Grateful Thursday

1) Flowers, specifically my ice plant that survived the winter and is bigger and prettier than ever!

2) This grateful Thursday post I do. I was feeling kind of low this morning, already annoyed at 9 a.m., but thinking of all the things for which I am grateful has really lifted my spirits. If I had a Dr. Pepper I would be perfect.

3) Today is my Dad's 57th birthday. He's the best father I ever could have asked for, always encouraging me to be myself and do what I want to do, protecting me and watching over me yet giving me room to fly. He's created the best parts of me-- the writer, the artist, the thinker, they're all from him. He's not perfect, but he recognizes that as well, and he always owns up to his wrongs. He's a real man and has shown me, without knowing, what a real man is and how to look for one of my own. I need to call him before the work day really starts.

4) The recycling pick-up men finally found my office!! Hurray! I can't stand to throw away plastic bottles or cans or paper. So after a couple phone calls, they were convinced to come down our businesses-only street to pick ours up, and I just saw one of my office neighbors run out there and ask them where they can get some bins of their own. 

5) The birdseed bandit mystery is finally solved. It was a sneaky raccoon, which I suspected all along. The weird thing was he wasn't scared of us at all, even with me standing in the window taking pictures, and my husband banging on the window saying "Come here, little coon, come here," he continued to eat for a good five minutes. We eventually woke Bub up though, and he let the coon know who was boss, barking like a mad man, hair all on end. I wish the pictures had turned out better, but I couldn't use a flash through the window, and I wasn't going outside! I hate not knowing something, so I'm happy to have this solved. We're bringing the bird feeder in at night now, which makes me a little sad because I don't want him to go hungry, but I miss seeing the birds every day. As my husband says, though, the raccoon is resourceful enough, he'll find some other dupes to feed him. Look, you can see the seed at his feet in this first picture, where he's making himself a little pile.