"Mommy, can you make the thunder stop? I 'fraid..."

All about me

So, I am sure you have gotten this in your email in-box 100 times. But I thought it would be fun so here are my answers! DO yours at home!

:-)


1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My two great grandmothers

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Thursday

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Not particularly

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey if I have to pick one. Otherwise I just eat cheese or peanut butter.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS ? 3 furry canine ones, 1 furry feline one and I am not sure how many furry feral ones there are in the colony right now. They hide!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yep!

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Not a lot but is has been known to happen

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS yes

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? nope!

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cheerios

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Sort of.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Vanilla

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? eyes

15. RED OR PINK? Red

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My love of shopping

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST my grandpa Francus

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? sure

19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? I am not wearing shoes

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A Ham biscuit

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW ? Nothing. It is actually quiet

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? A green one

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Fresh cut grass and baby powder

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My friend Jane

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes!

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? NASCAR

27. Hair Color? Many shades of natural blonde (And Grey!).

28. EYE COLOR? green

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? no

30. FAVORITE FOOD ? Fired shrimp and french fries

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings of course!

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Pride and Prejudice

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? white shirt

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter

35. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolate chip cookies

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Well since this is a blog no one.

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND Same as above

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW ? Mad Dash

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don't have one. I use the built in one on my lap top

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? iCarly with my niece.

42. FAVORITE SOUND? The sounds my dogs make when they are sleeping and content

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME??? Chicago or Vermont

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I think I good at taking care of animals

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Hammond, IN

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Again with thee blog thing.....

I am a Democrat and I am proud of it!

I don’t post very much on here about my religious or political beliefs. Not because I don’t have them, or feel strongly about them, but because I don’t always feel like going down that seriously heavy road. The whole intent and purpose of my blog (for me) is to write about things that I am thinking about, and I try to make them fun, upbeat things so I write about my hobbies, the antics of my dogs and nieces, things I like, things I don’t, but the main thing I try to do is entertain. Yes, even if the only people who read this are me and my sister-in-law. I write this blog for me. But for the most part, I am off the soap box because I am not always comfortable up on it. It isn’t that I don’t have strong feelings, I just don’t find it necessary to push those feelings and beliefs on others. And of course no one is forced to read my blog but I think you get where I am coming from. I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable. In addition, and this is a bit ridiculous but true none the less, when people say mean things about something I like or believe in (and I don’t mean disagree with what I think, I mean really nasty things) it hurts my heart. Am I over sensitive? Maybe but what it wrong with being nice? So I am breaking my tradition and saying a few words about me.

1. I am a Democrat

2. I am a Catholic

And I am proud of it. And those 2 do not always go together. And trust me, I struggle with that during election times. I am of the mind that you need to vote for the person that MOST CLOSELY fits what you believe because you will never find anyone who fits it perfectly, well, unless you are voting for yourself.

I have read lots of very negative stuff about Senator Obama, Senator Biden and Democrats in general and you know what? I am sick and tired of it. Seriously. I am so done with all the negativity and that is why I don’t jump in to the fray. It simply pisses me off. And I don’t like to feel that way. Trust me, I have enough to be pissed off about without being mad that someone, who doesn't even know me, thinks I am a bleeding heart liberal and stupid because I believe that global warming is real, wolves and polar bears should be considered endangered species, and that the country needs a new direction. I don’t go around saying I think it was a bit heartless that when John McCain returned home from being a POW and found his wife had been disfigured and crippled in a terrible accident, he then had an affair and left her for his current rich, beauty queen wife who at one time was addicted to pain killers that she stole from her own medical charity. Oh, I guess I just did. Well, let me get back up on the high road…it may take a minute. It will be a long climb.

