My Favorite Things - August 11

...in no particular order.

• DRYCLEANING WIN. 
  Going to the drycleaners today to drop off one of Doc's suits.  Having the man behind the counter yell, "Sprouffffffske?  OH WAIT!"  He went behind his desk and pulled out something.  IT WAS THE INSERT TO MY WALLET, that held all of my punch cards, gift cards, and Zoo card.  NONE OF WHICH had my name on them.  Thomas and I must have dropped them the last time we were in, and he made a mental note of it.  I chalked it up to the Wee Ski throwing it away a few weeks ago.  The owner can hardly say our name, but he saved the whole pack and remembered when we came in.  College Cleaners, I heart you and you have a customer FOR LIFE.
• Awesome hot cocoa last night. 
  Totally knocked me out.  Penzey's Hot Chocolate Mix, Vanilla Sugar, and a hint of freshly ground nutmeg.  If you ever have the chance to use whole nutmeg, and grind off just a little from the nut itself...pure spicy heaven.
• Speaking of Penzey's...
  Got a call from them today about my most recent order.  Evidently, the recent batch of taco seasoning they did came out a little heavy on cayenne.  Several orders had shipped already, so they were calling to offer a replacement and a warning (if we still wanted it).  Awesome customer service, since the package hasn't even arrived yet.  LOVE THEM.
• I heart our Rainier post office.
  They are so great with Thomas, and I love that there is NEVER a line.  I used to think that it would take forever for the mail to get somewhere from here, but I was wrong.  They are so fantastic that they make every normal thought of "going postal" turn into a good thing. 
• I love using up leftovers and random things. 
  Trying to clean out the fridge right now.  We've had spicy raspberry meatballs with quinoa, sweet chicken & bacon pizza with an INCREDIBLE alfredo sauce, and an awesome round of kitchen sink soup.  I think that may be my go-to soup for this fall's Soup Swap, since everyone loves it and HECK YES, it really is awesome.  
• Thomas was my superstar today.
  I am loving having truly daily Mass at St. Columban.  They have never had the Eucharist available all 5 days during the week...in more than 25 years.  We adore having Fr. Duc here. Today was my first day of the normal rotation in as lector on Wednesday, and Thomas hung out in the Ergo for the whole Mass.  Gave me awesome flashbacks to his leopard print sling.  I think he only waved twice to the folks in the chapel, when we were up at the ambo for the first reading.  Sometimes, it would be OK if he were just a BIT less friendly.  :)  
• My BlackBerry is now hooked into wi-fi on the farm!
  When I ran the latest update for my berry, it gave me the option to log directly into our wi-fi on the farm.  Can I tell you HOW AWESOME it is to be able to have lightning-fast internet when our cell reception is so awful?  I did a happy dance.
• While we're at it, let's give it up for CAPITAL LETTERS.
  SO much easier to scream my point across.  :)