Whatever

Have you noticed that the English language has slowly been deteriorating?  We have had slang for a while.  We are using letters for words...BF.  Or is it BFF?.  Obviously I am not with it or cool or is it some other word that is in style now.  We say words or phrases that really don't add much, just to start or end a sentence.  Well, I thought it was interesting that ABC News Nightline had a feature on the words and phrases that annoy Americans the most.  Here is what they found.

A recent poll by Marist College ranked the most annoying expressions to Americans.

The fifth most annoying is "At the end of the day." 

Number four is "Anyway." 

In third place, "It is what it is."

In second, "You know." 

And the winner of the most annoying expression among Americans: "Whatever."

Personally, I think there are at least two phrases that should be added.

"Do you know what I mean?"  and "Needless to say."

I know I am guilty of the "whatever", "anyway", and "it is what it is."  The funny part is that the "It is what it is" bothers me the most when other people say it.  Then I catch myself saying the same thing.  It's contagious.  "You know what I mean?"  "Anyway, whatever."  (Big sigh)

What expressions do you find annoying?

Screwed on Backwards

I am sure that you all have experienced a day or two or maybe more, where you have felt like your head is screwed on backwards. Well, I have been experiencing a lot of that this last week. Boy I hope it gets better. Maybe it's stress, maybe it's too much on my to do list, maybe it's old age (no I don't think it's that one).  You guys know what I mean.

You feel you have everything under control and then you get a reminder email something is due in two days.  Oh no!  You get a call from a doctor's office where you were supposed to be at 9:00 and it's now 9:15.  You thought the appointment was at 10:00.  You forget family birthdays.  You forget to take your computer to work with you and halfway there you need to turn around. We have all had these types of incidents. 

I think as women, maybe men too but I think it's a woman thing, we try and do soooo much, we lose track of things.  We don't like to ask for help. We are superwomen! Aren't you?  We are wives, mothers, daughters, friends, worker bees, and on, and on, and on.  Our to do lists seem endless.  

When do we take care of ourselves?  When do we have quiet time to read a book, do some gardening, exercise, all without interruptions?  It's like that Ellen Degeneris skit where you see a soda pop that doesn't belong where it is, so you go to take it to the kitchen.  On the way you pick up something from off the floor and take it to the laundry bin.  Then you think, hum, I should reorganize the mud room (these shoes are a mess).  Well, since I am reorganizing the mud room, maybe I should throw out what we don't need.  You find a book and go to put it in the bookshelf.  Three hours later you pass the soda can which is now in a different wrong spot.  And you start the cycle all over again.  

Ok, so off I go to create a swap, or should I do my RAKS, or maybe I should clean my art room. Hum, I think I will have breakfast first.  Gosh, I hope I remember everything I have to do.

More Critters

For those of you who don't have window wells and don't live in the way west, you may not be able to relate directly to my story but I am sure you will find this funny nonetheless.

Sunday afternoon after grocery shopping, my dh and I had went down into our basement to put things away and retrieve other items.  While down there, I heard a noise and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move.  It was not in the basement.  Thank GOD!  It was in the window well.  I should correct that.  THEY were in the window well.  THEY were critters! :(

Where did they come from?  Well, we have a prairie behind us and I guess that's where they were originally.  I was staring at this thing trying to figure out what it was.  Nope.  What THEY were. They weren't possums, raccoons, skunks, squirrels.  What were they???  And, how do we get them out, I pondered.  

Well, animal control should be able to take care of this, I thought.  I made my call to the local pd to get the number and the police officer told me that animal control does not deal with wildlife but only dogs and cats.  WHAT?  She told me to try Department of Conservation, Department of Wildlife or a Forest Preserve.  Lots of help that was.

I called Animal Control anyways and sure enough, their recording said they only dealt with dogs and cats.  The recording also said to call back during normal business hours and they can refer you to offices that deal with other animals.  Normal business hours?? It was Sunday at 5:30 pm.  What was I supposed to do until a government agency opened on Monday, I thought.

As I was trying to come up with ideas and researching answers, my dh visits a neighbor to see what he suggested.  He comes back and says to me "The guy said he's been needing some target practice."  "NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT.  We are not killing animals.  Come up with another idea", I responded.  DH responds with, "Well, I can put a ladder down there and see if they can climb out."  At that point, I was willing to try anything so that was exactly what he did. He scared the little one but it did not move.

At that point, I got online and started doing more research as I heard the critters clawing away at the window downstairs.  Gross!  Well, I found what I thought was a government agency.  I should have known better.   What government agency is open on Sundays at 6:45 pm?  This company was privately owned and dealt with wildlife removal.  Alright, now we are getting somewhere.  Well, I didn't know that when I called they were in Indiana.  We are in Illinois.  It took them a few hours to get to us.  They removed 2 dead MUSKRATS (the little one had escaped up the ladder) and we were now critter free after paying $55 per animal dead or alive. What a business.  It only took them 5 minutes.     

Last month it was frogs.  This month was muskrats.  Those window wells covers are going on very soon.  What a Sunday.

Not Giving Up

You are probably wondering where I have been for a while.  If you haven't, well, you have missed a lot.  That will be a different post.

Today's post is about not giving up. You know what I am talking about.  We all have different goals that we say we are going to do or try, maybe it's New Year's resolutions or not.  

Some of my goals for this year were to walk/run a marathon, lose weight (like so many other millions of Americans), adopt a child, receive my an internal audit certification, and just be thankful and happy.  For me that's a lot.  Again, lots of these details I will share with you soon.

Today, I want to focus on my marathon.  Well, I may not have told you of my car accident back in August, my surgery with pins in my hand, and my physical therapy.  Due to all of this, I had to postpone my marathon and training.  However, now that my ribs are better, I have started walking on my own.  My own training before official training for the season begins.  Despite my setback, I am not giving up.

Be determined and reach for those goals!