These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Since it is Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday by the way, it seems appropriate to write a list of things that I am grateful to have in my life. So here goes:

My husband and kids. That's a no-brainer, plus if I didn't write it, people would think I was a cold bitch, like those unfortunate actors who forget to thank their spouses when they win an Oscar. That kind of thing takes years to live down.

Ipods. What the hell did we do before these? And we just got one that does video, too. Cool.

Caffeine and alcohol, two other no-brainers. How anyone raises two boys without these two secret weapons is beyond my understanding.

That in my neighborhood I can walk or bike just about everywhere. Grocery store, video store, you name it. My kids think getting in the car is a huge treat because we rarely us it. Especially now that it smells like vomit (see "Pump It Up, Puke It Up" for details). The reasons that I am grateful for this are three-fold. Reason #1 is that walking is way better for your body than driving everywhere. Reason #2 is that walking is way better for the earth than driving everywhere. Reason #3 is that I can do four or five errands in a row and not have to unstrap and re-strap my kids. Oh, plus I really love walking. You should try it sometime.

Kodak Gallery. Like any good, I mean obsessive, parent, I love taking pictures of my kids. And I love sending them to family, friends, long lost relatives, former neighbors, the pizza guy, oh and that girl that I just met in the alley who was digging through my trash. She seemed nice, and so resourceful! So on www.kodakgallery.com (formerly ofoto), you can send a whole album by email with the click of a few buttons. Even fewer buttons if you download the "express" version from the website. Try it. Grandma and Grandpa will love you for it.

Blogs. Despite being a math nerd, I am not a computer nerd, and so I just stumbled across this whole blog thing recently. So if you wonder why my site is pretty basic, the reason is that I have not yet figured out how to do anything on it other than type. But I am working on it. Regardless, I am loving all of the blogs I keep finding by following people's links. Just a few of them -- CynicalDad, MetroDad, Dadcentric and pretty much all of the dads' personal websites that are linked there, DaddyDaze, ShotgunDaddy, FridayPlaydate, and tons of others. I have been laughing so hard that my stomach hurts, and have made my husband come in enough times to read something on someone's page that he has worn a path on our floor. It's Costco laminate wood flooring, by the way. Only $1.56 a square foot and glueless, if you are looking for a remodel tip. And it doesn't scratch when a five-foot tall Leggo tower is hurled down the stairwell, nor does it dent when a 38 pound child jumps onto it from said stairwell.

Costco laminate wood flooring.