One Of Those Silver Lining Weeks

What a week, what a week! The university where I work was on spring break this week, but the child care center where I work was not (don't even get me started on that). Since we are largely staffed by student workers, it is quite the juggling act to find enough who stay local for the week to keep us within our mandated adult-to-child ratios. This makes for an exhausting week, not going to lie. By Friday, I was pooped!

I also had ants in my kitchen again this week, only this time, instead of just wandering around in front of the refrigerator, the little fuckers had found the cat food dishes AND THE $80 PRESCRIPTION DRY CAT FOOD as well as were scurrying all over the dining room floor (and as two empty nesters, we have not eaten in the dining room in MONTHS, so don't know what they expected to find there). Naturally, I found them in the morning before work (and by before work, I mean 15 minutes before I HAVE to leave to get there on time, and since I am the one who opens the Center and is the only one there that early with a key, it is imperative that I be there on time) and had to rush around squishing ants, spraying botanical ant spray (which ran out after two pitiful pfffffts), cleaning bowls, getting ants out of the prescription dry food, and building a moat for said dry food dispenser in a large cafeteria tray (it would be an understatement to say that that act, while brilliant, did not go over well with the cat crew). I also took the time to run all the upstairs and wake my husband up and OH SO GENTLY (hah!) let him know the state of the state. After a long day at work, I went to Lowe's for more of the botanical ant spray plus some ant traps, only to find they didn't have the spray in that store or any other within a 30 mile radius, and no other store in town carried it. I bought a substitute, took it home, sprayed the dining room floor, and placed the contents of one of two boxes of ant bait strategically around the kitchen and dining room.

Friday morning, as I was playing my down-to-the-wire-to-get-out-of-the-house-in-time-to-open game, I ventured into the kitchen, flipped on the light, annnnnnd NO ANTS. I was encouraged, but not enough to take the food out of the moat (sorry, kitties). I did think I would have just enough time to give them their little dollops of canned food (#spoiledcats) before I had to leave (picking up whatever they didn't finish and cleaning the bowls first), but I needed to run down to the basement and get the large cat carrier to put in the car, as I was leaving directly after work to head to Kansas City to spend the weekend with my daughter and bring back the grandcat while she went on spring break. 

As I walked down the stairs, followed by three cats who wanted breakfast and didn't know what was causing the delay, I could see what appeared to be cat poop and a puddle on the floor just beyond the foot of the stairs. Why, why, why, I shouted at them, since the litter box was literally six feet from that spot, but upon closer inspection, I found it was a hairball surrounded by saliva and what seemed to be a thousand ants feasting on this bounty. (My best guess is one of the kitties walked through the dining room where I sprayed the floor, and even though the new spray SAID it was safe for pets and children, I am having my doubts, then got it on their paws, tried to WASH it off their paws, and yarfed it up, along with a hairball. Poor kitty - now I feel bad for yelling.) I cleaned up the floor while trying to leave as many ants as possible, put out the second box of ant traps, and hoped the survivors would gobble it up and take it back to the queen. Now it's a waiting game.

Yucky weeks make the thankfuls shine even more!

In spite of an exhausting week, I love my job and I love my little nugs. 

It didn't snow! Hopefully, that's all behind us now.

The grass is greening up, the daffodils are blooming, the trees are budding.

I got to leave work a little early on Friday to head to Kansas City (two and a half hour drive).

Hitting the road!

Made a smiley stop at my friend Julie's favorite truck stop. It has heated toilet seats. HEATED TOILET SEATS. Why don't all toilets have these?! When I worked at Warner Bros in Burbank, our toilet seats were like sitting on a block of ice and made you levitate a little as soon as you sat down.

Want

My daughter and I spent Saturday going to thrift stores, roaming around a mall, shopping at World Market, and eating.

We ate at a Thai restaurant that we have driven past several times and wondered about. Reviews for it were excellent, so we had lunch there. Not really that great, but now we know and won't have to wonder anymore!

Ate delicious ice cream at Fairway Creamery to make up for our mediocre lunch. I had salted caramel. She had toasted marshmallow.

Salted caramel. Mmmm.

My daughter and I took two walks yesterday above and beyond all the shopping (the first one because I guilted her into going with me since I was going to do it anyway, the second to get food, so she was totally up for that). We walked to the Nelson Art Gallery (which was already closed) and then walked around the entire (vast!) sculpture garden on the grounds, plus BONUS got to see high school kids taking prom pictures on the steps and a couple getting their engagement photos taken. We took a second walk to the Plaza to pick up food from Shake Shack and made it back to her apartment in time for the tip off of the Arkansas v Duke game.

With one of three of the famous shuttlecocks.

These are kind of creepy.

 

Close up.

View from the top (of the grounds, not
the building. That would have been cool 
though. It's tall.

The Razorbacks lost to Duke in the Elite Eight of the NCAA men's basketball playoffs, but we enjoyed the ride there and didn't give up on them!

Instead of virtual church today, I get to be there live and in person! My communion elements are more exciting when I'm left to my own devices (last week it was a toffee brownie and Diet Dr Pepper), but I love every chance I can get to attend Community Christian Church when I'm in KC.

I hope you can find thankfuls in any situation! Write yours and link up with us, this and every weekend at Ten Things of Thankful blog hop!

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