Funky Monkey Snack Winner!

...and the winner of the Funky Monkey Snacks is: Evil Twins Wife!

Thanks for playing, everyone! ETW, please send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to the Funky Monkey folks. Enjoy your treats!

Dust bunnies

If I can get through today without a hitch, I will have officially made it through February without having any hours cut. My company's work is affected seasonally even in a good economy, so in an economy like this, it's downright scary. There was a comment made early this week that hinted at some changes being made...But it didn't happen. Work is actually picking up, which is wonderful, wonderful and I allow myself to get my hopes the tiniest bit up...But not so far up that I will be shocked if something changes.

The thing about not being really busy at work, is that you get introduced to large amounts of busywork. Busywork can involve doing things you've been putting off for weeks (months) {years}, filing, cleaning out your desk...It turns out my two predecessors were kind of pack rats, like myself.

Interesting things I have found in files in my desk (files with labels that implied they had more crucial items inside):

A coupon good for a ride on the *new* local bus service. Expiration date: 1986
A manual for a 1977 Ford Truck
A 1970 collection letter template - Not all that different from our current one

All this busy work has me moving, moving at work. Yesterday's pedometer count: 4950. From what I read, apparently 2000 steps makes about a mile. Therefore, I walked nearly 2 and a half miles in my daily activities. Cool.

You have until 2:00EST today to try to win some Funky Monkey Snacks! I finished up the Jivealime ones last night. Yummy!

Uncomfortable birthday wishes

We went to Cici's for dinner last night. It was kid's night and we also had a coupon that was going to expire. Our son loves the place, and I enjoy unusual pizza combinations I would never order elsewhere, as the whole family would not enjoy them: Buffalo chicken, barbecue, veggie alfredo...
After we got home, hubby told me something he overheard while up at the buffet. One of the teenage female employees told the manager (who is at least old enough to be her dad) "It's my birthday today!" His response? "It is? Maybe we'll all have to spank you later." Hubby said the girl then walked away. Yeah, good choice. How about "Happy birthday!", guy? That would have been an appropriate response.

Regarding Paczcis - The name is Polish, and that may have something to do with the pronunciation. I'm a little perplexed as to why they seem to be so regional, though, because as far as I know, Michigan isn't known for a large Polish population. Dutch, yes, Polish, no. Hmm. Well, I'm not complaining...I get an excuse for a special donut once a year. :-)

My pedometer count was 3800+ yesterday. About 500 steps more than yesterday. I guess I can thank a lunchtime trip to the grocery store for that. 800 steps for 15 minutes in the store. Nice.

I found Scrabble Cheez-Its at the grocery store. Cheez-Its with letters on them that look like Scrabble tiles. Very cute - They will make a good preschool snack! (or replacement tiles, though a little messy)

Speaking of snacks, one day left to try to win yourself some Funky Monkey Snacks!

3434

That's how many steps I took yesterday. About a third of the goal that some group has put out there of 10,000 steps per day. I am 1/3 awesome, 2/3 sloth. What do you think, folks? Will the count be higher or lower today?

I did not intend to watch the President's speech last night. I thought it was on at 8:00 at which time I was baking oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I turned on the TV at 9:15 and it was just starting, so I watched most of it. I will not talk about my thoughts on the stimulus package, nor will I say (much) about the wild applause that ensued when President Obama said that we should spend more time reading to our children (Was that a new idea he came up with? Somehow my parents already knew about this back in the seventies). What I would like to mention is how awkward, uncomfortable and fidgety Nancy Pelosi seemed. This was not her first time up there, as she had been sitting behind George Bush for a few years. Back then she always looked comfortable. Annoyed, but comfortable. Last night she would stop in the middle of applause to fix her hair, she was chewing on her lip, she just seemed very fidgety to me. She was smiling more, however, so good for her.

