friday the 14th

14 things I love. . .

1) I love it when Bath & Body Works has their hand soaps on sale for 3 bucks. I also happen to love their new (well, I think it's new) scent: Nectarine Mint. Go check it out. I'm sure you'll agree.

2) Yankee Candle Co. has a new scent out too: Orchard Pear. I probably sniffed in the jar for like 5 mintes yesterday (on our "let's get out of the house and go to the mall so we can find you some badly needed new shirts on clearance" trip). Since a new jar candle is a little out of the budget at the moment, I opted for a cheaper smaller car gel hanging thingy. Oh, delightfulness. . .

3) I love it that JC Penney had 70% off men's shirts yesterday! We scored!!! Well, make that, Phil scored.

4) I love it when Phil calls me Babe. And he does. All the time.

5) I love Stride Forever Fruit gum. Try it. It's in the yellow package.

6) I love Facebook. I've reconnected with so many people. It's amazing how they just pop out of the woodwork.

7) I love hearing stories from my sister about what goes on at Pepperidge Farm. Her most recent tale involved someone putting the wrong kind of chocolate into the chocolate melty machine for the Milano cookies. We're talking like hundreds of pounds of chocolate that's been melted and can't be used. Hate to be the person who gets nailed for that mistake.

8) I love it that the blood lady at Kaiser got my vein in the first poke today. I have really really hard to find veins. She admitted to being a little nervous once it was all over. I said, "I'll be singing your praises the rest of my days."

9) I love back to school supply sales. It's been challenging (and sad) for me to go into Walmart and not buy a bunch of stuff like I normally do. We did, however, stuff a backpack full of supplies for a little girl. City Teams, a ministry to homeless people in Portland, does a backpack drive every year. As I started throwing a bunch of stuff into the cart, I told Phil, "Well, if I can't buy my own supplies this year, I'm going to buy them for somebody else." He was so ok with that.

10) I love that two thoughtful friends came to the school to help me pack up and bring home most of my classroom this week. Instead of being by myself and crying, I was with two people who genuinely care about my emotional well-being and laughing. Thanks Chris & Shawn!

11) I love that our bushes out front are trimmed. They were driving me nuts and it was a good stress reliever.

12) I love to walk into our bedroom and see the bed made. Two days in a row this has happened. (Mom, I know you trained me. It's just that once I moved out, I've not been good with the follow-through.)

13) I also love that picture hanging above the bed. I've been looking for a while for something bigger to hang up there. Got it back in July at Ross Dress for Less where, not only can you dress yourself, but you can also dress your home! For Less.

14) I love our little garden. Just to be able to step outside and get something to eat. That. We. Grew. I've almost got enough tomatoes now to whip up a batch of spaghetti sauce to freeze. I know, Suzy Homemaker. But I can't help it, it runs in my genes.