Things I Do Not Like...

A list for Tuesday...

1. Funerals. They suck. I'm not looking forward to tonight and tomorrow.

2. How easy it is to trash talk someone on a public forum without regard to the damage you are doing.

3. Job hunting.

4. Thinking about Christmas.

5. The dirty socks all over my living room.

6. Being cold.

7. Uncertainties.

That's enough.
Behave!

Feel Good Friday - The Weekend Edition

Yeah, I know it's late on Sunday....
It's been quite a weekend around here. Busy and fun!
Here's the list!
1. Writing time. I've had to fight for it, but I win!
2. Not cooking Friday night! Yay for delivery and stuffs...
3. Revisions done and sent!
4. Renn Faire on Saturday. Very, very cool day! We had a blast!
5. Chilling with the younger K's and a lot of comedy videos Saturday night!
6. Sleeping in times two!
8. Laundry and grocery shopping done!
9. Meeting up with a very dear friend (and her daughter) on Saturday and getting to meet our dear friend's new man. Very fantastic to see her and he was very awesome. We are so glad for her! (Yes, they work at the Renn Faire!)
10. Managing... Because sometimes that's all you can do...
And in a few hours the week begins again... Oy! I know I'm not ready, but what can I do? (Can I get a rewind?)
Behave!

Thursday Already?

I don't know if this week has gone fast or slow...
I'm just glad it's Thursday and here's why...
My cell died on Tuesday. Ironically, it passed away only minutes after talking to a rep from my cell provider. I was sure it was a simple fix - a box got clicked on accident as she was looking over my account to answer the questions I asked. I was nervous and upset though - not having my phone is like sending your kids to their friends house and not getting the parents name or phone number.
It was bad, bad news when I called. Apparently my phone has brain damage. The sim card fried. :(
Anyway, I was due to upgrade and already had my iPhone picked out - not the brand new one, I can't justify spending that much for a phone when there are other things that need to be taken care of, besides, I'm such a newbie at iPhones I figure the 3G will be like a test run. So, I ordered it.
...And now I'm waiting - borrowing K3's phone during the day and wandering around aimlessly in the evenings, looking at my dead phone, hoping the sim will come back to life. It hasn't.
But now we're at Thursday. My new phone is at the nearest shipping hub getting ready to go on the truck for delivery. I will have it when I get home today.
If I can survive one more day without "my" phone.
Behave!

More Dear...

Dear Other Neighbor,
Did you shovel that spot? No? Then don't freaking park there! Especially since you are now parked right in front of my house! I am stunned by how rude and inconsiderate you are. Stunned. And my aching back says some very bad words to you!
Get out of my parking spot.
(as an aside here, I normally don't get ticked off when someone parks in the spot I usually use. It's a public street - you park where you can and there have been many times that my guests have parked up the whole street and I know that's irritating to you, but it's not very often and I really try to be a good neighbor. But snow shoveled spaces are sacred. I think it's the ultimate in asshatery to park in a space someone else shoveled. I don't care if you park there to shovel your own spot. I'm okay with that.)

Dear Mega-Super Store,
I don't know why I keep going back to you. I try not to. We had to tonight because the m-i-l needed some things and likes you. Your shoe selection stinks hardcore. Why don't you have any cute shoes for girls -  maybe not cute, but shoes a 12 year old girl would love? Why is your book section so freaking tiny? And why do you keep moving stuff so I can't find it and your employees don't know either?
I should quit you.

Dear Writing,
Why you gotta be so hard sometimes? Why does inspiration strike at the worst possible time, and why is there not more time in the day so I can do what I need to do?
I love you and I want to be able to do you full time again. (Ha ha! How's that for innuendo?)

Dear Monday,
You suck.
That is all.

Behave!

Don't.

How would you feel if someone stole your paycheck every week?
That's what you do to authors when you pirate books.
And it's illegal.
So don't do it.
Behave!

Manic Monday

The house is a wreck and needs cleaned before I can even think about decorating.
I don't have a single thing purchased for Christmas.
This week is crazy and there will be no shopping time either.
I feel like this:
x Even Santa is upset. Yes, this is what I feel like. Only I'm not in a holiday dress. I am in my sweatpants and I haven't combed my hair. The holiday happiness meter is in the negative right now, despite showing an upward climb even yesterday.
Behave!

Random Thursday

Like: The weather today. Gorgeous. Though I am still cold inside of my house. We are resisting firing up the furnace. We'll see how long we last!
Do Not Like: The stink bug that was in the shower with me. Really? Way to take a relaxing experience and turn it into total paranoia.
Like: The smell of dinner cooking.
Do Not Like: Not being able to find all of the towels. This is getting ridiculous! I have considered the possibility of the evil gnomes being behind the missing towels. It is likely. Now to find where they are hiding and set traps.
Like: Getting some editing done.
Do Not Like: The fact that every single time I go to my doc, something happens - either someone calls, the doorbell rings, or there is some reason that my attention is pulled away. Sometimes I feel like it's cosmic interference!
Like: That it's Thursday. Even though today is pretty darned busy. It just means we are one step closer to the weekend and the fun wedding we're going to.
Do Not Like: That I have no idea what I'm wearing to said wedding. No idea. I will be raiding a friend's closet tonight. Keep your fingers crossed that I find something that doesn't make me look like a well-dressed hippo.
Do Not Like: That I didn't succeed in losing the weight I wanted to before this wedding.
Okay, that's enough. I wanted to make the list more balanced, but there's a throbbing in my head that won't quit and about a million and two things waiting for my attention before I can get back to the editing.
Behave!

