Saturday, August 17, 2013

Week in Review - Ten Things of Thankful (5)

I have to say, this week just flew by. We were so busy, unexpectant things have happened, and it finally seems that we might have a house there pretty soon! More details on that later. Here are my top ten of things I am incredible thankful for:

1. Having 30 days of paid leave per year. I love having so much time off for spending time with the family and decompress.

2. Getting to sleep in - sometimes.

3. Running partners. So much better running with someone than by myself.

4. The genius who invented caprese salad.

5. The Bridget Jones movies.

6. Sunshine and parks.

7. German beer gardens and play grounds.

8. Awesome customer service.

9. Silliness in all its facettes.

10. Birthday parties in wildlife parks.



As always, thank you so much for hosting this link-up, Lizzi! Can't wait to read all the other posts!


Ten Things of Thankful

32 comments:

  1. So many amazing things to be thankful for! :) Have a wonderful weekend sweet friend!

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    1. Thank you so much, Jen! I hope you have a wonderful weekend as well. Enjoy your time with the hubby!

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  2. awesome list!! I love BJ movies!!!!

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    1. Thanks a lot! Bridget Jones is SO awesome!! Even though the hubby makes fun of me for that..

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  3. Yay to having all that time off and so much to totally be thankful for. Hope you are enjoying your weekend and just had to spot by to say hi!! :)

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    1. Thanks a lot, Janine! Germany has a lot more labor laws that benefit employees, and I'm lucky enough that my company even goes much beyond it!

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  4. numbers one and eight have been conspicuously missing in my life of late...I could see why youd be grateful for both...awesome list!

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    1. I hope you can get some much-needed time off, Zoe! Outstandign customer service is always something to be thankful for, especially after dealing with Vodafon a couple of years ago!

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  5. Can't say I've ever tried a caprese salad. May have to, if you call its creator a genius!
    I agree, running with a partner is much better than running alone.
    I included parks and sunshine on my list, too! I've always loved a good park, but this week especially.
    I would like to hear more about the birthday party in a wildlife park!

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    1. We love caprese salad. It's so simple and SO delicious! My friend organized a "Stone Age" tour for the kids and we all had cake and other snacks at the park. It was so much fun! Except the tour guide's exceptionally stupid idea of letting seven 6 to 8-year olds make themselves wooden spears. Those got confiscated very quickly ;-)

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    2. Ha! I'm guessing the tour guide was young. Or crazy! Sounds like a great party idea, though.

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    3. The guide was actually a middle-aged woman, probably more crazy, I don't know :-) The party was ok, even though I'd have liked it better if we would have looked at more animals or so.

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  6. 30 days of paid leave? Awesome!! Sleeping in is the best. Sunshine and parks - wonderful things!

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    1. Thank you so much, Cyndy! Germany's labor laws mandate a lot more paid vacation than, for example, in the U.S.; I appreciate it every day!

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  7. Very succinct and to the point...nicely done. #9 is my favorite one! :)

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    1. Thank you so much!! Life would be so boring with silliness and much laughter!

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  8. Liked the List!

    The 'sleep in' item is interesting (for me)...I seem to have all but lost that ability (or is that capacity...) Never get past 6:30 except on this Morning (meaning Sundays...) I didn't get up until 7:30 and it was all, 'damn late! gotta get up!' But then again, our dog Una being so busy with my wife on the weekend sleeps in, so I guess I can be excused..

    Excellent concept...that 30 day paid thing! lol I am not overly successful in taking time off (and I'm in business for myself) so I suspect that I would not be such a good candidate for 30 days of vacay.

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    1. I remember a couple of years ago, on a business trip. I woke up at the usual 5:30 (Miss V. wake-up time back then) and could have sworn I could not fall back to sleep. Until I was suddenly rung out of another deep sleep phase by the wake-up call at 7...

      The vacation time I guess is one big disadvantage when it comes to owning a business.

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  9. Great list! 1. 30 days??? wow, that's awesome! 2. I 'm jealous. 3. Yeah, running alone is not fun, that's why I do the treadmill watching a show on my iPad, it's like somebody is talking to me, lol, not really. 4.gotta try that salad. 5. Agree. 6. Totally agree. 7.I'm not too familiar with German beer parks but I trust you. 8.oh yes, good customer service is rare. 9.I'm all for silliness. 10. I 'm with you. Thanks for sharing and have an awesome week.

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    1. Thank you so much for stopping by, Natalia! I hope you have a great weekend with your family!

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  10. I agree with the benefit of running partners! I ran by myself yesterday, and spent 70% of the time trying to keep myself motivated.

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    1. I'm so with you! I had quite a bad run earlier last week, when my head told me I just could not go on, even though my body was still in it. I'm so glad that I have people running with me on the night run!

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  11. Wonderful list! But #9 is, by far, my favorite. Most people would benefit from some silliness in their lives. I certainly keep up my end of it!

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    1. I totally agree. I can't stand stuck-up people who cannot take life with a grain of salt. SO stressful!

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  12. Oh, completely agree with you that whomever came up with caprese salad was genius. Love trying varieties of it! Days off to be with family? Amazing.

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    1. Which varieties do you try, Lisa? We usually just do the classic version with balsamic and instead of salt and pepper I either use basil or majoram.

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  13. I like your list, short and sweet. In your face action. Though, I totally read salad as island and I was like... someone created an island? How did they do this?! Can I do this?! Is it like the island from LOST?!! It was only until I saw Christine's comment when scrolling down to offer my own did I see her mention salad forcing me to scroll back up and re-read.

    So, now I have basically no idea what you are talking about until I Google it...

    It's awesome you get so much paid time off and I hope you rock it well and get a ton of family time in. Can't say I've seen the Bridget Jones movies... I will have to break out of my standard issue viewing (which has expanded greatly over the last decade) and get more of those romance movies in.

    I feel a running or workout partner is the best route to go. It can really help you become/stay motivated.

    Glad you were able to link up this weekend! Have a great week :-)

    Jak at The Cryton Chronicles & Dreams in the Shade of Ink

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  14. Jak: Caprese Salad is a traditional Italian appetizer made with sliced tomatoes and mozzarella slices with fresh leaves of basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

    You are willing to watch the Bridget Jones movies?? You're a hero, hubby usually just runs, runs, runs ;-)

    I totally agree. If Astrid had not been there, I would have stopped much, much earlier and not finished. Loved the workout!

    Have a wonderful week yourself, Jak!

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    1. That would be pretty good, as long as you left out the tomatoes.... Er, is that an integral part of it? ;)

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    2. Kind of.. It's tomato slices layered with slices of mozzarella, maybe fresh basil, and of course the dressing, so it's about 50 percent of the salad..

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  15. Oooooohhhhh caprese! The simplicity and the stunning flavours! Love it. Have you tried it with balsamic vinegar drizzled over? Makes it really sparkle.

    Love your list. You're right about the whole 'running partner' thing, though in my case, more actual running needs to happen :D

    See you again this weekend...sorry I'm late catching up

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    1. ALWAYS with balsamic ;-) I love balsamic, even though a true Italian would stone me for it ;-)

      I might have another friend run with me on the day of! So excited!!

      No problem, I'm happy you had a great vacation, Lizzi!! Welcome back!

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