I <3 automated postal centers!

What has pulled me out of blog oblivion you ask???
Not friends, not glamour, not meaningful drivel but, but the Automated Postal Center.
Never before have I been so pleased to be in the post office. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of community and humans doing jobs but the APC it's just so right, so perfect, so ingenuous. Why has it taken this long to create a machine that could weigh, figure postage and print it out immediately and at all hours of the night? I walked into the post office today after running errands all day long only to find myself in an eight person deep line with maybe two employees working the front desk. Luckily, I peered to my right and spied the APC. It called my name. I looked around and realized that, yes, it was me the APC was beckoning. Who am I to ignore a formal invitation? I approached the machine and placed my package on the shiny silver scale and instantly a weight appeared on the screen and the APC asked me what I would like to do. Naturally, I proceeded and entered the zip code on the package and chose my shipping option. I slid my debit card into the machine and within seconds a neatly printed label popped out of my beloved APC and asked me if I wanted a receipt. I placed the label on my box, addressed it and put it in it's bin. Smiling, I left the post office and the line that had still barely moved an inch.

Simple Pleasure #4

Hmmm... This is a day late. My simple pleasure for today is dictionary.com. Really. I love having a dictionary at my fingertips because my vocabulary and memory have deteriorated from having five kids. I'll think of a word I want to use and can easily check to make sure I am using it in the right manner... gotta love it!

Simple Pleasure #3

Sudoku...

During my last road trip I bought a $6 Sudoku book at a truck station. I've always loved number games and puzzles so Sudoku is right up my alley. While working the puzzles during the last half of our drive I could feel neglected neural pathways (to use a Star Trek term) slowly reviving to rise to the challenge of discovering patterns and eliminating options. Here it is less than a week later and my speed has increased doublefold. I feel like Sudoku is one more way to train my mind in the hope of not losing my mental acuity as I age.

Simple Pleasure #2

Perennials!
Lavender in particular is one of my favorite perennials. And, perennials are definitely one of the better simple pleasures in life. Nothing is better than investing one's time in planting a seed or start and being rewarded with it growing, blooming, dying and regenerating the following spring. Seeing the little shoots of green spiking out of the ash gray growth from the previous year brings tangible proof of that spring is a time of renewal.

Today I started weeding my garden which is a laborious project especially due to my healing broken ankle. Turning the soil over went faster than I expected, though, due to the fact that last year a group of friends helped me prep this garden.

Good friends. Really good friends are another simple pleasure.

Simple Pleasure #1

Via my one of my favorite blogs www.sixredheads.com I am going to post a simple pleasure each weekend. This weekend's simple pleasure is related to my recent broken ankle injury and can help anyone with a cast... for a dollar or less invest in a plastic ruler to reach those places inside your cast that itch which you have no possibility of itching without the help of a tool. The ruler must be plastic so that it can bend slightly. Be careful so as not to break the ruler inside the cast which did happen to me but I was able to retrieve it. Of course, the doctor's office will tell you not to itch at all so I must add *try at your own risk*. Having the simple pleasure of a plastic ruler to reach my ungodly itches was marvelous.

Oh, and rulers are also good for measuring things! ;)