That's my introduction. It is. I am, and I'm trying to remind myself how much I HAAAATE being cold in the winter, but it's not helping all that much. Still gotta be thankful, so here goes:
1. My daughter and I stayed at the lake house for an extra day after my husband and the College Boy headed back home last weekend. Shortly after they got home, I got a text from my son that he was sorry to inform me that there were ants in the kitchen sink and on the counter. Thanks to the A to Z Challenge this past April, I knew how to handle this! I told him to put peppermint essential oil on a cotton ball, smash the hell out of all the ants he could with it, then wipe down the places where he found them with the cotton ball. Which he did. And which (insert drumroll) HAS ERADICATED THE ANTS (knock wood, even though I'm not superstitious, but hey, just in case).
2. That was two thankfuls in one: thankful the Challenge led me to this all natural cure and thankful that it actually worked once again.
3. Emma and I went to the movie theater Sunday evening and saw "Inside Out," which was sweet and sometimes sad and often funny. We haven't seen a movie together in quite awhile, and it was a good choice for a mother/daughter date night.
4. "Inside Out" opens with a short called "Lava." I would buy a ticket to see "Inside Out" again just to sit and watch this little gem. It isn't available online yet, and believe me when I say I exhausted all avenues before I made that declaration, but the moment it is, WATCH IT, if you haven't already. You will get an attack of the feels like no other. And the song sticks in your head, but unlike most songs that get stuck in your head, you're actually okay with that.
5. So Emma and I are sitting in the theater, watching "Lava," laughing and crying at the same time, but mostly crying, because it's that good, when this man, sitting with his little family at the end of our row, accidentally dumped his entire bucket of popcorn on the floor. Stunned, he looked at it and just said, "Ohhh." It was just what we needed, and our tears turned into snickers and snorts of laughter.
6. The water stopped rising at my parents' lake house. The big lake above the dam has held steady at 3-1/2 feet below the top of the flood gates, and the water that the dam has released into the lake below the dam, which flows in front of my parents' house, has not caused that lake to rise. If we continue with the insanely hot, dry (as in no rain, not no humidity) weather we've had THIS week, then all should remain good.
7. Last week, I reported that the dock next door to my parents' took off when the creek flooded and headed downstream. This is the second time that dock has made a getaway, having done so in 2008, stopping about 6 inches from my parents' dock, which had taken off and headed INTO the creek with the help of a rather violent eddy. This afternoon (and yes, we're at the lake house again this weekend; I SWEAR we haven't moved in, although my parents are beginning to wonder), my dad hollered to come look at the lake, and there was that damn dock, looking like it had been beaten up but good, being towed by a little barge back to its home. The prodigal dock is temporarily tethered to some trees, having traveled about half a mile downstream before stopping, obviously violently. I'm not really sure why this is on my thankful list, because it isn't my dock, but it made my day to see it reluctantly dragged home again, obviously against its will.
 |
| Battered but not beaten. |
 |
| This remind anyone else of the movie "Popeye" with Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall? |
I don't anthropomorphise much, do I?
8. This weekend, my husband is in charge of a benefit golf tournament, and the kids and I are volunteering. There is really not much to be thankful for on this one, because it's been unbearably hot, I'm sunburned in spite of using sunscreen, and I hate golf in general, but I do believe I have enough material for a post about it, so I'm thankful for that.
9. I am especially thankful for Ivy's Six Sentence Stories link up. I joined this hop a few weeks ago, and I'm enjoying it more than I ever could have imagined. Thank you, Ivy!
10. We didn't bring the cats with us to the lake this weekend. The cats are, collectively, in the dog house, so to speak, as not long after Emma and I got home with them on Monday, I took dirty clothes to the basement and found a little puddle of kitty pee on the floor by the dryer. Whichever one did it didn't sign their work, so I don't know who the guilty party was; I only know it was done out of spite for the two hour drive home, so all three cats got punished (or won, whatever the case may be) and didn't come with us this weekend. Having no cats in the car allowed Emma and me to stop and buy some things she needed (volleyball knee pads) and wanted (Nike dri-fit shorts). I miss having the kitties here with me, especially Ruby, of course, but I know they will be especially happy to see me when I get home.
 |
| She sleeps, I write. |
Your hosts
A Fly on our (Chicken Coop)
Wall, Amycake and the Dude, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting
Literal, I Want Backsies, The Meaning of Me, Thankful Me, Uncharted, The Wakefield Doctrine
Join the Ten Things of Thankful Facebook Group
We also had extremely hot days earlier this week. I'm thankful we've survived the heat wave.
ReplyDeleteThe feline photo makes me smile. :-)
I just try to remind myself how much I hate being cold.
DeleteIsn't that a funny pose? Ruby is obviously very comfortable with me!
Dyanne, I am going to try your solution for ants. I live on the ground floor of an apartment complex and we tend to get a few. I love the smell of mint!
ReplyDeleteLet me know how it works for you! So far, so good for me. And the house smells minty fresh!