Flurrious was talking about bulk purchases yesterday. Now I want to talk about bulk purchases. I think it all started with my dad, who always made sure we had ridiculous amounts of toilet paper in the house. Always good toilet paper, too. That may be why to this day, I will not scrimp on paper products. Generic just about anything, except not toilet paper or tissue. I've pretty much always had a membership to Sam's Club, and there are quite a few things we almost always buy there: Toilet paper, paper towels, tissue, chicken, broccoli, shaving cream, deodorant, vitamins, cereal, granola bars... We've been off of our regular monthly schedule of going to Sam's Club this year, so when I found us down to our last package of toilet paper, I panicked. While at the grocery store, I purchased one 4 pack of toilet paper. What the heck? It looked wrong, and lonely. I am used to a 4 pack of 9 roll packages. 36 rolls at a time. What are we supposed to do with 4 rolls of toilet paper? Luckily hubby made it to Sam's club the next week, and we now have plenty of toilet paper again.

Don't forget to try to win some snacks!

Ich bin ein berliner

Happy Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday, everyone. We celebrated by sharing a Paczki this morning. Do you have those where you are? Pronounced Poonch-key. I don't know if they're regional, or what. I don't remember them growing up, but maybe my parents just never told me about them. They are basically a jelly donut with a thicker shell.


I signed on for a multiple sclerosis research study at the end of last year that just involved filling out a questionaire. They recently contacted me for another study. This one involves wearing a pedometer for a week once a month for a year. I have no plans for any activity other than my regular daily activity today. Any guesses as to how many steps that will yield? I put it on at 6:00 this morning, and will probably remove it around 7:30 this evening. I just took a peek at the count, and realized that it has barely moved since I arrived at work half an hour ago...Because I have a desk job!!! Their research will probably determine that I am actually half sloth.

Last night the phone rang. The number on the caller ID was local, but unfamiliar. When I picked up, it was a friendly woman soliciting a donation for the local firefighters. I very politely asked her to be taken off their call list (I don't do donations over the phone). She very politely agreed to remove our number. Five minutes later, she very politely called again, as though we had never spoken. Again I very politely asked to be removed from the call list, and mentioned that I had just spoken with her. She checked her list, and cheerfully observed that I was on the list two times, and removed the number there, too. She's lucky she got cheerful, perky me. Some people might have been rude about being solicited twice in five minutes for a donation, rather than just blogging about it. :-)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway. You know you want to try some Funky Monkey Snacks! :-)

Funky Monkey Snacks Giveaway

When I heard about Funky Monkey Snacks, the fruity all natural snack with three full servings of fruit in every serving of freeze dried fruit, I wanted to try them. My son adores the "fruit snacks" that are chewy and fruit flavored. I wondered if maybe one of the flavors of this organic substitute would turn his snacking interests in another direction.

The Funky Monkey folks were kind enough to send us a pack of each flavor - Bananamon (banana cinnamon mix), Carnaval Mix (a combination of several fruits - and yes, that's how they spell it :-) ), Jivealime (pineapple with added lime juice flavor) and Purple Funk (banana with acai).

This is what Funky Monkey has to say about their product:

· Funky Monkey Snacks have no added colors, flavors, sugars, or preservatives
· Our special, proprietary manufacturing process provides for a crunchier texture vs. conventional freeze-drying techniques
· We use full slices and pieces (not dices) of delicious, fresh fruit
· Funky Monkey is made in Brazil using tropical fruits at the peak of freshness
· Our products are gluten-free and are certified Kosher
· One of our four flavors, Purple Funk, also includes açai, a berry from the Amazon that is viewed as the newest superfood
· Bananamon, JiveALime, and Purple Funk were just certified organic!

Hubby and I liked the snacks. Hubby found the Jivealime to be a little strong with the lime flavor, but I really enjoyed it. We both enjoyed the Carnaval Mix and the Bananamon, but we both agreed that the best was the Purple Funk. A banana flavor with just the right amount of sweetness.

I will be honest with you and tell you these snacks did not impress my son much. He took a look at the cute monkey on the bag and was eager to try them. He first tried the Jivealime, and said an eager "Mmm!", but did not want more than one bite. He had a bite of apple from the Carnaval mix, with the same reaction. He did not try the Bananamon or the Purple Funk. As a substitute for other "kid snacks", I'm not sure it does the trick...Unless your child is accustomed to freeze dried fruit, which has a decidedly different texture from regular fruit, or even dried fruit.

