I was thinking about some people who have done cool things for me, some because they were actually thinking of me and some who have affected my life even though they are completely unaware of me.

1. Thank you to whoever first discovered that you can bake uncooked lasagna noodles in a lasagna with a little extra water. I don’t think I’d ever make lasagna if I had to cook the noodles first.

2. I was just thinking of this for some reason–a million years ago in college when I worked at the Planetarium gift shop on Saturday morning this lady went off on me because she thought I hadn’t given back her credit card. I’m kind of forgetful so I checked all the obvious places and when I didn’t find it and told her I didn’t have it, she absolutely made a scene, threatened me, insulted me–it was the only thing anyone in the shop could pay attention to. Then she looked in her wallet, discovered that I HAD in fact returned her card to her and she walked off to go see her show. My thank you is to the guy working with me (I don’t remember his name or what his job was) who chased her down and made her apologize to me before he would let her go into the show. I was too embarrassed for her at the time, but thinking of it now, it makes me cry a little bit that someone stood up for me like that. Thank you, guy who did that!

3. Thank you to Google for helping me find the cheapest place to buy cheap things from China.

4. Thank you to Cara Ellison for including me in your will, and for researching and writing about Enron, and writing about other things that I find so interesting.

5. Thank you to lego.com for keeping my son so enthralled with your website that is always changing and updating.

6. Thank you to the people who came up with Leap Frog and the Zula Patrol for teaching my kids so many things that I couldn’t.

7. Thank you Michaels for marking that glitter pack I bought down to .01 so that I didn’t get AS upset when Hannah opened and poured it out all over the couch and floor.

8. Thank you to the photo center at Wal-mart for giving me all those film canisters while the rude people at Rite Aid insisted that they HAD to throw them away every day.

9. Thank you to Julie for making me that little scrap book out of paper bags that I am now going to rip off and make for all my other friends.

10. Thank you to the people who hold open doors for me when I’ve got a stroller and 3 kids in tow, it really means a lot.

11. Thank you to my friend Crysta who made me the little apron I am currently wearing as an accessory AND a useful place to put little things while I clean my house.

That should be good for now. There are a lot more people I should thank I’m sure, but those are some of the ones that had been on my mind…