Moaning Monday

...because I can...
1. My left hand really hurts. Apparently the small cut I received in my fall is infected. Gross. It's making typing difficult, not that I've had much time to type today...but that's number two.
2. So far, zero words.
3. I usually love my cell provider's customer service, but not today. After being on phone with them for nearly an hour, I only finished one of the reasons I called. The rep was slow and not very nice, which is a rarity, but still frustrating. I will call back tomorrow and hope for a different rep.
4. I am sore. And I have bruised buttocks.
5. The stink bugs are still everywhere and I'm getting tired of seeing them.
6. My house was filthier than it's been in a very long time. I said was, because it's not anymore, but that was a crappy thing to deal with first thing this morning.
That's enough of the negative stuff.
Behave!

Stuff

Totally borrowing from my friend Natalie here. Her post on what she's behind on made me think about what I'm behind on, so I'm going to be a copycat today. Ha!
1. Editing. I took a break to write something new - mainly to prove to myself that my brain is not broken. And guess what? It's not. And that's what I needed to find out. I don't know if I'll continue working on it, or if it'll just be an exercise, but I do like the premise and my brain is turning over the plot, so who knows?
2. Housework. Not the regular stuff that has to be done all of the time (though don't come over right now!), but the closet cleaning out, the basement cleaning, the clothing switchouts and donations.
3. Television. About the only thing I manage to catch is Supernatural. I want to watch Castle and I'm behind on Ghosthunters. And, sadly, no TiVo here.
4. Decorating. I pulled the Fall/Halloween stuff out of the basement about a week ago and it's still sitting in my living room. It's not that much. At all. But the reason it's not out yet is number five.
5. Yardwork. The weeds and dead plants in front of my house make me feel bad. I worked hard to keep that stuff alive all summer and then I kept forgetting to water them. The pea vine and weeds have taken over the front flower bed.
6. Filing. Everything is stuffed into a drawer...waiting for me to organize.
7. Volunteer work. I have to take care of updating databases, organizing a fundraiser, and catching up on filing for that too.
8. Kid stuff. K4's violin needs exchanged for a bigger size. Her clarinet needs re-corked and new reeds need ordered.
9. In the same category...K3 needs shoes and jeans and socks. K4 needs socks (heck, everyone needs socks) and jeans. Getting to the store together has been an issue.
10. Planning. There are a few big events looming and I am plan-less.
But I'm too tired to think about any of this stuff tonight. And there's a stink bug flying around the light and he's freaking me out a little (and I do still have a mark from where he bit me. Someone told me tonight that it can take 3 weeks for it to go away. Stupid bugs.)
Behave!

Stinkbug Violation

I'm traumatized...
Here's what happened:
Went to bed too late. Finally fell asleep and my phone rings. It's K2. She's at the intersection. Her truck stalled and won't restart. Only it takes me at least three minutes to get this information out of her due to her hysteria. Get her home and settled and go back to bed.
Where I dream of a surgeon selling body parts in this department store type building with an elevator and "arms on floor five" kind of deal. Not really scary, but very weird. Wake up as I roll over. Open my eyes and stare out the window. Feel something on my side. I think it's a wrinkle in my shirt, smooth it and then I feel a drop of liquid on my side. I'm not sweating. Reach to touch and feel a stinging sensation.
Oh yeah, you guessed it. There was a stink bug in my freaking shirt and not only did he spray his foulness on me, he BIT ME!
Ick and gross and ouch!
Ran to the bathroom and washed the foul odor from my body and looked at my side. There was an indentation of where I apparently laid on it for a while, and then the bite mark. Took me forever to fall back to sleep (after I killed it twice and then spent several minutes searching the bed with a flashlight and scouring the room for any more of the little jerks!) and when I did I had even weirder dreams.
Yes, I am traumatized. I'm not sure which is worse - the time I think I may have swallowed one, or this, because HE BIT ME!!! I still have a welt!
*shudders*
And that is all for now.
Behave!

Fun With Stink Bugs

Things I've learned about stink bugs:
1. Drowning them results in a horrid odor that hangs for a lot longer than it should.
2. Stink bugs cannot reproduce inside.
3. They are attracted to light.
4. They BITE!!!! (Though one source says they don't. I found two that say they do.)
5. There is a guy selling a book on how to get rid of stink bugs based on free information his neighbor gave him. For $19.95 you can have a copy of his ebook.
6. Stink bugs were accidentally brought into the are about 12 or so years ago. (Thanks to my friend, Beth, for this info.)
7. If you smash them quickly, you won't smell them.
8. If they get in your washing machine, your clothes will smell until they're dry.
9. Flicking them off the screen can result in being sprayed.
10. I found one website that says they rarely bother humans. ha ha ha!
11. I wasted a lot of time looking this up and still don't know much more than I did when I started.
Ha!
Behave!

Invaded!

<------- They are everywhere! Everywhere! The entire back of my house is covered with the little buggers!

Why?

I do not like them.

They smell funny and move like dinosaurs when they aren't flying and I think they've come to kill me in my sleep.

There are several already in the house - hiding in corners and around the lights. How long until they all get in? And then what?

I think I already mentioned how I think I swallowed one of them once. Perhaps that event has drawn them to me? Maybe they are coming to lay eggs in my body? Or eat my flesh?

I look to the window and there are dozens of them against the screen...watching me.

I am afraid!

Behave!