April 5th, 2012 - JJ

Sorry for my absence of several days! I was out of town. I've added a few extra in an attempt to make up for it! :)

 

 

1. That I do not live in Wrigley anymore so I don't have to deal with the madness that is Cubs season. Today is opening day and I am so glad I am not there!!

 

2. Tammy's pasta salad. It's so simple and SO amazing. I ate the rest of it for lunch today and loved every bite!

 

3. Tammy's chess cake. I should've had it Sunday night even though I was so stuffed. It is crazy delicious and I've already finished off every crumb we brought home with us!  :)

 

4. That Derick and I were able to be in North Carolina for Jenny's birthday. It was a lot of fun!!

 

5. The delicious smell of clean clothes after they've been washed at Derick's parents' house. They use a very yummy scented fabric softener and let the clothes soak in it and the smell is almost intoxicating. I remember the first time Derick came back to Chicago after being in NC over Christmas two years ago and I could not stop sniffing his shoulder because his clothes smelled so good!! Now my clothes smell like that and I love it!

 

6. Gladys, Derick's cousin's girlfriend. She taught Derick and Tammy how to make homemade taquitos while we were in NC (I was too busy eating everything she put in front of me to learn how to make it myself...)and everything she made was delicious! I can't wait until Derick decides to make me some of the tomatillo salsa she taught him how to make. Also thankful that I now know how to make mexican sour cream, which is a thousand times more delicious than regular sour cream as well as twice as much money at the store. Now I can buy the inexpensive stuff and make it delicious on my own. :) Also, Gladys is hilarious and wonderful and a lot of fun to be around! And she brought me mexican pastries which I'm also very thankful for!

 

7. Free Starbucks coffee for my birthday! Got the card in the mail yesterday and traded it in for a venti iced soy caramel macchiato this morning. So delicious!!

 

8. That I only have a 3 day work week this week thanks to the vacation days I took to go to NC.

 

9. That Derick's family lives within driving distance. I wish mine lived that close too, but at least we can drive to one of our homes away from home when we need a break from Chicago. I really love our trips down to NC and wish we could take them more often!

 

10. Muffin and Allagash, even though they're not getting along. Allagash is SO cute and playful and purrs almost all the time (unless Muffin is in sight). I'm very thankful that his nails are so short, because I probably would have some scars from him if they were not! I made the mistake of getting in between the two cats when they were trying to fight and Allagash decided to attack me when I tried to pick him up to remove him from the room. I'm thankful for Muffin because she tried to defend me which I thought was really cute, except that I do believe she could eat Allagash for dinner if she put her mind to it. Fingers crossed that they get the aggression out of their systems by the end of the weekend. I am very thankful that we finally have Allagash at home and thankful to Tammy and Neal for taking such good care of him! He's such a cute little snuggle bug!