I liked these snacks a lot, and for the right price, I would definitely pick some up for hubby and myself. My son would probably rather have some Macaroni & Cheese crackers or something, but that's certainly not a reflection on the snacks themselves.

Now it's your turn - The Funky Monkey folks would like to send one of my readers 12 bags of their snacks to try. The flavor(s) will be at their discretion, but they're all tasty!

Here's what you need to do to enter the contest: Go to the Funky Monkey Snack website. Read about the flavors, and come back here and leave a comment about which flavor you would most like to try if you win.

For one additional entry, follow me on Twitter and tweet about this contest.

The contest will end on Friday February 27th at 2:00PM EST.

Good luck!

Not the good kind of ironic

On my lunch break yesterday, one of our smoke alarms was doing that once a minute beep that it does when it's time to change the batteries. I decided to take advantage of that as a reason to change the batteries in all the smoke detectors, as well as the carbon monoxide detector. While doing that, I realized that one of the smoke detectors had some corrosion in the battery compartment. We will be replacing that smoke detector.

It reminded me of a not funny story from years ago about a smoke detector. I was making some toast one morning, and the smoke detector on our lower level (not where the kitchen is - we live in a quad level house) started going off. Thinking it was being hyper sensitive, I turned off the toaster. The smoke alarm kept going. I went downstairs, and smelled smoke - But I quickly realized where the smoke was coming from - The smoke detector! Something had malfunctioned in the unit and it was smoking! I took it (carefully) off the wall, and ripped the batteries out. That smoke detector had actually come with our house, so I don't know how old it was. Newer smoke detectors have a sticker with a date on them, and they are meant to be replaced every 10 years. The one with the corrosion is only 6 years old, so it's getting replaced a little early. It's a good reminder to keep track of your smoke detectors, test them and change their batteries.

In news that is more fun (although smoke detectors that function properly certainly contribute to good times), Wordnerd had a tweet yesterday about Jalapeno Cheetos. Cheese? Hot pepper? Crunchy? What could be possibly go wrong there? Then I remembered the Flaming Hot Cheetos. Not tasty. They were hot, but really didn't have any flavor to go with that heat. Although, apparently one of my son's teachers at daycare had some once, and my son tried them and said he liked them. He's the only person I know who has ever claimed to like them. Anyway, after lunch yesterday, I accidentally slammed my forehead into the door frame of the car because I was paying more attention to a car driving by than to getting in my car without injury. For that reason, I decided I should get a snack from the gas station to make me feel better. I picked up a bag of the Jalapeno Cheetos...Wow. Those things are awesome. Just the right amount of heat, just the right amount of cheese...This may be my new snack of choice. I sound like an advertisement for Jalapeno Cheetos, but I can assure you I am not being paid, in cash or Cheetos, to write this post. Not to say that I would turn away a case of Jalapeno Cheetos if they showed up on my doorstep...But Cheetos don't just appear out of nowhere. They do, however, appear at the gas station near my house.

Not as funny as yesterday

Many thanks again to -R- for arranging Blog Share. Wasn't that fun! This was the 3rd (maybe even 4th) Blog Share, and you never know what you're going to read. Usually quite a variety of topics, and yesterday was no exception. There was the post here, of course, and posts about jobs, intimacy, family, racism, personal theme songs, digestive issues, difficult personal experiences, things that bug us, and the list goes on and on.

My anonymous poster dropped the anonymity veil for just a moment to ask me to thank you all for your comments. He/she/it was happy to see that his/her/its post yielded 20 comments, as 20 is kind of a magic number as far as comments go, now isn't it? I don't typically get 20 comments, so perhaps I should arrange for my anonymous commenter to post here everyday, eh? Just kidding...My anonymous post got a good number of comments, too. I think our anonymous stuff is a little more interesting than our regular stuff. So be it. My anonymous poster would like you to all start reading his/her/its blog, but since the post was anonymous, I can't direct you there. I guess you will just have to start frequenting the blogs of all the blog share participants.

