Thankful Thursdays #34: I’m a real person

I made a thanksgiving resolution to find something to be thankful for every day until next Thanksgiving.  Here’s what I am thankful for this week!

Thursday: That I somehow managed to lose .4 pounds last week, despite only counting points two days out of seven.  Honestly, I don’t even know why I’m paying for Weight Watchers any more.  Actually, I do.  I think paying for it is the only thing that’s keeping me from gaining.  I’m not following the WW plan at all, so it must be those dollars spent that is keeping me from gaining.  I think I may have just jinxed myself, though!

Friday: Once again, our friends, Ben and Ashley, invited us over to dinner, but this time I remembered my camera.  I know my Thursday posts are always on the long side, but forgive me because I’m about to share a bunch of photos of our wonderful dinner with you.  Ben is a foodie, and fabulous chef.  Try not to be too jealous, OK?

Our appetizer: fried zucchini (garden fresh) with Ben's special sauce

The master at work.

Buttered mushrooms & caramelized onions to top the steaks, and a side of potatoes seasoned with smoked paptrika and bacon.

He also made a side of lemony buttered artichokes.

Den's T-bone steak with rosemary butter. As you can tell from the lack of anything else on his plate, this was all he cared about. He was in steak heaven!

My plate! It was soooo fantastic, and I don't really even like steak usually.

Individual apple pie tarts for dessert!

Served warm with ice cream. Pie nirvana.

You might recognize their daughter, Leah, from my Bible class.  BTW, she has renamed me “Caddy.”  Or maybe she’s calling me “Catty.”  (Hope not! lol)  Not sure how she got either from “Veronica,” but it’s kinda cute and I like it. :)

Playing in the sandbox while Daddy makes dinner.

Saturday: Good local restaurants and my zany family.  We had breakfast at Lexi’s, a new diner-type place just a few blocks from our home, and they had the best, biggest, fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever eaten.

In the evening, I went to my cousin, Racine’s, Tupperware party and she greeted me at the door in this getup, calling herself “Mrs. Discofire,” pronouncing it “disco fi-ah” in a perfect NY accent.  She stayed in character almost the whole night, and as you can guess, it was a fun one with lots of laughs.

Sunday: My Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. ALWAYS.

Monday: That we found someone who could fix my water pump for $75, just 1/4 of the price quoted to us at the shop, and that we had exactly that much money in our bank account!  Actually, we were short $5 but my Dad ended up paying us $10 (he does this once a month b/c that’s how much we pay to keep him on our phone plan) so it all worked out.  Booyah!

Tuesday:  That I no longer have to carpool with my husband!!  My water pump started leaking so bad that I couldn’t even make it two miles without having to pull over to refill the radiator with water, so I had to stop driving it last Wednesday.  Because our schedules are different, carpooling meant I had to drive him to work (across town), then drive home, then drive myself across town to work, then pick him up when I got off, and his huge extended-bed F150 is not so economical when it comes to gas consumption.  So glad we both have our own cars again.

Wednesday: I got the job!  As of August 1st, I will be a career employee for the US Postal Service.  Woot-diddly-doot!  I’m a real person now! LOL, that’s what my preacher said when I told him that I got offered a permanent position after all this time.  I’ve been a temp for seven years, so it does kinda feel like I’m real now. LOL!  Honestly, this still hasn’t settled in yet.  It just doesn’t seem real.  I’ve been a temp so long I don’t know if I can handle being a “real person” with job security and benefits.  Ha!