Top Ten Tuesday

While Spring is not my favorite season at all (with 5 dogs running around in the mud and then running through my house with 20 muddy paws, it's hard to see past the brown of the season sometimes!), here are 10 good reasons to love the season at least some of the time!

Top Ten Reasons I Love Spring

1. Longer days and more SUNSHINE! (I think I may have seasonal affective disorder...)
2. Thunderstorms (love me a good thunderstorm)
3. Spring flowers are so vibrant and cheerful
4. Buds on trees and shrubs show new life where there was none
5. I can hang my laundry outside to dry! (smells so fresh and so clean clean)
6. The dogs get go run around in the grass and wear themselves out (in the winter half of them get cold and need carried back to the house!)
7. The smell of the spring air
8. I can take my workout outdoors after being inside on a treadmill all winter
9. No more fighting with the pellet stove because it can be turned off during the day! (also saves on fuel costs since we aren't going through so many pellets by keeping it running all day and all night long)
10. The promise of new beginnings is all around :)

Top Ten Tuesday--With a Story :)

Why is it that when you are running behind, you always get stuck behind super slow people in every single place possible?? Murphy's Law...Ugh.

I woke up too late to do my walking today. I looked at the clock at 10am, didn't think I'd fall back asleep, but when I looked again it was already 11am. I got out of bed (with much effort I may add...it's getting harder to roll myself off the edge!) and showered, then washed the dishes that have accumulated over the past two days. I had a breakfast shake, then got ready to leave the house. I was supposed to meet my sister at 12:45pm at Famous Dave's for lunch...and I was on time leaving...until I remembered that my Jeep's gas level was beyond empty and I HAD to stop in Waterford for gas on my way into Erie. So...I was going to be about 5 minutes late. Until...I got on Flatts Road and caught up to a slow-poke. A slow-poke who sat at the end of Flatts @ 19 and refused to make a left until there were absolutely no cars VISIBLE in either direction. As I was idling there, I was cussing under my breath: "If I run out of gas sitting here waiting for you to turn, Assbag, I am getting out of the Jeep and CHASING YOU DOWN 19 for a ride to the gas station; now EFFING TURN!" Of course, it didn't help any, just brought my blood pressure up a bit. I finally got to Country Fair after what seemed like an eternity of watching my gas gauge slowly dropping ever further below the empty line, and thankfully found a pump open. I went into the store to get a gas card, and found a long line. I was ok with this because I had at least made it to the gas station without needing to call AAA! But, when I was next to be waited on, an old man whom I had passed on my way into the store came back in and cut right in front of me to the next cashier and started arguing with the her about needing a refund. So now my 5 minutes late-for-lunch turned into 10 minutes late-for-lunch. I wanted to say, "Um, excuse me, SIR, there is a line here, TAKE YOUR TURN," but I refrained...I didn't want to start my day off badgering an old man (thanks pregnancy horomones, you make me nicer to people). I finally got my gas card, but of course the pumps were running slower than molasses. 10 minutes late-for-lunch is now 12 minutes late-for-lumch. I pull out of Country Fair with no problems (halleluljah!) and just outside of Waterford catch up to a man driving a white Dodge Ram having an argument with himself in the cab of his truck...but more importantly driving erratically and SLOWLY. 12 minutes turns into 15 minutes. One of his selves doesn't like that I am following him closely (waiting for a moment to pass him safely) so he pulls over onto the berm, and as I pass him he shakes his fist out the window, flips me off, and then tries to catch up with me. **SIGH**. He doesn't succeed...and the rest of the traffic is flowing smoothly, so I end up being 15 minutes late-for-lunch.



Now, I'd never been to Famous Dave's before. But I do know I will go back again! The ribs and brisket were fantastic, Kelly's pulled pork sandwich looked amazing (she said it was), and our server, Andrew, was very helpful and efficient and kind. So it was a very good experience! :)

My mom gave me a present today for the baby (Kelly delivered it to me at lunch). It is a memory scrapbook / baby record book. It includes an ink pad kit to put baby's footprint and handprint in the first few pages. It's adorable and made me happy to look at...then I was crying at my desk in front of the kids doing homework (I opened it in my office, silly me). YAY horomones! Ugh. But I can't wait to get home and work on parts of it that can be done now ("about Mommy and Daddy" parts).

Now...today's Top Ten:

My Top Ten Murphy's Laws
1. When you are running late, you will be slowed down in every possible way en route to your destination.
2. Household animals become sick and require more attention at the most inopportune times.
3. Bills are due on the weeks following a non-payday Friday.
4. Things you cannot live without (vehicles, hot water tanks, washers, etc.) break when you come into some money you plan on using for something fun.
5. The "faster" traffic lane always come to a stand-still when you switch to that lane, and the other lane starts moving.
6. Anytime you put an item in a "safe place", that item will never be seen again.
7. Your best golf shots always occur when playing alone.
8. Whenever you cut your fingernails, you will find a need for them an hour later.
9. After you buy a replacement for something you lost and searched for everywhere, you will find the original.
10. When your vehicle is making "a strange noise", it will not make that noise when in the presence of your mechanic.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten: Things I would do if I was a stay-at-home wife:

1. Have an immaculate lawn

2. Have spectacular flower and vegetable gardens

3. Have a clean, organized home

4. Read more of my magazines instead of just browsing through them

5. Read more books

6. Make dinner each and every night for my husband and have it waiting for him when he gets home from work

7. Scrapbook all my photos!

8. Knit, and actually finish a project

9. Draw

10. Learn how to can vegetables and fruits, and then fill my cupboards and shelves with canned goods that I canned with my own homegrown veggies and fruits

Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Reasons I Love My Sissy!

(Her birthday is this Friday, so tribute to the Kelly!)