Hubby had an amusing slip of the tongue last night that I feel the need to share - He was venting about a situation at work, and in a frustrated tone said "I work very hard from 8-9..." at which point we both burst out laughing. He meant to say 8-5, but 8-9 totally ruined his point, as though he were saying "I work very hard for the first hour I'm at work..." I don't know why, but that really cracked us both up. Easily amused, I suppose.

My son was frustrated this morning because it was very windy, and I insisted that he wear his hat, in addition to his hood. On the way to school he told me he was mad at me. When we got to school, I asked if he was still mad at me, and he said yes, but I could tell it wasn't really bothering him anymore. I told him I usually try not to be mad at people when I say goodbye, since I have to go all day without seeing them. He thought about that for a moment, and said "I was only mad at you in the car. I'm not mad anymore." :-)

Speaking of dog poop (since you all seemed to enjoy that so much), I need to mention that my pet peeve is people who don't pick up after their dog on walks. Our dog doesn't get as many walks as he used to, since we fenced our yard, but we always have a bag with us when we do walk. We offered to take our elderly neighbor's dog for a walk last year, and when we returned with a baggy full of evidence, we asked her if we could toss it in her trash can. She said "You didn't have to pick up after her." Um, yes, we did. I mentioned that our dog gets excitement poop, so he always goes in front of the vet's office. It always amazes me how many piles there are in their front yard. Who exactly do the pet owners think is picking up those piles?

Blog Share

It's Blog Share Day! The following post was not written by me, but by someone else. A full list of participants can be found on -R-'s site. One of those participants will be posting my post, but I won't tell you which one!

Thanks to -R-, for again organizing this. Thanks to my anonyposter, for providing this post, and thanks to the blogger who is posting my post.

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I've got a secret. My secret is that I have a small, specific fetish. I like to watch something that "the establishment" finds distasteful, even repugnant. Sometimes I go to the park telling myself that I am just going for a walk, but in reality, I'm looking to satisfy my craving. I even went so far as donating my time to the local SPCA so I could get my fix. My fetish? I love to watch dogs poop.

I don't spend much time wondering why I love to watch so much. It may be because I grew up with shy cats who would only use the box when no one was looking. But dogs, they just put it out there for everyone to see, and they don't seem to mind when they're being watched. I think they even like being watched.

There are so many things I love about the way dogs poop. Foremost, there's the wild positions they get into, balanced on four legs too close together to allow them to stick their butts out. Their tails go up in such a cute way to make room for the poo. Some of them start to shake as they do their dirty deed, something that leaves me craving more. If I can get close, I can spy some dogs making "concentration faces," which never fails to amuse me. And then, at the moment of truth, when the poop plops out and the dog jumps up, I love that.

Let me clarify that even though I use the word "fetish," this is not a sexual thing. I don't go to bed at night dreaming of dog defecation. But every chance I get to a good look, I take it. I've been known to slow my car down upon passing a pooping puppy, or run the long way around the park, by the dog run, where I jog just a little slower. I work hard to keep my fetish in check, I don't let it run my life. That's why many of my dog-owning friends willingly let me into their homes. Sometimes they even let me go on walks with their dogs.

I don't own a dog, and I think that I may never do so unless a breeder comes up with a dog that exists only on solids. My fetish is VERY specific, you see. As much as I love the chance to watch a good poo, I'm disgusted by watching dogs pee.

Giveaway - If you can get it

Don't forget to come back here tomorrow to read someone else's anonymous Blog Share post, and then travel around the internet to possibly read my anonymous post.

Build A Bear was nice enough to give me several codes to give away for free downloads of the song they are featuring on their website, "Let's Talk About Love" by David Archuleta. If you are interested in a download of the song, first go to this website, and make sure you get a text box when you click on the "Enter your code here" box. It doesn't work on my browser for some reason. If you do get a text box, come back here. If you are one of the first four commenters to leave a post expressing interest in the song download, and you include an email address in the comment, I will email you the code to type in for your free download. Again, this is only for the first four people who comment.