I don’t dislike John McCain personally. I mean I don’t know him. I don’t dislike his VP pick, Gov. Palin. Don’t know her either. But I don’t like what they stand for. Gov. Palin is so proud to be a member of the NRA and her hobbies which include hunting and fishing. Hey, good for you. Not so much for the wolves of Alaska since she had the chance to stop the aerial hunting of wolves and didn't. I mean it is so fun (not to mention sportsman-like) to chase a wolf (minding it’s own wolf business) in a helicopter until it is completely exhausted and can’t run anymore and then shoot it. FOR NOTHING. Not to eat, not because it was bothering your livestock, not even for it’s coat. Only because you think it is fun to kill something. And her strong political background? A MAYOR of a town with barely 7,000 people and then Governor of a Alaska for 2 years? I also find it amusing that according to the Republicans, the liberal media has no right to question anything about her children, they are completely off limits (which I agree with) BUT she parades them around at every opportunity, including her pregnant daughter. If I were Bristol I would be embarrassed. Not because I was 17 and pregnant, but because my mom thought it was ok to sit my boyfriend and I together so we could hold hands and play the part of the happy couple for a photo op. I mean having a baby is stress enough. To have to do it in front of millions of people is frightening. And I think it is great that she is a mother of 5 and that her son is in the army, but honestly, what does that have to do with being the next in line as President should the Republicans win and something happens to John McCain? Seriously that scares the crap out of me. And do they think that the women in this country are dumb enough to simply vote for the ticket because she is a woman? I hope not. If you feel like McCain/Palin are best for the job because you agree with their policies, that is great. YOu should vote for them. But don't think that I (a woman) will over look everything thing else and vote for them because Gov. Palin could be the first woman Vice President. My mom taught me better than that. Oh, there I go falling off the high road again. I guess it is easy to do. I guess that is why the McCain camp is so good at it. It’s easy. Just like following President Bush’s current agenda for the next 4 years if elected.

And what I just did above completely proves my point. It is easy to say the mean stuff and make ourselves feel better. It is easy to get all worked up and say hurtful things because you feel like you are right. It is easy to feel superior because your way is the right way, the only way, or so you think. Well friends, that is what makes us Americans. We have the freedom in this country to believe what we want, and to a large degree to say what we want. But as for me, I will vote for who I believe in, and I will try and keep my mean thoughts and ideas to my self. Because we all have them, it is what we choose to do with them that matters.

Things I Am Loving Right Now

Nick and Nora pajama bottoms from Target: I have rubber ducky ones, pink elephants on roller skates ones, sock monkey ones, pink flamingo ones, dogs having a cook out ones and many others. Do I wear them all you ask? Yep!! Just not at the same time! :-)

Pilot Precise Grip BOLD Pens in blue ink: I love the way they write! Nice and bold.

Weight Watcher Double Chocolate Delight 2 point bars: I am not sure why I like these so much, I just know that I do!

Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad: I crave this salad all the time. The Chinese Vinaigrette dressing is great, the sliced almonds give it a nice crunch and the little fried chicken pieces are wonderful. I am not sure how good this salad is for me in regards to Weight Watcher points but it counts as veggies right?

Golden Gourmet Peanuts from the Peanut Roaster: Crunchy with just the right amount of salt and they are grown/made right here in NC!

Coca Cola flavored ICEEs: Great on those 100 degree days.

Flip Flops: I was never much a of a flip flop wearer but I made myself wear a pair the summer before last and now I am all about the flip flop!

The Family Desk Planner by Sandra Boynton: Actually it is really called the Mom's Family Desk Planner but I write DOG on every page (yes, I have no life) so it says Dog Mom's Family Desk Planner. It has great art work on every other page and it is a perfect size with lots of space to write stuff. We Likey!

The Tudors on showtime: I am watching Season 1 via Netflix and it is very good. I question the historical aspects of some of it, but it is VERY entertaining and Jonathan Rhys Myers is easy on the eyes.

What?

Mamma Mia! (A Review)

You know my love of cheesey 70s music and the epitome of cheesy 70's music for me is ABBA. I love ABBA. I always have. One of my favorite movies "Muriel's Wedding" has a soundtrack comprised of almost all ABBA songs. Check it out. It features Toni Collete before her big roles.

So when I found out they were doing a musical based on the music of ABBA called "Mamma Mia" I was so excited! Not that I ever thought I would get to go to Broadway to see it, but I hoped they would make a movie. AND THEY TOTALLY DID! I went with a friend to see it on Saturday and I LOVED IT!! In fact I want to go see it again! ("J" you name the time and day and I am so there! Oh and "M.A." if you haven't seen it yet, I am there with you too!!)

First, the scenery is just breath taking. But what suprised me was how good Meryl Streep sings! Amanda Seyfried is beautiful. Julie Walters and Christine Baranski were hysterical. Now, Pierce Brosnan left a bit to be desired singing wise but I still loved it! Plus, the man is damn good looking along with Colin Firth so who cares about the singing! Actually Colin Firth was pretty good. Then add Dominic Cooper without a shirt, HOLY CRAP! Seriously though, I think what made the movie is that they did not pick "singers". They picked actors. And it works.

So, I am off to lip sync Waterloo and Mamma Mia while I vacuum. I know, I live on the edge.

