Thankful Thursday

Thursday again. Time to reflect on the week & take a moment to be grateful for those things that make me happy.

This week, in no particular order, I'm thankful for:

• Water -- we had a large watermain break in my county. I didn't lose water service/pressure like some ppl did, but I did have to use bottled water or boil tap water before using it for cooking, brushing my teeth, etc. The problem is fixed now, but like the electricity, it's easy to take it for granted until you temporarily don't have it. (hmmm....between the power outages and the water problems, I'm making DC seems like a 3rd world country rather than the capital city of a superpower nation.)

• Getting my phone & internet services restored at the house

• Lilies that are about to bloom -- looks like my relocating them a month or so ago didn't cause any damage. Color should be bursting forth any time now.

• Figuring out my parents' Xmas present -- Xmas? What? You're already thinking about Xmas?! You're kidding right? Nope. Every year, my siblings & I go thru the same thing: "Anyone got any ideas for Mom & Dad?" Usually this discussion starts in earnest around Halloween or Thanksgiving if no one has come up with a suggestion before then. With none of us living near them, we don't get to see those everyday interactions where you hear them mention something they wished they had or say something that triggers an idea. Whenever my parents visit one of us or one of us visits them, we all keep our eyes and ears peeled looking for ideas. Last week, my parents were in Vancouver, BC visiting my sister & her family and my sister came up with an idea. A few emails later, a plan was hatched and has already been implemented. In fact, Xmas is coming early for them this year as we've received notification that the item was shipped and we expect it to arrive tomorrow.

So, how bout you? What has made your life better this week? I took the idea and the graphic from Tiburon at SharkBait; feel free to do the same & create your own list.