Thanks!

Let's get digital

Digital, come on and get digital...Let's get into digital.

...um. Yeah. So, that happened. I just parodied an Olivia Newton John song as a lead in to yet another story about my cable and internet provider. Sorry about that.

During the many minutes dealing with the internet provider over recent weeks, I was told that for a one time charge of $4 we could get a digital cable box. We would not be upgrading our service or incurring any monthly fees. We would simply get some channels that used to be part of our package but were moved to a digital tier, thus becoming inaccessible by us. We would also get access to free on demand programs.

So, we figured, why not?

Now we have such nifty networks back as Oxygen! Soapnet! Major League Baseball Network! Game Show Network!

But the On Demand? Awesome. There are tons of preschool shows available. My son was able to discover Little Bear on Noggin on Demand, and he loves it. It is an interesting contrast to another favorite show of his that is available on demand, Transformers.

There are Seinfeld reruns, cooking shows, movies, all free!

So, yeah, I'm liking Charter a little better than I did last week. That and the fact that our internet is still working.

Party time

Today is the day of the big Valentine's Day parties at school. My son has two parties, one in his preschool class and one in his daycare class. Preparations have been going on for a couple of weeks, as he needed 40 valentines for the two classes, and he signed a few each night.


He woke up at 4:15 this morning, wondering if it could be wake up time, because he is so excited. No, it could not be wake up time. After a few minutes, I convinced him to go back to sleep. I did not fall back to sleep. Oh well...Weekend's coming!


Goodies in backpack for the big day: Preschool snack for the class, valentines and little goody bags with candy hearts for preschool class, Alvin & The Chipmunks CD to listen to during preschool party, valentines for daycare class and candy hearts for daycare party.

The Office was hilarious last night...Angela washes her cats...cat style? Yuck. Also, 30 Rock - I can't get over that I never knew this was a funny show. Now I rarely miss it.

I was amazed at how many of you had the carnation experience at high school...I thought maybe it was unique to my school. Also, getting google hits for it already. Really, if you're looking for information about receiving a carnation in a high school classroom...Well, you've come to the wrong place. No carnations received here.

...and the winner is...

JB! Congratulations! Send me an email with your contact info and I'll get your Build A Bear gift card out to you.

Thanks to all who participated and thanks especially to Build A Bear workshop for sponsoring this wonderful contest!

Special delivery

First of all, if you haven't entered my Build A Bear giveaway yet, hurry! It ends today at 2:00PM EST. I will be announcing the winner by mid morning Friday...Possibly earlier!


Also, there may be another giveaway coming up in a week or two here, so keep an eye out for that!


Additionally, next week, February 18th to be exact, -R- will be hosting yet another Blog Share! For those of you not familiar, 30+ bloggers will be submitting posts to be posted anonymously on someone else's blog! It's a great chance to get out those things you choose not to post on your own blog. They always vary greatly from funny, sad, embarrassing, scandalous...You name it. It's great fun, and if you haven't already signed up and want to, -R- might still be taking names. I will have a post floating around somewhere on Wednesday...But you won't know which one is mine. :-)


We have internet! High speed! It turns out it was actually the modem (I tried to tell them!), and it's working faster than it has in weeks. Also, I have scored a $13.20 credit for our troubles. Don't scoff - I am quite happy with $13.20!

Valentine's Day. I have come to a point where Valentine's Day is much more exciting when it comes to planning it for my son than any other aspect of it. I am enjoying helping him get his valentines ready, and planning the goodies he is going to bring in to school.

Did your high school do that "Buy a carnation for a dollar and it can get delivered to someone at school during the school day" thing? That was about the most cruel thing ever created. Because I never got a flower, of course. :-) But really, when the door opened, and someone entered the classroom with a flower to deliver, and everyone was anticipating...It was just another high school popularity contest, wasn't it? Although, the money used to buy the flowers probably went to support something at school, so that's good, right?