Back to School

from http://ihasahotdog.com/

Time Flies...

So, my 20 Year Class Reunion is in September. Seriously, I find it hard to believe. I just don’t know where the 20 years has gone! As I look back at the past 20 years it strikes that I am not anywhere that I thought I would be or doing what I thought I would be doing. What did I think? Well, here are a few things:

1. I thought I would be living in the city in Chicago. I have no clue why I thought this. Maybe because I just love that city.

2. I thought I would be married with kids. I had the married part-I just didn’t see divorce in my future! And I would never have guessed that I wouldn’t be a mom to human kids (just fuzzy ones!)

3. I thought I would be teaching History to High School students who would have a love of the subject because I made it exciting and fun.

4. I never thought I would have done all the volunteering or work with animals that I have done.

5. I never thought I would have rescued as many animals as I have: birds, opossums, lizards, turtles, dogs, cats and snakes just to name a few. Yes, I have gotten out of the car to carry a snake out of harms way. Anyone who knew me then would probably find this one hard to believe!

6. I never thought I would live alone.

7. I never thought I could/would need to make it on my own.

But I guess that is what reunions are for. Showing us how much we have changed (me, hopefully for the better) and how far (or not) we have come. I try to think back about my days at Cardinal Gibbons and remember certain details, but realize that most have become fuzzy over time. I hope I will have fun at the reunion. I hope to see some of my old friends and the boys I had crushes on. But most importantly, I hope to go and come a way with the sense of fulfillment and contentment I have about my life. Because even though very few ideas that I had about myself came to be and things have not been easy, I realize I am in the place that I was meant to be, doing exactly what I was meant to do, loved by my family, my dogs, and my friends. And I couldn’t ask for more than that.

Scrubbing Bubbles

So, I promised to explain the scrubbing bubbles. You know the bathroom cleaner that "works so you don't have to"? Well, it kills bugs-or at least stops them enough for you to drown them in more scrubbing bubbles until they expire. This allows you to stand fairly far away from the offending pest and get rid of it. Hey, don't knock it until you have tried it. Well, it works for me! Don't laugh.

Gee, how many posts have I done today?

Terror in the Shed

So, if you read my blog at all you know that I am quite the animal-nature lover. I help turtles and opossums, rescue snakes from the road, let the very back of my yard get a bit overgrown so that little creatures have places to live, let the deer eat all my pants and never complain and take injured birds to the emergency vet. I say this so you understand my dedication to the flora and fauna of Wake Forest. Ok but there are three things I can not abide; spiders, camel back cave crickets and roaches. I am not crazy about insects in general but lady bugs and butterflies are ok. Also, I try not to do anything too damaging to the environment as far as pest control. I use Sevins Dust to keep the ants out of the feral cats food (safe for animals by the way)and to control the hoppers under house. I also keep the grass short to keep the flea and tick population down. Other than that, I don;t do anything.

As much as I hate spiders I leave them alone outside. I have a rule for spiders, you don't bother me, I don't bother you. Period. You stay outside, I let you live. You come inside and depending on the look of you I MIGHT take you outside. MIGHT. Camel back cave crickets and roaches well, there is no mercy for you. Sorry. You get the Scrubbing Bubbles (I will have to explain that later).

So, I am sure you are wondering "what is the terror in the shed"? Well, WAIT I AM GETTING TO THAT!

So, tonight was grass cutting night. I donned my baseball cap, holey t-shirt and stretched out yoga pants and sauntered out to the shed. I throw open the doors to the shed and immediately stop and check for crawling things. I saw one little woodland roach, ok just step over him. No big deal. And then something black over in the corner catches my eye. Upon closer inspection I start to silently freak out. "HOLY CRAP THERE IS A HUGE BLACK WIDOW IN A WEB UNDER ONE OF THE EXTRA KITCHEN CHAIRS"! OMG! HOLY SHIT!!!!" Ok, I stand there at a loss for at least 3 minutes. Which is a long time when you are scared to death to move because the 12 inch black widow (exaggeration) might jump for me while saying in a raspy voice "why are you disturbing me"-think Aragog from Harry Potter or the spider from Lord of the Rings.

