Friday, January 31, 2014

Ten Things Of Thankful Plus A Bonus One

January is over already? Seriously? That should really count as number one on my list of Ten Things of Thankful, because it makes us that much closer to Spring, but that's too easy. Here's my real list:

1. Dry, colder than a well digger's ass weather makes it much easier to straighten my hair.

2. One of the only really troublesome side effects I have from taking Arimidex daily is bone pain. I have a lot of trouble with my hands hurting, as well as the tops of my feet and my hips. The pain in my hips often keeps me awake at night, and even Aleve doesn't give me much relief. Some time in mid-December, I realized my hips weren't hurting anymore, and my hands only minimally. The Pain Fairy came back this week, which sucks, but I'm thankful for the month and a half that it was gone!

3. I make no bones about the fact that I am not a fan of preschool parties. This week, we had two. The first party we had was less party than it was a themed day. We had a "Snow Day" (not the good kind where you get to stay home and bake bread and cookies and stuff), and it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. We had a presentation by a volunteer from the Audubon Center about animals in winter, and my kids were an excellent audience. We had a pretend snowball fight with snow forts made from cardboard boxes wrapped in white paper and soft, fabric snowballs, which was a HUGE hit with the kids, and the bonus was that they didn't get too wound up and crazy from it. 

4. The second party of the week was a 50's themed party, celebrating our 50th day of preschool. The kids are invited to wear 50's clothing, and we wear it as well. (Yes, I wore a poodle skirt, or a Scottie skirt, to be honest - I even have a crinoline petticoat that I wear underneath it, although I skipped it this year, because it scratches the backs of my legs terribly.) We play a scavenger hunt game for 50 items, we eat ice cream sundaes, we hula hoop, we dance,and we try to blow bubbles with bubblegum.  The kids and parents enjoy it, but I can truly say I am thankful it is over for another year.

5. Ruby has always had a fascination with the toilet. She particularly likes to stand on her hind feet, front paws on the seat, and watch the water go down after flushing. Today, while standing at the bathroom counter picking dead skin off my poor chapped lips packing up my makeup for our trip to a volleyball tournament, I heard Ruby jump up on the toilet, where SOMEONE (not me, for the record) had left the lid up. I turned around to see her balancing on the seat, head down, lap, lap, lapping the toilet water (note to self: in the future, be very certain Ruby hasn't had her face in your drinking glass before taking a drink). Just as I was saying, "Really, Ruby?" she lost her footing and one front leg went in the toilet bowl. As she was trying to recover from this, her hind legs went in, and, with a panic-stricken face and much splashing of toilet water, pulled herself back up onto the seat, jumped down, and scampered across the room, at which time she gave herself a thorough washing. Curiosity may not have killed the cat this time, but it sure made her pretty wet and, hopefully, scared her enough that she won't want to use it as a water bowl again. 


That USED to be my glass of Diet Coke....



6. I ate an entire bag of Cinnamon Lips that I found in the Valentine section of Hobby Lobby. Glad I got that out of my system (figuratively only, and that's all I'm going to say about THAT) and won't be tempted to buy them again. Well, this year, anyway.




7. My daughter got cast to be in the chorus of the school musical. Not a lot of freshmen in the cast, and she is very excited to be one of them. The play is "Pajama Game," and the only thing I know about it is that is where the song "Steam Heat" came from. I'm sure I will become very familiar with it in the weeks to come.

8. I am thankful for the Comment Moderation feature on Blogger that allows me to see the "English as a Second Language" comments that sometimes come with the spam hits on my blog (and which screw with my stats, but that's another story). The last time I wrote about this, the comment from my close friend Anonymous called me a whiner and an attention speaker. THIS time, dear Anonymous is dissing the eloquent comments by my lovely blog friends. ARE YOUSE PEOPLES GOING TO TAKE THIS LYING DOWN?!




9. We're expecting more winter weather next week, specifically, on Tuesday, which also happens to be my daughter's 15th birthday. She is not happy about the prospect of a snow day (the real kind, not the party kind) on her birthday, because if she's not at school, then she won't have birthday accolades tossed her way all day. But I digress. I not only took note of the upcoming weather conditions, I actually got all of my birthday shopping for her done almost a week early. FOR REAL! And I did GOOOOOOD! She's going to love her gifts!

10. Volleyball this weekend! I love volleyball tournaments (when I'm not getting whacked in the back of the head by the ball rebounding against a wall, that is). Got my chair. Got my snacks. Balls up!*

Link up your Ten Things of Thankful right here, right now.

*For those of you whose minds might be in the gutter - ahem Clark and Kristi and Beth - that phrase simply means the server has tossed the ball and it's in play.





Ten Things of Thankful


 Your hosts

27 comments:

  1. Is it okay to join the gutterminds and *snork* because in your disclaimer you talked about "tossing the ball"....? :p

    Well done on getting the birthday shopping done! That's always HUGE to arrange. Birthdays are so important (though judging by your other post, you could just get her a copy of all your clothes.