Not their problem

Don't forget - Build a Bear giveaway ends tomorrow. You definitely won't win if you don't enter! :)

Remember last week when I spent the evening being talked down to by a representative of our internet provider? The next day the internet worked, after that, it was hit or miss...Mostly miss.

After three straight days of no internet, I did some troubleshooting on the router. It was fine. I knew it wasn't our computer, as hubby's work laptop had the same problem at home.

So, I called them again. The first thing out of the technician's mouth when I explained the whole situation? "It has to be the router. That's the only thing that could affect two computers at the same time." Um...How about your modem or signal? Couldn't that affect two computers? She said no. I told her I performed a ping and it was losing 50 percent of the signal. That got her attention well enough that she stopped trying to tell me it couldn't possibly be their fault.

After more troubleshooting, she determined that it was not our router or computer. I already knew that. She determined that we were showing a weak signal, caused either by their wiring or our leased-from-them modem. We are picking up another modem from them today, and we'll see what happens.

I asked her if notes were being made on our account, because once it is resolved, I intend to ask for a credit. She said there was no note made that I spoke to someone last week. Seriously? I talked to the guy for almost an hour.

So, she made notes regarding the conversation she and I had, and noted that I spoke to someone last week who told me the problem was the router, and the problem is not the router, and that I would be calling for a credit.

So, still no internet, but at least I finally got it through to them that I know what the problem was not.

Self sufficient

Don't forget to enter my Build a Bear contest. Not too many entries so far, so the odds are pretty good. :-)

My son had a little 24 hour bug this weekend. He is completely better now. He threw up right before bed Friday night. When he went to bed, we put a bowl on the shelf next to his bed. The theory behind that bowl has always been that if he calls us in and says he thinks he is going to be sick, maybe we can get that bowl in front of him before he gets sick everywhere. So, you can imagine my surprise when I went in Saturday morning to get him up, and he and I were talking, and I glanced over and saw the bowl...With some vomit in it. I said "Oh - You got sick during the night?" He cheerfully said "Yes", and reached unded his pillow and pulled out a tissue. "I got a little on my chin, so I wiped it off with a tissue and put the tissue under my pillow.", he said. I was surprised...I told him that he could have called me in, and he said he didn't need to. I told him I would have taken care of the bowl, and he said he didn't mind it there.

There are many signs of budding self sufficiency in a child, but I think a big one must be the very first time he throws up by himself and there's no mess to clean up (short of cleaning the bowl, which is as easy as can be). Carpet, sheets, pajamas and pillow were all spared. Way to go, little guy! Most importantly, I'm glad he's feeling better!

Beary Special

I said a couple weeks ago that I would be hosting a giveaway soon. I had been mulling what exactly I would like to give away...Little did I know that the good folks at Build a Bear Workshop would figure it out for me!

Build a Bear would like to give a $25 gift certificate to one of my readers! I am very excited about this, and hope that you will be, too. You can use the certificate to purchase any of their adorable stuffed animals or outfits for one that you already have. You could buy the adorable Hugs Fur You Monkey pictured above.

I am going to run this contest until Thursday, February 12th at 2:00PM EST. You may earn your first entry by checking out Build a Bear's website and leaving a comment here telling me what you would buy if you won the certificate. You may earn additional entries in the following ways:

1. Let me know that you are subscribing to me in a reader

2. Follow me on Twitter, and tweet about this contest

3. Post about this contest on your own blog, and let me know that you've posted.

I will tally all entries and randomly choose a winner, to be announced by mid-morning Friday. I will mail to US or Canada.

Good luck!!!

I Saw Red

Grace in Small Things
1. That the front end loader and city pickup truck with plow that were breaking down the snowbanks on our street starting at 5AM and was still at it when we left at 7:30 didn't beep when they backed up. That certainly would have awakened our son an hour and a half early as they were working right in front of our house a lot of the time, and on our street the rest of the time.
2. Healthy family
3. Friday!
4. The realization that even though my office does not acknowledge my birthday, it's better than Dwight hanging up a sign that says "It is your birthday.", as on The Office last night, and asking me "What kind of cake do you want, imbecile?"
5. It is supposed to be in the thirties today - Heat Wave!

