played with a toy or anything like that. My one girl loves to be chased more than anything in the world, and she has continued to work on him; over the past 2-3 months, there have been some signs that he was "getting" it, but it was more like they spoke different dialects of the same language & just couldn't quite communicate. We had a break thru the other night -- he caught a ball and pounced on it when I rolled it to him. He play bowed. He intentionally played!!

So, that's what's been happening in my world. What are you thankful for?