I am thankful for...

There's a blogger I follow who religiously posts every Thursday with the title "Thankful Things Thursday" (you can find her here) and lists out all the things she is thankful for.  Even in the toughest weeks (she's a dedicated runner who also has Crohn's Disease), she unfailingly lists out all that she is thankful for.  So today, I am "borrowing" her idea and sharing with you all of the things I am thankful for.  Because, if you remember from my last post, I mentioned that I felt I had good things coming my way.  And well, a few of those good things have managed to show up in the past few days.  So on this wonderful Sunday--I know, not a Thursday, but still--I present to you a list of things I am thankful for.  Not because it's Thanksgiving, or even because it's any sort of holiday/birthday/life celebration that requires thanks.  Just because I'm thankful.

I Am Thankful For:

1) Good Health.  I am healthy.  My body is in one piece.  I am not sick.  I am not broken.  I can walk out my door on 2 legs and breathe deeply with 2 lungs.  I can run, I can ride, and I can swim.  And sometimes I can do more than one of those things in one day, like this past Friday when I ran 4.5 miles and then swam 1500 yards, .  I am thankful that my body lets me do these things and will forever be thankful until it does not.  And when it doesn't, I will be thankful for all of the years it gave me; and I will be thankful that I took full advantage of those years.

2) Bananas.  They are an awesome fruit.  They are tasty, plentiful, inexpensive, and they help contribute to item #1.  I failed to do proper grocery shopping in the past week and therefore have not eaten a banana in over a week.  On my last 2 runs, I've had awful sidestitches for the first half of the run, especially going downhill.  Even sitting still on my couch, if I breathe deeply, I can feel that sidestitch almost 12 hours after my last run.  I attribute this entirely to the fact that I haven't eaten my morning banana this entire week.  Perhaps there is another reason for this awful sidestitch occurrence, but I'm sticking with bananas.  And after I eat a banana tomorrow morning and go for a comfy run in the next few days, I will prove myself correct.  In a highly scientific way.  Obviously.

3) Lucy.  But you knew that.  No explanation required.

She loves me.  I love her too.

4) Free shoes!!!  On Friday, I woke up to one of the most amazing emails ever.  Brooks Running emailed to inform me that I had won a free pair of shoes from the Seattle Rock N Roll Marathon Expo, where I apparently entered into a free shoe drawing.  All I had to do was respond with my address, the style, and the color I wanted and they'd be on the way.  Seeing as how I have worn the same style of Brooks running shoes for the past 2 years, I was able to respond within about 3 minutes.  I quickly got an email back saying my shoes are on the way!  I don't usually win things.  Especially not awesome useful things like running shoes.  Yay, free shoes!

5)  Not working on Friday nights.  As much as I like my Friday night job and how it supplements me through the weekend, a lot of times it generally sucks to have to work on Friday nights.  So it was pretty awesome to get a phone call around 4:00 on Friday afternoon from my manager at the restaurant saying, "I don't think we'll be busy tonight, you don't need to come in."  Then I proceeded to buy lots of food and wine and invite friends over and stay up way too late.  But that's ok, because I didn't have to work.  And THEN, when I popped in for a beer this evening with my brother who's in town (that will be another item on this list in a moment), my manager pulled me aside to say: "Well, we won't be busy this summer, so why don't you just take a hiatus from your Fridays for a while.  Give us a call in the fall when things start picking up again."  SERIOUSLY??  Now I don't have to worry about taking mini weekend vacations this summer and having to take off on Fridays.  And, I can actually enjoy Friday nights for the summer.  Awesome.

6)  Farmer's Markets.  I live about 2 blocks away from a farmer's market that happens once a week.  I finally was able to go this Friday, and I picked up lots of yummy, fresh fruits and veggies.  If you have never eaten a tomato purchased at a farmer's market, you haven't lived.  On Saturday, I got to make my first Caprese Salad for the summer with some amazing tomatoes and basil. 

Tomatoes.  Basil.  Mozzarella.  Balsamic Vinegar.  Olive Oil.
Fancy Salt.  Pepper.  More Fancy Salt.  Simple Deliciousness.

Next time, I'll actually make a pesto instead of just the basil leaves.  Even More Deliciousness.

7)  Seattle weather.  I know, that's weird.  Today looked like this:

View through my window:
Grey.  Gloomy.  Rainy.

But, if it were 80 to 90 degrees and sunny outside, I probably wouldn't have gone on a 5 mile run with Lucy this morning.  I hate running in the heat.  So does Lucy.  This weather lets us keep running year round.  Also, the next few days may not be sunny, but the rain is going away.  I even looked down at my feet the other day, and they looked like this:

See the pink feet?  And the awkward mustard
colored legs?  That is what I call a farmer's
tan.  Which means...the sun has been out
just enough.

By the end of the summer, that farmer's tan will probably be ridiculous.  But it's ok.  Because I'll be thankful that I got to be out in the sun enough this summer to get a farmer's tan.  And don't worry, I don't walk out of my door without 30 SPF sunblock.  This has happened even with sunblock on.  The sun actually does exist in Seattle sometimes.

8)  Family Visits.  My brother Ian just arrived today straight from Nepal.  He has high ambitions for his first trip to Seattle where he will be here for a few days, then head out to hike around the Cascades for a bit, then come back for a while, then maybe head out to the Olympics, then come back again, then leave again for some other adventure.  While he's here, he wants to see Seattle by bike.  So today I managed to borrow 2 extra bikes (one for Ian, one for his friend), 2 extra helmets, and a pair of clip on shoes.  Luckily, I have friends who like bike riding and have lots of extra gear (I could put these friends as another item on the list, but the list seems to be getting pretty long so I'll save that for another day).  Even though Ian will have to ride around Seattle on a blue bike with butterflies wearing shoes that are almost 2 sizes too big, we will make it work.  And it will be exciting. 

So I'll leave it at that exciting note.  I have a week to look forward to with my little bro which will include only a half day of work, lots of bike riding, some hiking, and 4th of July celebrations.  Good things have arrived.  And I'm thankful for that.