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Are you wearing red today? While I don't necessarily think that wearing a particular color is going to make a difference in the prevention of heart disease, I certainly want to prevent heart disease, and my son enjoys "wear a particular color" days, so he and I are wearing red. At breakfast, my son exclaimed in shock to hubby "You're not wearing red!" Hubby pondered aloud what red items he might have that he could wear to work, and my son suggested a tshirt that was bought in Chicago about 7 years ago that still makes it into the rotation. Good suggestion, but possibly a little too casual for casual Friday.

Anyway, hubby then asked if there was a heart disease prevention day for men. I did not know of one, and did not find one online. He is feeling slighted, and wants a special day dedicated to prevention of heart disease in men. If you know of a day like that, please let me know. If not...Maybe wear blue tomorrow, and we'll call it even.

Give the boy a hand

Grace in Small Things
1. The internet was back to normal at home - Hubby was able to get done the things he needed to get done
2. M&M cookies come out very well on the new cookie sheets I got for Christmas!
3. Happy, healthy, safe family
4. House still less cluttered than usual. Perhaps setting a new record?
5. Job situation remains the same. Good news.

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It seems like I have been busy, busy in the evenings. Normally after my son goes to bed, I have about an hour of "chores" to do, then chill out in front of the TV or a book. The other night, I spent most of my evening trying to get the computer functioning correctly, last night I ended up taking on a bunch of projects. I made M&M cookies, which were quite tasty, made Hubby's lunch, wrote out some bills (two insurance ones that I don't pay online, a book order for my son's school and the dog's license for the year), took care of some laundry, did my shot of course, then, because I don't like to go right from doing work to going to bed I read a chapter.

I haven't read a Nicholas Sparks book in a while, and I am about 3/4 of the way done with this one (The Lucky One). I like to read one of his books between more intense books, because they are always a very easy and quick read. They also are all strikingly similar, which normally isn't a problem, but there is one thing that has been in every book of his that I have ever read that annoys me for some reason. He always ends up describing a couple holding hands, and he always provides the visual of someone's thumb tracing lines on the other person's hand while they hold hands. While I am sure we have all done this while holding hands with someone, each time I read it in yet another Sparks book, I wonder why he has to create that visual in every single book. No big deal, certainly, but for some reason it bugs me.

Do you have any weird quirks in a book that bug you?

Things I do at work do not also occur at home at the same time

I spent more than 50 minutes on the phone last night with our internet provider. Not how I had planned to spend my night, in case you were wondering.

Our internet has been running ridiculously slowly for a couple of days. Slow as in "if you enter this website's address and then go get changed and have a snack it still won't be done loading." Unacceptable.

I reset the modem and router a couple of times, but nothing changed. I ran a virus and spyware scan. I "talked" with the automated person before finally pushing 0 repeatedly until they put me on hold for 15 minutes for a real live person.

The real live person appeared to be a bit congested, because when he wasn't speaking, he was breathing heavily into the phone.

One of the things he had me do was clear out the temp files, cookies and history on the computer. The temp files took a very long time to erase, as we rarely do that at home. During the awkward silence while he waited for me to finish the task, I said "Wow. That's taking a long time. I rarely do it at home, but I do it at work all the time, and it never takes this long." His response? "When you clear the temp files at work, that does not delete them from your home computer."

Wow. I was not aware of that, sir. Does that mean that when I drink a cup of coffee at work, that does not deplete my coffee supply at home, either? What about kleenex? If I empty a box of tissues at work, I should not expect an empty tissue box to be waiting for me at home as well?

So, that set the tone for what would be a very condescending toward me 50 minute conversation. He asked me 85 million times how long we have had the modem, which is rented from them, so the length of time we have had it is equal to the length of time we have had their service.