Now, if you have been paying attention, you know my issue with spiders. It has invaded my space so it must be destroyed. I have no idea how to kill it because I am afraid to get closer than 25 feet from it. But, I also understand that I have to kill it. My scrubbing bubbles is in the car port so I am defenseless. I grab one of those paint stirrer things but realize if I used that I would have to get closer than I am comfortable with. So I fnd a 2 foot piece of wood and get it on there. Then I squish the hell out if it until there is nothing left. I feel bad...for about 5 seconds where I ask God, Virgin Mary and Saint Francis to forgive me, but they know my feelings on the matter. So I mow the grass and come inside. I shower, eat some cheerios and get on my laptop. And what do I do? I Google Black Widow Spider where I spend the next 10 minutes reading and looking at webpages dedicated to Black Widows and Brown Recluse Spiders. "Ok Seriously, WHAT IN THE HELL AM I THINKING!" I will never sleep now. So, long about 1:00 a.m., feel free to call me. I guarantee I will up!

Now that's Karma

In an effort to start living a simple life (that is a whole other post!) I have been going through all of my stuff one little section at a time. The first section was my jewelry. I don’t have a lot of “fine” jewelry. What I do have is mostly from my ex-husband. So, I decided to get rid of the bad karma and sell it or pawn it. During my lunch hour I went to visit the local pawn shop in the town where I work. The guy was nice and told me he would give me $60 for a garnet bracelet, gold wedding band, gold cladaugh sun, moon, stars pin and cross. All of these are at least 10k gold. I am not doing it so much for the money but for the principle of it, the ridding the house of the bad karma, but then I think the bracelet is worth $75 on it's own! So, I thanked him and I decided to try and sell them on ebay first. If they don’t sell than I will take them back to the pawn shop. At least I know how much I will get. So after that I decided to go get some comfort food (Bojangle’s. YUM!). This whole ordeal has been bringing back thoughts that I don’t want, and in an effort to “get over it” for today,
I decided to do a big Weight Watchers no-no and use food as my security blanket. As I am turning left, I look over at the car in the next lane who is waiting to turn left, and I will give you one guess who it was. Yep, the ex-husband. So, as I sat in Bojangle’s I wondered what it meant. I mean he lives in this area and I have not run in to him in over a year so how odd that I should see him on this particular day. So as I ponder the universe and it’s connections and randomness, let me know if you want to buy a gold bracelet with garnets! It really is pretty!

K9 Mom's Thoughts While Mowing the Lawn

*WARNING* If curse words offend you, please skip this one. And, if anyone from work is reading this, I don't think the "Swear Jar" applies here right? Because, I don't think my pay check will cover it!

Walking to the shed (sigh...didn't I just mow this freakin' lawn?)

Opening the shed (Crap, I hope there are no spiders in here. Ok well I don't see any-something crawls on my shoe-HOLY CRAP WHAT WAS THAT!?! Seriously, beetle don't even think about crawling me. I don't want to scream and then squish you.)

Sitting on the tractor trying to start it ("Look Beast, please start before I start to scream! Oh wait, maybe there isn't any gas...")

Trying to take off the gas cap ("ok did Hercules put the damn thing on here or what?! Oh wait, it was dad...DAD!" (say this like Jerry Seinfield would say "Newman")

Ok look- there is gas in here so start damn you START!" Oh good here we go...

K9 Mom backs out of the shed hitting the fence a bit ("SHIT..Again with the damn fence...")

"So, I did diagonal last time...maybe straight lines? Yes I think so".

Here is where I turn on the MP3 Player and start to get in the mowing groove...

Humming...OH I LOVE THIS SONG!! Annie Lennox you completely rock"! Ok I sing here for a while, I must admit to a hand movement or two..Bunnie doesn't care she is trying catch a cat..who is about 100 feet on the other side of the fence but I applaud her dedication..

"Ok favorite part...And if you're trying to cut me down, You know that I might bleed, Cause if your trying to cut me down, I know that you;ll succeed.And if you want to hurt me, there's nothing left to fear. Cause if you want to hurt me, you're doing really well my dearrrr..." I think I should you tube that when I get in. John Malkovich and Hugh Laurie I think...OUTSTANDING!!

Author's note: Yes, I really think words like outstanding, he is a gem etc. I am a goof ball.

So from here, I pretty much just sing and hum and drive around.

"Oh man I hate the push mower part...but here we go..Bunnie stop trying to bite the lawn mower. Trust me it won't end well for you"...

I mow for a while, sweat A LOT and then... KURPLUNK!!! Mower stops.

"What the hell...oh crap, crap crap I hit that stump. CRAP!!! Please start. Please START!!!! I don't want to have to call dad. "Ok maybe I should go in for a Dr. Pepper and feed the dogs. I will give it a chance to rest".

I get a drink and go back out. It starts.