    Cinnamon lips? Asplain...

    Glad your parties are over, even though you got to dress up purty for the 50's one.

    EW @ sharing a beverage with the cat.

    And *hugs* for your sore bones.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You may join the gutter gang.

      Cinnamon lips are kind of like the inside of a Hot Tamale. Shaped like lips. Think gummy bears shaped like lips. And cinnamon flavored.

      Don'tcha love the glasses?

      Delete
  2. Oh...poor aching bones....I hate that deep achy kind...argh...poor you....hopefully the pain fairy will get hit in the head or something and be forced into early retirement.

    Fun week even if your not a party animal...

    Ok shes cute but toilet water ruby....icky

    Like the new pic even better in color!

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    1. If you see that pain fairy, give her a knock in the noggin for me, mmkay?

      I am not a party girl.

      I'm hopeful Ruby is done with toilets. Time will tell.

      Ooo, thanks! Couldn't find the black and white one, for some reason.

      Delete
  3. I was just thinking that about the cold weather, which always help keep my hair less frizzy and straight, too. And my girls had two pre-school parties this week, too. One was for Chinese New Year and the other was for Super Bowl. And #6 is why I can't keep any candy in my house, because I would eat the whole bag myself of those cinnamon hearts, too, because have no willpower and cinnamon is one of my all time favorites :)

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    1. I have ZERO willpower, which is why I ate the whole damn bag and rationalized it with getting rid of it so it won't tempt me....

      Delete
  4. Oh, so sorry to hear about Ruby...but it did make me laugh. Here's to hoping that she DOES NOT try to drink from the toilet again. At least not before she tries to drink you Diet Coke. Just sayin'...

    Balls up!

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    Replies
    1. Just hoping it scared her enough to make a believer out of her.

      I am keeping a very careful watch on my glass from now on.

      Delete
  5. Thank your for the laughs today, Dyanne! Colder than a well digger's ass. Anonymous and his/ner eloquent commenting style, Ruby's toilet dance and BALLS UP! Awesomeness all around!
    I am sorry to hear about the pain. I took an antibiotic once that did that to me. For two weeks after I stopped taking it, I could barley walk, move my fingers.....everything just hurt. So to hear that you have to deal with that, I'm sorry and I hope it passes.
    Maybe you should think about investing in some drinking glasses with lids, like Tervis tumblers or the like. Better than sharing with potty mouth Ruby...

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I WAS going to say "colder than a witch's tit" but decided to class it up a bit....

      I am fortunate that the bone pain is not constant.

      We HAVE some Tervis tumblers, but it requires that you can find the lids and a straw and I feel so CONTROLLED by that time....

      Delete
  6. Oh my gosh. Cinnamon Lips. I never knew of such a thing. You must live in some metropolios. I live in the sticks -- only Conversation Hearts for us.

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    1. Oh, heavens, no metropolis! I live in an Ozark town full of not much. These were in the candy section at Hobby Lobby, by the conversation hearts. They are like cinnamon bears. Only lips. And they are truly delicious, if you like that kind of thing, that is, which I, unfortunately, do. (How many commas CAN one person put in a sentence?!)

      Delete
  7. Well of course I loved the Ruby story best! We learned long ago that toilet lids must be kept down at all times. LOL at Ruby's unplanned dip in the bowl, I love how they try so hard to appear as if they aren't embarrassed and it must be someone else's fault! I once had a big Maine Coon kitty that loved to walk the edge of the garden tub and nip at the bubbles while I soaked in a bubble bath. One night he leaned in too far and fell in. After a mad scramble to get out, he spent the next hour with his back turned to me, apparently blaming me for his lack of grace. I think I heard him telling the other cats that I pushed him! :-)

    Nagging achey bone pain is just the hardest thing to sleep well with. I can get to sleep but it often wakes me up at night, and then I toss and turn and try to relax enough to fall back to sleep. No fun.

    I share your daughter's concern for weather this week, mine's coming up too and I'm taking the day off work to celebrate, as is Papa Bear. Hoping for a nice warm one! Delighted you've done some great present shopping. I've found over the years that early February birthdays can have their downfalls... "This is a present for your birthday and Valentines Day", "But I just got you a nice gift last week", etc. Thankfully, Papa Bear doesn't see it that way! :-)

    Your cinnamon lips made me chuckle. I'm somewhat allergic to cinnamon in anything but very small amounts, and surely this would have my lips (and throat) puffed up too, and wreck intestinal havoc later! They also brought to mind those red wax lips we loved to buy/wear/eat as kids! :-)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Don't you LOVE how cats turn their backs when they're miffed at you? The cat I had before I got married did it for MONTHS after my son was born. She also used to teeter on the edge of the bathtub, until the day she fell in.

