Thankful Thursday - Velcro, etc

I'm grateful for having had a baby in the age of velcro, zips and snaps. How on earth did people wrangle the flailing limbs of screeching little she-devils (or he-devils) into clothes featuring only fiddly buttons and ribbons?

Linking up with Kate of Kate Says Stuff for Thankful Thursday. What are you grateful for this week?

Note: No children were harmed in the making of this post; she just grizzled for an extra five seconds while I took the photo.

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Grateful for ... coffee

Give me a hit.
Image source: www.ladyfabuloux.blogspot.com

I am grateful for coffee. Every week. I know, who isn't, right? Except weird other people, like my sister, who don't like it.
I'm a big fan of the stuff. Not merely for the caffeine, though at times that kick is appreciated. I just adore the taste.
And the ritual. The arrival of your flat white, latte or whatever, looking perfect and promising with its creamy fluff on top. The kicking back and shutting out the world briefly by letting your senses focus on your brew's aroma, taste and warmth.
I'm particularly grateful for coffee shops where you can eavesdrop and people watch (I've earwigged on some fascinating conversations in my time), or amuse yourself with a book. Or twitter or facebook or email. Not that I'd waste a good coffee break on twitter, you understand (ha!).
Everyone seems to have their own coffee idiosyncrasies, beyond the 'white with two' variety. Mine include a severe aversion to the instant crap version (my dad only drinks instant and will have a glass of water before going anywhere near the properly-made stuff, if you can believe that. Unfathomable.), as well as any meddling with it by way of 'flavours'. It's coffee I like and coffee I'll have, thank you - not coffee and hazelnut/caramel/vanilla/chilli specially harvested from a mountaintop in remote Thailand.
I also tend to avoid it in the mornings. Tea is lighter and easier to get down first thing. The only time I've regularly had coffee upon waking was when I had a job that required me to leave the house at 4.30am (and return at 7pm). Any kind of caffeine injection was welcome then.
In some happy coffee-related news, my workplace has just invested in a space-age DeLonghi espresso machine. Sweet! And they accidentally bought about 100kg of the dark roast, not medium roast, beans. Even better!

Are you a coffee person? How many a day? Or are you one of those crazies who can't even stand the smell of it?

This post has been part of the lovely Maxabella Loves 'Grateful' link-up.

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This week I'm grateful for ... a shiny new computer!

There's a new love in my life - my new computer.
Image source: www.sodahead.com

This week I'm grateful for my new computer. It arrived last week and I'm in love. 
It means we now have about 17 devices that can take photos. Which is probably why I needed a bigger computer - I have to store all those snaps somewhere because I never think to actually print the bloody things. 
I've long been a gadget girl and a new, whizz-bang laptop is the ultimate toy. It is, at least, until I can justify the cost of a longed-for iPad.
We bought the old laptop (the cantankerous one mentioned in my profile. Its days are now officially up) back in the olden days. Meaning, 2007. It's a little alarming to realise how quickly something can go from shiny and clever to old and decrepit in today's world, but that is a whole other post.  
It had served me well but it just couldn't hack it anymore. Too weak. Too slow. Too small. I could nip out the front door and save the world while Internet Explorer loaded. And I once celebrated several Christmases  while waiting for Photoshop to open a picture.  
This new one cracks along at lightning speed. Like a willing lover, or an already opened block of Cadbury, it's always ready for me. It has fancy yet easy-to-use software. A mouse that feels like an extension of my hand.
It is my new BFF. I've even kissed it goodnight. But that was only once.  


This post has been part of the lovely Maxabella Loves 'Grateful' link-up.

What are you grateful for this week?