Thankful Thursday 13

I’ve never done a ‘Thursday Thirteen’ before, and I’m totally NOT clear on the premise, so instead of trying to figure out the rules and make sure I do it correctly, I’ll just jump in and bungle it, ok? OK. The way I see it, forgiveness will come easily and quickly if I talk about things for which I am thankful, like I promised to do awhile ago. So, here we go:
13 Things for which I am Thankful

1. I’m thankful that my husband is easy going, and even though he wanted to go out for a nice dinner last night, went along with my desire to see a movie instead. That meant we had to eat at the sometimes-good-but-not-last-night Yan Can in order to get to the movie in time. Ted’s Pad Thai wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good at the Pad Thai we got on Easter, at the Hot Basil Cafe, and my Chinese Chicken Salad was yucky, due to the peanut butter flavored dressing. I like peanut dressing on my sate, but not on my salad. Yuck. We went to see Friends With Money, which Roger Ebert summed up pretty well when he said, “It seems to be more of an idea than a story.” Hmmm. I liked it, and I thought the characters were all very believable and VERY well acted…but there wasn’t much of a point to the film. Glad I saw it, and also glad Ted’s not the type to say, “I told you so”, because a nice dinner at a grown up restaurant would have been nicer, I’m sure.

2. I’m thankful to Maya’s friend Jackie’s parents, who took Miss Spring Break yesterday, and are keeping her until this afternoon, freeing me to do things like eat mediocre food and see so-so rated-R movies with Ted. 🙂

3. I’m thankful for the SUN. We haven’t seen much of old Sol lately, and I’ve missed him. I do love me some rain, and I do hate me the hot heat, but I was raised in the central valley of CA, and so I can’t see 6 weeks of rain (more than Seattle this year, btw) without starting to think…”Um…what about the grapes and the strawberries? What will happen to them? What of the cherries whose blossoms were rudely beaten off of the trees? Oh, the humanity!”

4. I’m thankful that we got to go up to Reno this last weekend, and that we don’t have to live there. Beautiful country there, with the mountains and the dessert, but the culture kind of blows. I’m more of a city girl, or would like country, but the in between bugs me. Don’t remind me…I live in the ‘burbs. Hey, it wasn’t MY idea. (Wasn’t Ted’s either…it was the rent in SF that did us in…)

5. I’m thankful to be working from home. So far, it pretty much rocks. Don’t like the computer problems I’ve been having, but we’re working on those.

6. I’m thankful for our taxman…I did our taxes via Turbo-Tax back in Feb or so, and boy, did we owe. Ted said, let’s take them to someone who knows more than a stupid computer program, and see if they can save us any money. It cost us $400 between 2005 and a few amended returns, but he saved us about $2,000, so YAY him!

7. I’m thankful for the HUGE pile of ironing Ted did the other day. I HATE to iron, but I do laundry almost every day, and it piles up quickly. I’m currently in keep it under control mode, so I iron a few things every day, when they need it, rather than letting it get to critical mass like that. But boy, that was ugly. And he tackled it like a pro.

8. I’m thankful for a lovely Easter. We brought the waffle maker with us, and everyone else brought nice things, too, and there was an egg hunt, though with Maya the youngest at 10, I’m guessing there may not be TOO many more of those in the future.

9. I’m thankful that we live close to family. I lived close to my grandparents for much of my childhood, and thus I feel very close to my grandmother (oops…need to call her later this morning about a visit soon…). I want Maya to have that. I wish she could have it with ALL of her family, but my mom and brother and sister-in-law live in Juneau, Dad and Step Mom and sister and nephew and brother in law live in Portland (Hi BMC!), and my other sister, niece, and brother-in-law live in Seattle. I swear, if there was ONE place, where all of our families lived, we would move there in a heart beat, and I would be SO happy.

10. I’m thankful for no cavities at our check-ups yesterday. Also very little tartar, which I would like to credit to my vigilant flossing habit, but since I floss at BEST maybe twice a month, I’m gonna have to credit to god or my genes or something like that. Why God would care about my tartar and let people die in earthquakes and stuff is way beyond my puny brain’s comprehension, so I’m putting it with the genes.

11. I’m thankful that I got to drive (actually, we took BART) Maya on her fieldtrip to San Francisco last week. We went to the MOMA, and it was pretty cool. I am VERY thankful that there are artists in the world, who create such beauty and expressions of despair, that can touch us in so many ways. With paintings, sculpture, music, poetry, novels, etc. LOVE it. No talent myself, so I have to enjoy the work of others.

12. I’m thankful for Maya’s AWESOME school. She goes to the best school in the country, or at least the county. It’s a public Montessori charter school, which goes 1st to 5th grade. People move here for this school, for the opportunity to have their kids in a public (read “affordable, supposedly free”) Montessori school. It’s pretty new…been open 5 years so far.

13. I’m thankful to have 13 things to be thankful for…for listening to the birds welcome the morning, for our health, our families, our friends, and all of these little things that make a live worthwhile. Thanks. A lot.

Now, the thing that I have gleaned about Thursday 13 is that you’re supposed to link to OTHER Thursday 13ers, to sort of get people reading new blogs that they haven’t read before. And, at least one of my favorite bloggers did one a week or so ago. But you all rock so much, and now I can’t figure out WHICH of you did the Thursday 13. So, if anyone is a member of this club, let me know, and I’ll revise this post to add you. Right here. In the meantime, I’ll link to this blog, because maybe they started it? Really, I’m far too lazy to do the research and find out. (and the pic at the top? Just had a 13 in it and it looked cool…that’s my criteria…I like it, it’s in…;) )