He decided that it was a problem with my computer or router, and not their service or modem. I'm not entirely sure he knew his stuff 100%, because at one time he told me it was possible that the driver was cracked. Unless he was talking about a golf club, last I knew, computer drivers were loaded onto your hard drive and were not physical items that could develop a crack.

So, we ended the phone conversation with my internet as slow as it was, and him apologizing "...if I was unable to solve your problem."

This morning the internet was fine. It appears that Charter may be spreading their bandwidth a little too thin during prime time. I am presently thinking of switching to AT&T Uverse for TV, phone and internet, but the pricing would be a few dollars more than what we pay for all three now, even if we drop our Netflix subscription...so I'm not sure. I may have to call AT&T and see if maybe they can offer me something sweeter.

Meanwhile, I hope the internet will function tonight, because poor hubby has been trying to get on there for 2 days.

Make every moment count

Grace in small things:
1. My family is healthy
2. My house is still more clutter free than usual - Can I keep it that way?
3. Someone brought goodies into work. Yum.
4. My job and hubby's job (I'm thankful for both every day)
5. That I also have the option of drinking water, because the work coffee tastes horrible today

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I'm not feeling particularly insightful for a post today...It's been a tragic couple of days for some acquaintances, and I'm feeling sad and also very thankful. I know of someone who tragically lost her child in an accident, and the child was only 22 years old. I think of myself at 22, and there is so much this young adult had yet to experience. I also know of someone who tragically lost someone who took their own life.

I am feeling thankful. I am hugging my son and husband a little tighter today. I am praying. I am saddened. I am hurting for these people. I am somber thinking of how fragile life is. I am cherishing every moment, and hoping and praying that the moments will be many for our family.

I don't really even know these people. I know of them. But their experiences have touched me, and left me a bit shaken. I know that's nothing compared to how they must be feeling, but it makes you take a second look at what you have and appreciate it a little more.

That's all I've got today, folks. Go give someone a hug.

Pet peeve month...err, February

Grace in Small Things
1. Made it through the month of January with no changes to my employment. Yippee!
2. Had a great weekend complete with movie viewing, gathering at our house, and a little extra sleep
3. Cocoa
4. House is clean and moderately clutter free
5. Steelers won the Super Bowl

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I know I've posted about this before, but February. Feb roo ary. The radio was on while we ate breakfast this morning, and the radio personalities were discussing the fact that they think the r is silent, thus making it Feb yoo ary. If I recall correctly, in the old post (which I did not locate), most of you took the yoo pronunciation.

The radio discussion prompted a breakfast table discussion this morning. I finally got out the dictionary, and our paperback Websters dictionary is telling me to say the roo. So I'm continuing with the roo. I will also continue to cringe when I hear others say yoo.

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I told you a few weeks ago that I won a bloggy contest prize? I didn't actually receive it yet, but then a couple weeks ago I won another prize (is this a conspiracy from all of you to get my address, by the way?), and I did receive that this weekend. Many thanks to Suzel's Sass for an awesome prize pack that had a box of chocolates (gone - Hubby even helped me eat them. Before opening the box I told him I had no idea what the prize was, and upon opening a mystery prize, he would have his true answer as to whether or not bloggers are crazy. I think he thought the fact that we randomly send prizes was a little crazy, but the contents of the box were not crazy.), a wind up walking crab that my son has confiscated, some lip gloss, a candle which has been lit and smells yummy, and a notepad that is perfect for me, because I can never find something upon which to write.

So, I won two prizes. It seems to me that the right thing to do now would be to have a contest of my own. Due to my mad (dis)organizational skillz, I'm not quite ready to conduct said contest, but I'm thinking of what to have for a prize, and thinking of how to make any interested parties work for said prize. So, in the coming weeks, I'll try to make it happen. That'll be fun, right? :-)

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Go Steelers! Hubby and I have been fans ever since we got stranded in Pittsburgh for several hours on a layover and took a city bus downtown and wandered the city. It doesn't take much to get us hooked. I've got a Penguins pencil clipped to my bulletin board at work.