DeleteBefore I got to #9 I was thinking WoW... Dyanne is a really good writer... I think I was reading about the anthropromorphised dock at the time... Im so glad you like 6 sentences... All credit goes to our buddy Josie who's brainchild it was in the first place. Im just a home for it! I was gonna mention it in my thankfuls this week but got too self involved! That ant thing works for mice too... well dont squish them with it but wipe the area with the peppermint and leave the cotton ball there. Have fun golfing! eek!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! You don't know how good it makes me feel to hear you say that!
DeleteUgh, no squishing mice! I have three cats that are supposed to prevent mice invasions, although I don't know that I would really rely on any of them.
Golf = borrrrrring! Glad I just got to ride around in a cart and offer golfers water and gatorade.
Hey, it's summer! Why wouldn't you spend a lot of time at the lake house! In your case however, not all is for pleasure. Glad to hear the rains have abated and things are getting back "to normal". Amazing that the neighbor's dock "returns". That's actually kinda cool :)
ReplyDeleteWhat writers will do for material...("play" James Bond movie theme music)... Dyanne goes "undercover" and explores the world of golf lol Can't wait for your next 6 Sentence story!
Even when it's hot, we have the illusion of cooler weather with all that water outside the door. If only it were the kind of water you could swim in! The water temp is about 48 degrees.
DeleteWe could not believe it when that dock showed up!
Oh, there will be a post about the golf weekend!
I'm a summer lover. I have to say. No matter how hot - there's air conditioning. I'm enjoying the Six Sentence Story link up as well.
ReplyDeleteWhen you know you can go into some a/c, then it's bearable. I don't know how golfers can be out there for 4+ hours in that kind of heat, though.
DeleteThe day after our last Ant Nuptial Flight, I finally found the stuff I use to get rid of them. We've had so much rain over the past 3 months, that when it is warm and sunny it's a pleasure. Which doesn't stop me from really appreciating the A/C.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your parents are safe from flooding for now.
If we have dry weather, the experts say that's why the ants are coming in. If we have wet weather, then THAT'S why the ants are coming in. I think ants just like to come in.
DeleteThanks - all safe for now!
The bunnies are in the dog house here. They were on the loose in the house during the deadly heat this week and managed to eat the wiring to my husband's beloved surround sound system and his computer cord. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteSo jealous of the lake house!
Uh oh. Bad bunnies. (Have you seen Veggie Tales "Rack, Shack and Benny"?)
DeleteWe are very spoiled by that lake house!
With spring and fall being my favorite seasons, I like winter better because I always can PUT ON more clothes, but in summer, it becomes indecent at some point to TAKE OFF more clothes :-) But we're surviving here, somehow, trying to keep a positive outlook. Yes, I admit, I sometimes just want to start crying, that's how much I hate the heat! Only a little over 2 more months of summer :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a great new week, Dyanne!
Fall is definitely my favorite, followed by spring. Then I'd have to say summer (when I'm in the middle of winter) and winter (when I'm in the middle of summer). You do get funny looks at Walmart when you start removing clothes or when you climb in the freezer to cool off.
DeleteThank you so much for the ant tip! Try to keep cool!!
ReplyDeleteThe ant tip is awesome!
DeleteI need to remember to pack peppermint essential oil the next time I go on a car trip! We got out of our motel this morning, only to discover our van had been overrun with ants! We took everything out of the van (including the back seats), and I took it to a car wash to vacuum the little bugs out, while John stayed and guarded our stuff. Even at that, I was squashing errant ants all the way home.
ReplyDeleteHow do you get overrun by ants IN THE CAR? Wait, we had ants in our van once when one of the kids left a sucker stick (thank you, bank teller) in the backseat.
DeleteThat is a good tip about using peppermint essential oil to get rid of ants.
ReplyDeleteI hope your parent's lake house stays up flooded.
You cat looks ever so relaxed!
I didn't believe it until I tried it myself!
DeleteHoping for continued flood control by the Corps of Engineers!
If that cat were any more relaxed, she would slither right off the couch.
I quite love that you anthropomorphise so well!
ReplyDeleteWe loved Inside Out and Lava! I cried my stupid eyes out at that one.
Oh, bad kitties for peeing on the floor! We have had a pretty good accident (or on purpose) free week here (knocks wood and hopes Rottens don't hear) AND Cat One seems to be a bit more spry and bright-eyed than he has been in weeks. I was starting to worry that he was just plain old getting old and sick, but perhaps it was just a bout of something or other. With him, it's usually assholitis, but even my mom the cat-hater was concerned.
Heat indexes here have been several degrees above 100 the last couple of days. No thank you. Look at it this way...in only 6 months you can start bitching about how much you hate being cold. That's my plan! :D
Wasn't Lava AMAZING?! Really glad that guy dumped the popcorn so we had something to laugh about!
DeletePete's been throwing up lately, and he rarely does; Fletcher is the sensitive stomach one. There's always something to clean up when there are three cats, huh?
Same kind of heat index here. Not. Fun. I'll happily join you in the bitching about being too cold!
I don't think your constitution could take this kind of heat! But feel free to come and find out for yourself! Golf tournament will be in July 2016!
ReplyDeleteI'm still not sure the dock is glad to BE back.