I have a life and I'm thankful for it

I suppose if you don't know me, you might imagine me as a pensive, shifty-eyed nerd who hunches over a laptop and wails all day.

Well, I've got news for you.

I'm not.

Therefore, I want to list some things from this past week for which I am thankful. #1 Because I really am thankful, #2 To prove I actually do have a life, and #3 For variety.

Are you ready?

• A delightful lunch with some dear girl friends, Katherine, Katie, Andrea, and Kimberly. I discovered a quaint local cafe for my first time where I feasted on pita stuffed with Greek olives and marinated vegetables, and gelato for dessert.
• Watching The Hunger Games with my brothers and some of the aforementioned friends. Since this is supposedly the most talked about book/movie I may as well add myself to the masses. The movie both disturbed and intrigued me. It made me ask a lot of deep questions as a movie watcher, a writer, and a Christian. I haven't read the books yet (they're on my "next to read" list) so I will refrain from discussing them here.
• Playing games at Diane's--mostly Pictionary.
• The arrival of Mariah, former classmate and like a sister.
• Going for a spontaneous run in the dark to the lake with Mariah. I wore her shoes, her shorts, and her socks. I almost never run with somebody else, I've never run in the dark, and I've never run AND swum in the lake in one trip. It was a grand mini adventure, complete with barking dogs.
• A sister who willingly makes suggestions on my college admissions essays even when she's overseas.
• A mother who woke me up only minutes before Andrea and Kimberly arrived first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, I had overslept, and they were supposed to arrive one minute after I awoke. They were pretty relaxed when they did get there so I relaxed too. We left only nine minutes after I had waken up.
• Going to a political rally with Aaron, Kim, and Andrea. Complete with country music, Rudy music, lots of sunshine, and games of Alphabet and I Spy as we waited for it to begin. Also, we got to be on TV and had our picture taken for a political ad.
• Marinating chicken, one of my favorite cooking pastimes. It makes me think of my dear friend and new sister-in-law who taught me how.
• Grilling chicken outside to music! Another delightful activity. Such sport brings to mind my cousin Cara who made it look cool and my friend Klara who taught me how.
• Watching Early Edition with my parents in the evenings.
• Bills paid.
• Important phone call(s) made.
• A de-clutter-the-nightstand project done.
• Going for a 4-5 mile run in the morning and then turning around and climbing the mountain with Mariah in the evening.
• Taking pictures with Mariah on the mountain as the sun went down. We had the top completely to ourselves!
• Finding my pepper spray.:) It had fallen out of my pocket in the first fifteen minutes as we jogged up. Thankfully some kind hiker had picked it up and left it at the entry booth at the bottom of the trail.
• Having a campfire in our back yard, complete with s'mores and friends.
• The recalibrating Word of God.
• Delighting Gretchen by giving her my Northern States fake money (result of my de-clutter project). She's about to start teaching her boys the Civil War!
• Finishing my resumes and turning in the last of my on-line college application paperwork.
• Cleaning the house to the sound of Josh Groban and Newsies.
• A Friday evening with family.
• Working on my quote book given to me by Katie.
• A quiet Sabbath day reading outside with iced coffee, e-mailing friends, and blogging.
• Watching a movie with my brother Craig on his last night home before he moves back to boarding school to teach.
• God's goodness.

There, you see? I do have a life. And I thank God for it. He is good.