1. She is my best friend.

2. She is so much fun to be around.

3. Margarita nights at our "favorite bar" with our favorite bartenders.

4. We each know what the other is talking about when we say "You know that thing, with that other thing, that one time?"

5. We fight like cats and dogs, but hug and make up in the morning.

6. She's always there for me when I need someone to talk to/bitch to/cry to/anytime.

7. She's amusing. ;-)

8. She's got my back in any situation. Even if having my back means arguing against me because she knows that what I am doing is not in my best interest...she's pretty awesome at all of that!

9. She knows me better than anyone else does, and thank God for that, because someone needs to know what is going on in my head sometimes!

10. There is no one else (except my husband) who I would rather do anything with! She's always the first one I call to do something with or hang out with.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Reasons Why I Don't Care!


1. You are too judgemental. And NOT just with me, but with others you call "friend" and others around you. Remember, pointing one finger at me means there are 3 more pointing right back at you. If you think you are perfect, look in the mirror again. You are sadly mistaken.

2. You were obviously never a real friend to begin with. Real friends don't "decide" that they aren't going to be life-long friends, when nothing tragic happened and no talking about the "issues" ever took place. Real friends talk it out and hug it out. Real friends may grow apart in many ways, but they remain friends, even if not BFF's anymore. I have a few Real Friends, so I would know about this. I really thought you were one of them, I guess my heart is bigger.

3. You ruined all my wedding pictures. I want to send the disc of all my pictures back to my photographer and have her edit you out, and send the bill to you!

4. You say that you knew you were no longer going to be friends with me at my rehearsal dinner, but still decided to be a part in the happiest day of my life. In doing so, you tainted the best day of my life thus far, and, as mentioned above, ruined my pictures. I would have preferred you just left that night and not been part of my wedding party at all!! Thanks for that amount of respect (Dripping Sarcasm).

5. For how judgemental you are with everyone else, you never told me you were mad at me or that I did anything wrong. NEVER. Was I to assume I had ruined so many parts of your life? You didn't ever have a sit-down with me to discuss my drinking problem and how it affects you or others, you didn't ever have an "intervention", you didn't talk to me about any of it! You would have if it had been any of the other girls, but not with me? So, again, I guess we never were friends to begin with. I would have listened to you and cried with you and tried so hard to make sure that I never hurt anyone else in those ways ever again. Thanks for the chance.

6. You accused me of not caring about where my dogs were at my rehearsal dinner and only trying to get drunk. NOT TRUE. Those dogs are like my children, I knew where they were at most all times. They were fine. They have been at that house and yard many times before and know the area. Also, I was not getting drunk. Some of the guys were, yes, and I was drinking, yes, but I was NOT getting drunk. If you had something on your mind about this, why didn't you pull me aside and talk to me about it? I was out-of-my-mind sick with worry that something was wrong with Josh. He was acting weird toward me, and I thought he was getting cold feet or having second thoughts. I was so upset over it, with no one noticing, and I was trying to keep it cool and not panic or cause a scene or cry. I didn't know a couple of beers was out-of-control at my rehearsal dinner.

7. You have the same two tattoos on your same foot as me. I loathe and despise that. I am getting a new tattoo so I don't have to look at that anymore.

8. YOU stopped calling ME after my wedding. I had my honeymoon to plan and go on, and on top of that I had to deal with serious health issues with Josh's mother right before the trip, issues during the entire trip, and right after that there was a very critical surgery and complications, and even now this is continuing to be a stressor in my life. So excuse me for not calling you lots during that time. I would have loved time with my girlfriends during all this, and loved to see you when you came to town. But YOU never let me know when you were coming into town. I heard from the other girls about you being in town the day before you were due in. That hurt a lot. So you stopped caring right after you walked down my fucking aisle. NICE.

9. You really said to me "Everyone else always drops everything that they are doing when I come into town so that they can see me". I don't know if I have ever heard a much more conceited comment than that from a "normal person". And it was brought on because I went to a birthday party for another friend rather than spending an evening with you at Jamie's house. See above complaint. Had I KNOWN about you coming into town more than 1 day prior to the visit, I could have made arrangements to make it in there to spend time with you. But, I didn't know. So I didn't "drop everything" when I found out, because you didn't care enough to let me know you were coming into town. Sorry.

10. You hurt me worse than anyone else ever has before. The worst part is knowing that if you wanted to talk to me, I would talk to you and try to salvage any kind of a friendship that we could possibly have again, because I do love you deeply and completely. But I know your pride will never let that happen. And I know we will never be friends again. And that is why I DO NOT CARE ANYMORE.

Top Ten Tuesday

Well, it's May!! Can't believe it is here already! But, seriously, this rain needs to cease. It was endless rain in April, meaning I am definitely ready for all the sunshine and May Flowers now!!! I stumbled upon this Top Ten Tuesday's, and liked it, and hope it will get me to keep up with this blog throughout the week! Taking ideas for Monday's and Thursday's now, as well anything good for the weekend days that could entice me to log on during the weekends! So, without further ado, here is my first Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Things To Accomplish this May

1. Get a new tattoo! (or maybe a few...hehe!)

2. Clean the two spare bedrooms in the house, getting rid of anything we have not used in the 5 years we have been together.

3. Plant a vegetable garden (this is weather-dependent...so stop raining!)

4. Detail the inside of my Jeep, Hector. (and hopefully Simon Subaru at the same time!)

5. Get Elin (the golden-doodle) groomed.

6. Get my sister a birthday present on time for once!!!

7. Pedicure on my toes at the end of the month with the Sissy again.

8. Exercise every day (either at the gym, or walk for an hour each day).

9. Lose 5 lbs (hopefully as a result of #8!)

10. Use the Fine Dining Card at least twice this month (I don't think we used it in April?)