It's 7 pm; girls are hanging out in backyard, hubby ate dinner and ran off to a youth group leaders meeting; I am finally able to sit and post my thanks tank list!

What a day! It began at 6 a.m. with coffee and the internet...looking to find a quick way to process an application for a certified copy of my birth certificate as I need to get going on my passport application for the Dec. cruise! After finding that NYS has an outside agency (why am I not surprised...as my husband likes to say "they are state employees, not necessarily state workers!" hehe) to handle quick processing for a fee of $40. rather than going in person and paying $30, I decided to do the more expensive route...that way I don't need to find a parking spot in downtown Albany and I don't need to bring tons of ID, etc. with me.

SO....I started filling the form out online, following the very easy directions, gave my credit card info when wham-o....they couldn't process it due to some "overusing characters" reason. Huh??? I had no idea what this meant...I only know, they took my $ (oh and it ended up being $52. not $40 if I wanted assurance that it would get to my house within a week!) I was steamed....so.....I went into "thankful mode"...here's my list:

• Staples: yup, the store. I am thankful they have a fax machine where I could fax the form to the agency I will not name but, people: if you are a NY-er and want a certified copy of your birth certificate, please don't do it online or with the NYS H--lth Dept....they are inept!! GO IN PERSON or write to the city hall of the town you were born in. Thank God for Staples..."that was easy!"

• My husband: bless his soul: he surprised us with the announcement that he can get 4 free tickets to the Memorial Day weekend Yankees game (this is the last season for Yankee Stadium) and he wants to turn what is normally a hiking weekend into a "go to NYC and spend scads of money on mindless activities" weekend....why in the world the man, who being from Boston area and a die-hard Red Sox fan, and dragged us to the Red Sox Parade in 10/04 after they (finally!) won the World Series, would want to spend the first official weekend of summer, in NYC, watching a team he despises, is beyond me. BUT....God bless him; I love him, and if he is willing to trek up mountain trails and lug a kayak for me the rest of the summer, then I can certainly deal with a trip to the Big Apple (sigh)

• My children: I am thankful for their laughter, their love of anything related to the mall, (yes, we spent all a.m. there but ended up with more summer clothing and a pair of hiking sneakers from LLBean for the 9 yr old and now I am officially done shopping for them until back to school supplies time!), I am thankful that they both did some extra chores this week to help me with spring cleaning...that was a huge blessing to me.

• The Scriptures: I like the verse from Psalm 119 that says "your word have I hid in my heart....that I might not sin against you." I find that throughout the day, certain verses that the Lord calls to my mind, are usually ones I need at just that moment....He is awesome and His Word endures forever!