7 Quick Takes

Here are 7 tremendous things about this week:

1. My orchid bloomed! My $9.99 miniature orchid from the supermarket, the tiniest orchid there ever was, which sits by the windowsill in my office, morphed from a little green bud into a beautiful, proud little flower.  My brown thumb turns a bit greener every time I look at it.
2. I've been teaching myself how to code on CodeAcademy.  I've been learning HTML basics and what things like URL and CSS actually mean! URL = Uniform Resource Locator (you bet I looked that up in my stapled-printer-paper-notebook), and CSS = Cascading Style Sheets. This has also gotten me in touch with a girl I knew in college, who majored in Computer Science and posts a lot about coding programs for girls and women on her Facebook page.  Practical skills, friends, practical skills.
3. Skyped with two sets of fantastic people this week, friends from both coasts of the U.S. of A. and it brought so much joy into my week and made it feel full.  Monday night mixed learning with life updates and lessons I should remember.
4. Started keeping (again) a list of things I'm thankful for, which I've been filling out each morning.
5. 3 out of 5 nights this week ---> 8 hours of sleep.  This has meant fewer days bemoaning my sorrows and pitiful existence, etc. etc.
6. Sheba killed a cockroach (maybe water bug?) that was in the bathtub.  I was thrilled that she is, in fact, a bug-killer, and also mildly grossed out.  Twitching antennae and bug limbs do not fill me with joy.
7. Enrolled in my company's 403(b) program! Huzzah.  I got a confirmation email from the Retirement Board letting me know that I was making an important step to ensure my financial future.  Yes indeed.  If there's anything that will make you feel like a grown person with a job, it is knowing that you will be retiring in  2054. Yikes.

And that's all for me! This is my first time linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes - here's to many more :)