Top 5 This Week

5. April showers bring May flowers.

4. Perfect weather. Not just good. Perfect. The light, the air, the warmth, the lush foliage. Even the abundance of bunnies to eat that foliage.

3. Having to stop 20 times on the walk to school to "test" if each roly-poly (potato bug) will curl into a ball when Liam touches it. Two of them did not. They were stubborn. And every single time we stopped, there was the same level of excitement. It never got old.

2. Natalie was sweet and funny and not cranky during the entire process of Jim and I getting re-fingerprinted for the THIRD time by CIS (Citizenship & Immigration Service), since our fingerprints were expiring yet again. Makes sense, since we all know our fingerprints change annually. (Gritting teeth here...) Anyway. We had an appointment. At a designated time. So of course it only took an hour and a half of waiting for our number to be called. But oh yes, this was a Top 5 good thing...Natalie was SO good!!

1. Marriott Rewards points! SO much nicer than airline mile programs. Easy to use, flexible, and simple reservation process. We can use our points in Moscow. They have 4 different Marriott hotels in downtown Moscow! Now, making reservations for all the "potential" dates, depending on the 10 Day Waiting period, was a little more complicated. But I think I have it covered. Much nicer than paying the $467/night summer rate. Much, much nicer.