"Hmmm My hydrangeas are lovely..I should cut some, whoa watch the hose! Um excuse me, person turning around in my drive way-really? Should you be doing that while I am standing right here? I mean go down to the next street and turn around why don't you?" "One day I am going to catch the damn individuals who throw litter in my yard and throw their beer bottles right back at them!!! Littering is against the law DAMN YOU!!" Ok just calm down and keep on mowing...Mowing, mowing and more mowing...

SO, on this outing I almost ran over my croc wearing foot while trying to open the gate and push the mower through without turning it off, I hit my head on a low branch, ran into a bush that had lots of thorns on it and got a blister from holding the handle down.

And the best part, is I get to do this ALL over again in 4 more days! But, my lawn looks super good. Even my mom said it looked nice while she was cutting hydrangeas. Now THAT my friends is quite the compliment!

Adventures in Lawn Mowing

I think a few posts in regards to lawn mowing are way over due! Why? Well, because I want to! And it is my blog.

Let me give you all a little background.

1. I mow my lawn every week. Even when I was married (to...well let us call him Mr. Lazy for this post), I was the one out in 100 degree heat cutting the grass with help from my dad (good ole' dad. The man is an absolute gem).

2. I have a biggish yard (.75 acres)

3. I have become very particular about pattern in the back yard. No idea why. I mean who cares as long as it is short right? Wrong!

4. I THINK I have a mixture of St. Augustine and Bermuda grass. Oh with Wild Onions (the bane of my existence) and weeds. This means when it is hot outside and wet it THRIVES.

So, Thursday was the night I was mowing this week. Now let me mention that I had just mowed the back yard on Sunday and the lawn was LONG.. So the first course of action is to jump on my tractor/riding mower. An orange Husqvarna. Please reference picture above and then imagine one faded orange and that doesn't always start or just stops in the middle of the yard, and you will have mine. It's name? The Beast of course!

Funny aside here-There is this great couple that lives next door to me and the menagerie. They are funny, friendly and always willing to chat when outside on the porch. Great, down to earth, country people who like animals. LOVE THE NEIGHBORS. Anyway, one night I had just finished and was talking over the fence To Lady Neighbor and Guy Neighbor started singing "She Thinks My Tractors' Sexy-by Kenny Chesney only with "he". This cracked me up and now every time I start the tractor up, I think about that and laugh my ass off. Because seriously, there is nothing less sexy than me on my tractor. Ok, maybe you can think of something but you get my point.)

There isn't much to do when you are sitting on the tractor except try not to hit the fence, propane tank, shed etc and keep your mowing lines either in a diagonal (my personal favorite), picture frame or straight up and down. Why so many designs you ask? Because you are never supposed to cut your grass the same direction every time. You gotta change it up! And no,I don't know why. Google it! Oh, and try not to let anything touch you (bugs, grass, limbs hanging from trees) especially the poison ivy growing over the fence that you are extremely allergic to and dad has not killed yet. So, I listen to my MP3 player,sing really loud and with feeling because no one can hear me over the "beast" (At least I don't think so. Oh that would be embarrassing!) and think about stuff. And that is what the next post will be about...

If it is not one thing it's Otto

(I know my deck looks a complete mess but it is clean now. Well except for 100 dog toys!)

This is a well worn statement in our house. I love all 3 of my dogs. I always say they are my kids. And Otto is the "baby" so of course he is spoiled and as much as I hate to admit this; maybe a smidge more than the others. It is not intentional but Otto has a medical condition and so he gets pampered a bit. I call Otto the "million dollar dog" because I have spent so much money on his vet care. Otto has epilepsy and takes meds to control his seizures, and they work pretty well.

I have been very concerned about him for the past several weeks because he has been having some real trouble walking. I have been having scary thoughts of brain tumors, seizures and strokes and basically worrying myself sick. We went to see Otto's vet today (who has to be the most patient, kind man in the universe to deal with me)for some help. I don't know a whole lot more than I did before except that Otto is ok as far as we know. Dr. B said that we could have a $1200 MRI done (I barely scraped together the $50 for the office visit) that would probably tell us what was what wrong but would not change anything. Sigh. So for now, I am going to be happy in the knowledge that I am doing everything I can to keep him happy and healthy and I will just need to get used to his funny walk and stumbling. I also learned that Otto is happy (well as far Dr. B and I know)and not suffering and besides a little arthritis in his right hip, he isn't in any pain. In other words, Otto's quality of life is good. And so I will continue to keep him and Bunnie and Chloe happy and comfortable and love them all way too much. And maybe that is all we can hope for in life. To have someone try and keep us happy and comfortable and love us too much. Well, it is one of the things I hope for.

