Thursday thirteen: 13 good things

I'm participating in Thurday thirteen!

"Sometimes, life is just good. Be sure to notice." ~ Debi Cates

I'm a complainer. A whiner. A moaner. A bitcher. I'm also a pessimist and a cynic. I can't help but notice everything that's wrong in life. Even if it's not out-and-out wrong, it'll still probably piss me off. That's just the way I roll.

I got to wondering, though, if I'm even capable of noticing the good things anymore. The things that are just ... right.

So I decided to pay attention and find 13 good things that happened this week, no matter how small or silly. And you know what? It felt kinda good. I may have to do this more often.

Here are my 13 good things, in no particular order:

1. They finally got rid of the nasty outhouse smell in the ladies' room at work.

2. The guru at work is going to fix the stupid glitch that's been bugging me ever since they did the system upgrade. Victory!

3. We tried a scrumptious new salad. We used a roast chicken from the grocery store and threw the whole thing together lickety-split. It was delicious. We'll definitely be making it again.

4. I can now bend my bad knee a little bit when I walk up stairs. I'm hopeful it'll keep improving so I won't walk like Lurch from The Addams Family anymore.

5. I downloaded a dumptruckload of new mp3s and I've been having a blast listening to awesome new (well, new to me anyway) music all week.

I'm totally in love with this song!

6. Husband and I started scanning & photographing Child's artwork on the weekend. We decided it's just not practical to keep it all anymore. We're running out of space! We've kept practically everything she's ever drawn, painted, colored or breathed on in her entire life. Child's only 11 and she's filled 5 of those giant Rubbermaid tubs already!

It's been very nostalgic for me doing the scanning. I rediscovered so many wonderful masterpieces I had forgotten about.

7. In January we made a pledge to healthy eating. I'm happy to report that we're still going strong. One of the major rewards is that I've notice my clothes are now fitting differently. Some things fit better, but some things are starting to feel downright loose!

8. Also possibly related to our improved diet, Husband and I have ... er ... umm ... been feeling a lot more ... amorous lately. 'Nuff said.

9. It looks like Apple fixed the issue I (and others, according to online forums) had with not being able to turn the volume down low enough on my iPod Touch. Yay, I won't go deaf!

10. I was bored one day, so I broke down and decided to read the book that came free with my iPod eReader — Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

I doubt I would have ever read it if I hadn't been bored. But guess what? I can't put it down now! It's a brutally savage, richly detailed story and it's absolutely gripping. Who'da thought?

11. A nice stranger smiled at me in the elevator and said hello. When he got out at his floor he told me to have a good day. He made me smile.

12. I bought an item on eBay way back in April to give to Husband for his end-of-May birthday. It didn't arrive in time, so I thought I'd give it to him for Father's Day. It still didn't come and I eventually wrote it off as an expensive lesson learned.

Surprise! Out of the blue, the package arrived yesterday!

13. Husband is thrilled with his belated Birthday/Father's Day gift! (He's a major geek, but I love him.)