      I'm like you: I GO to sleep fine, but it wakes me up in the night, and then I can't go back to sleep. It's a miserable way to spend the night.

      Happy birthday to you! So far, I have never combined her birthday and Valentine's Day, but God help the man who does - that'll be the end of him!

      I would be very sad if I were allergic to cinnamon. The cinnamon lips (along with Hot Tamales, cinnamon bears, or anything else with that texture) wreak havoc on my innards, too. And yes, I used to LOVE those wax lips! I also liked wax mustaches. These are much smaller - less than an inch and a half across.

      Delete
  8. OK, Dyanne, how's this?

    Dear Anonymous: I think it might be only you. You might want to pick up that dropped response. Of course, I could be wrong. Dyanne is so popular, she probably has followers from all walks of life--from the fully living, to the brain-dead, and on to the undead. However, she accepts all as long as they are nice to each other. (This might be a good time to apologize.)

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  9. Made my day to picture you munching your way through that bag of cinnamon lips! Don't even try to convince me you didn't try on a pair or two in the process!

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  10. Great you got the gifts for your daughter together. Happy birthday to your daughter!! Quite interesting comments you get there! Wouldn't we love to know who Anonymous is? And why do I never get any comments like that? Not even spammers like me :-)

    Have a great weekend, Dyanne!

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  11. Cinnamon lips sound delightful. And, I'm with you, there's nothing more exhausting than a school party. Two in one week?!?! You have my admiration.

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  12. See,, school parties are why I teach high school, not little small people. We don't do parties in high school. Thank God.
    I do kinda want to know if May's right - did you try on a pair of lips? Because that would be awesome.
    Ruby's potty story is precisely why all toilet lids in this house are kept down at all times. That and I'm pretty sure that Cat Three is drinking my glass of water at night and I'm not taking any chances.
    For your hand pain, may I offer my RA experience? You need one of those buckwheat pillows that you can heat up in the microwave. Heat it up and then slip your hand inside the cover and grab a handful of the warm buckwheat. I know, I know, the cover is there to keep the pillow from hand oils, blah blah blah. But I'm telling you when my hands hurt like hell from RA I don't care. I discovered that quite by accident, but something about having the cover act as a blanket while grabbing a handful of the warm pillow did the trick for my hands.
    Oh, and you'll probably want to add me to the list of gutterminds...because when I saw "balls up" I got a visual of exactly that.
    Have a wonderful week!

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  13. Dyanne, if I were you, I wouldn't like the preschool parties either. So much to organize, do and be wary about! Wow...I don't know how you handle it though. Thanks for sharing with us!

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  14. The 50's themed party sounds like it would have been fun to see all the little ones in costumes. Two in one week seems a bit overboard though, won't these kids grow up thinking life is just a party? Sorry just kidding ... couldn't resist and that came spewing past my mouth and onto the keyboard. My cat used to hang out on the side of the tub whenever someone was taking a bath until the one day when he fell in and went for a quick swim.

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  15. "For those of you whose minds might be in the gutter"

    why Dyanne, what a nice thing to say! …it may be the YChrome, but that's one of the nicest shootouts I've received in a very long time. Not to mention being in such good company! gutteristically speaking that is!

    I kinda miss the "This blog is exactly what I was looking for! Keep up the good work, do you think you might want to paste some of our ads on it?"

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  16. ." My daughter got cast to be in the chorus of the school musical. Not a lot of freshmen in the cast, and she is very excited to be one of them. The play is "Pajama Game," and the only thing I know about it is that is where the song "Steam Heat" came from. I'm sure I will become very familiar with it in the weeks to come." Congratulations--she is going to be an actress!!! :) !!! jean

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  17. LOL!! Poor Ruby! Our cat, Arlen, likes to lift the lid with his head and drink from the toilet. One time our other cat, Melvin, came up to him (Arlen) and sniffed his butt while his head was in the toilet. And oh yes, I have photographic proof! Cats are hilarious creatures at times.

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  18. Ahhh that crazy Anonymous does sometimes make the lovely rounds! I have a feeling you are going to be VERY familiar with Pajama Game VERY soon!

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  19. I would not be able to send my kids to your preschool. I much prefer our "wear your favorite Christmas pin day" or Colts Day. Things that I don't have to find costumes or go to any trouble whatsoever.
    You get mean spam from English as a second language "people"? Lucky duck.
    I have never heard of Cinnamon lips. No need to send me any. I don't think I'd like them.
    Congrats to your daughter!
    I would have laughed quite hard at Ruby falling in the toilet. Are you all going to be switching to sippy cups to prevent her from drinking your beverages?

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  20. Aw, poor Ruby. Though I would guess it was very funny to see! And funny to read about. She's so cute, keep those pictures coming!
    Happy birthday to your daughter.

    Sorry to see you get bone pain, but great that you had a painfree month.

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