P.S. Thanks to everyone for all their good thoughts today. It meant a lot to Otto and more to me.

Nerd with a capital N

As I sit here listening to my MP3 player, it dawns on me just how much of a "nerd" I really am. I mean who just LOVES to listen to John Denver's Annie's Song or Rick Springfield's Human Touch? Well, I do! And I feel there are other signs as well. Here are a few:

I only like to use pens that write a certain way. And if they don't, they go to the big pen grave yard. (Ok, really a great big tin bucket. Anyone need a pen?)

I get teary every single time I hear "God Bless America"or "The Gift".

I have to sleep with wrist braces at night because of carpal tunnel. Hey, at least it isn't head gear!

When I mow the grass, I have to wear a hat, long pants and if it isn't 100 degrees a long sleeve shirt. Why? Because if a tree branch, bug, anything touches my hair, arm, leg etc; I have to shower immediately.

I have 3 stuffed animals on my bed right now. I KNOW!! I know what you are going to say, you don't need to tell me!

I love to watch PBS. and not just Masterpiece theater but Nature and Painting with Bob Ross ("OK, lets put a happy tree right here by this big strong mountain").

I collect Children's Books. That is quite the hobby to get the gentlemen calling!:-)

When walking down a sidewalk or walkway I won't step on any cracks or lines. You know in case it "breaks my mother's back or father's spine" Who thought that up and told it to little kids any way?

I sleep with a pair of scissors next to my bed. You know, in case the monster under my bed decides to come out.

I have a scrapbook with an example of every card I have ever sent out at Chritmas for the last 15 years or so..

Oh and the posts on this blog.

So, for the four people that read this, "Welcome to Nerdville. Population, ME!"

Ihasahotdog

I stumbled upon this website (http://ihasahotdog.com/)one night while surfing and I am just in love with it! I liked it so much I signed up for daily updates! If you need a laugh, check it out.

Things I have learned this week

1. You can never have enough paper towels when pet sitting for 10 puppies. NEVER!

2. No matter how tired you are, how hot, how sweaty, how sad, kisses from 10 puppies, 1 golden retriever and my dog tribe will cheer me up in about 10 seconds!

3. If you stop drinking regular soda and drink diet soda and water, you will lose weight.

4. Nothing feels as good as a hot shower after cleaning up after 10 puppies!

5. When someone tells you that you have disappointed them, it stinks. No matter how they say it or how they spin it. It stinks. Period.

6. Sometimes you just have to go out for Bojangles at lunch with a friend.

7. Applying for a new job is scary and kind of exciting! :-) Especially one that seems like it was made just for you.

8. You gotta have friends.

9. And sometimes, you have to stop pretending to be fine and just ask your friends for a shoulder.

10. At the end of day, it doesn't matter how much money you have made, how many things you have screwed up or done right, who you have impressed or failed to impress, how many things that you have or how much work you have done. What matters is that you can say that someone, anyone, loves you. For you.

And I think that (#10) is the most important thing I have remembered this week. Because that isn't something that I learned. I always knew it. But sometimes, it stays buried under so many layers of things like exhaustion, disappointment, resentment, self loathing, anger, jealousy, selfishness, grudges, (add your own here) that we forget. But as long as we can remember than we will be ok.

You know it is going to be a weird day when...

you show up to work on your day off. Yep, that is what I did this morning. We have something where I work called "Summer Schedule". This means that you work 45 minutes extra for 9 days and then you get a Monday or a Friday off. So today was supposed to be my day. I am not sure how I got so mixed up but I did and here I am. So, I am taking my day on Thursday. Not a 3 weekday weekend but oh well. A day off just the same. Never look a "gift day off" in the mouth! :-)

To post or not to post. That is MY question

Have you ever been in a quandary about posting something to your blog? You know, you have to say something to get it off of your mind but you wonder if it is the ok thing to do? You have not mentioned any names or told any untruths, it basically your feelings about a situation, but you still worry about it? Well I just wrote a post like that and I am not sure I should publish it. I mean I wasn't awful, I didn't call anyone names and certainly did not give details, but I feel a little weird. And I shouldn't because this is MY blog. And in my opinion I think I should be able to say whatever I want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone or defame their character. Maybe I will post it. I haven't decided. Maybe I should sleep on it, re-read the post and then decide? So maybe it will be posted here tomorrow. Or maybe not. What do you think?