Doggie Disaster

I don't think I could be a career blogger. Occasionally, you just don't feel like sharing. And when you have lots of bloggie followers, they expect frequent updates. Luckily for me, my small following of dedicated readers, we have an understanding - an expectation of no expectations, really.

The past three weeks I've been picking out new napkin rings and stocking up on French's fried onions to top my oh so wonderful green bean casserole, among other things. Yes, the stresses of hosting Christmas are behind me now. Turned out quite nicely I may add. I think I survived my first pledge Christmas and have been initiated.

Now that all the chaos has subsided, a little humor. Bo and I were upstairs watching The Wonder Years (I die for The Wonder Years, ahhh) and failed to hear a loud thud that might have prevented the mess below. The guilty -Stella. You might notice the half eaten burrito to the bottom right, the blob of left over sweet potatoes just above the trash can and the massive amount of coffee grinds spilled ALL over the floor. Sigh....

Near Miss

Friends, let me share some advice - DO NOT attempt to diagnose yourself with ANYTHING based on medical information found on the Internet. All self-diagnosed illnesses lead to cancer.

That is all.

Be Thankful

In light of the holiday season, a post about giving thanks through all circumstances.

My life is far from perfect. I bet yours in far from perfect either. But it is a true sign of character to be thankful for what you do have. There's a saying, be thankful for what you have now, for it was once a thing you only wished for. Or something like that. I don't remember the exact quote and I'm too lazy to Google it at the moment, but the premise still remains.

It's become increasingly annoying to me lately to listen to complaints. Everyone wants more. More than they have. Something better. Something different. I'm not just talking about tangibles. It could be a more attentive spouse or more understanding parent. The grass is always greener on the other side. I say, the grass is only greener where you water it.

The point of my rant is this - don't take for granted what you have or may think is a burden. Be thankful. It may just be the one thing someone else dreams of having, but doesn't.

One Customer Saved

Christmas is a good time for Best Buy to stay on my good side. Bo and I bought a laptop computer there not even a month ago. The dweeby salesman tried to sell us anti-virus software, to which we pointed out the advertised flyer on the shelf included a one year anti-virus protection so we didn't need it. He concurred and we left.

Fast forward to yesterday. Bo turned on the computer and it bombards him with bogus alerts saying computer is under attack. Pretty much wouldn't let him do anything without purchasing "software" to clean the computer. I start googling from my phone and find out it's a virus. Seriously? We should have anti-virus. I start looking at the McAfee I activated and it says my trial has expired?!

I'm pissed.

I made Bo get up and go to Best Buy to fight with me. Strength in numbers. He goes back to check out the advertisement while I wait in line - yep, "one year of anti-virus included." My blood starts boiling.

They send us to Geek Squad who initially rattles off a bunch of fixes in excess of $150. I'm feeling a little sunk but I keep trying to justify my case. It's likely I got the virus because my protection ran out, which should have been covered for a year. Geek man goes back to talk to computer department, comes back and tells me it's software that wasn't already installed on my computer but that should have been given to me with purchase. Bingo, we win. So, he offers to restore my computer and will give me the one year anti-virus that should have been included without the fee. Smart move, Best Buy.

Hurts To Think

My name is Jenny and I have an addiction - to caffeine. A very severe addiction I am trying to break. As I sit here typing this I'm almost embarrassed. My heads hurts so bad it might as well have been hit by a brick.

I've successfully given up drinking caffeine a few times in my life, but never have I felt as bad as I do now. When did this happen? And how many days is my head going to have to keep hurting? Seriously, it's an evil drug.

Growing

I am a control freak. Self-confessed. Betcha didn't know that, huh? Seriously, you didn't? Hmmm. Come try living at my house and ask Bo. :-)

It's a rare occasion if I haven't seen every piece of mail, not noticed a dollar missing from one of our accounts, or missed a crumb drop on the floor. I'm annoying about it.

Let me give you an example. We were at my grandma's sifting through her belongings when I told my mom I am going to start putting colored dots on everything I own so that when I die, each person knows exactly what I owned that I wanted them to have. I was kidding of course, except for the important valuables. {She told me I was ridiculous. I still might start a list...there's always a little truth buried in humor.} Controlling to the grave, I know.

Seems a blessing that there was a man created for me who can handle that level of insanity, and willingly I might add. I'm trying to let go. First, because I am eventually going to send myself to an early grave over a can of green beans label if it's facing the wrong way in the pantry. Who wants to die over that? Second, because it's not fair to Bo. That should be reason enough. And third, and most important, I'm challenging and denying God the ability to be present in my life and direct the path. So I give up, starting with maybe two of the seven days of the week...?

No, really. It seems lately there are detours on my path I need to take and just enjoy the journey. Husbands and an amazing God teach us that.