Things that make me smile--in no particular order

1. When I go to bed at night and Myles always comes back to tuck me in a give me a kiss goodnight.

2. My dad. I've got the greatest dad on earth and we have sooo much fun together. "I'm Rick James, bitch!"

3. My mom and how she talks to herself...how she even argues with herself. It's pure comedy.

4. My little brother and seeing how much he's just like me. He loves to read, he talks too much, he gets good grades in school, he's silly...he's great!

5. My friends. I have great friends. We all have so much fun together and I feel so lucky to be able to surround myself with a second family of my choosing.

6. People who don't like me. Yes, they do make me smile. I am who I am and what I am and if I don't like it, well, you've missed out on getting to know a pretty good person, if I do say so myself. =)

7. Random, simple gifts. My best friend, Ann (Yes, her name is really Ann), is really good at this. She's one of the most thoughtful people I know. Her Christmas present to me last year was the best...a calendar where she marked all important dates (her and her husband's birthdays and kids birthdays, holiday stuff we do, anniversaries, etc.) and also wrote a special message to me on every month. It makes me smile when I look at that calendar every morning. My other best friend, Misty, is great at that stuff, too. When I'm sick or feeling down, she'll pop over with some ice cream or a bottle of wine to cheer me up.

8. All of my "neices" and "nephews". They may not be mine by blood, but they are Misty and Ann's children, so that makes them family. All between the ages of 2-13, they are all so different and so wonderful. I love getting to spend time with them and watching them grow up.

9. My grandmother. She's the smallest woman I know and the feistiest. I definitely got my attitude from her. She's got to be the coolest grandmother ever. "I've got a wooden spoon in there with your name on it" is still her favorite saying, even though I'm bigger than her and no longer a toddler. Though, she didn't like it when my brother, two cousins and I all took our pocket knives up to the kitchen on day and carved our names into her wooden spoons. "But now you're not lying, Grandma"

10. My brother when he came home from Iraq. I think that was one of the greatest feelings in the world, knowing he was home safe and away from the danger he faced every day while he was patrolling in Baghdad. I won't be smiling when he goes back, though, probably in February.

11. Listening to Myles grumble when on trash day, I get home from work and go out to check the mail but don't bring the trash can up. I know it's wrong, but I can't help but giggle a little.

12. Watching Myles roll his eyes as I do one of my OCD things. Yes, I have OCD, even on meds for it. I have soooo many little quirks and things I HAVE to do, like straightening pillows, making sure shorts are in color order, having everything in the kitchen a certain way, evening straightening the pillows and blankets on the couches EVERYDAY when I come home from work. The meds help, but they don't take it all away. LOL Makes for a good editor, though. *wink*

There are so many more I could list, but this is already long enough. This time of year always makes me think about what I have and the things and people that make me happy and how lucky I am to have been blessed with each and every one of them.

Ahhh, Friday

Yes, it's finally Friday. As soon as I get out of work, I'll be heading to pick up my little brother a birthday present and then heading up north to be "home" for the weekend. I like being home. =) Myles has a rough time with it, since he's not used to a loud obnoxious, constantly going family like mine. He can only handle it for one or two days and then he has to get out of there. =P He loves them all to death, but he's used to quiet family gatherings.

I think I might actually play hooky from work next Monday and Tuesday and head to Kingsbury to go hunting with my dad and cousin. I'm thinking that sounds like a darn good idea. It's deer seaon, baby! Or we'll get some pheasants. Whichever we can get. :)

And on a completely different note, something happened today to make me think that there might actually be hope for the world. I was driving to school and a funeral procession was driving by, going the opposite way as me. I still pulled over. It's just the right, respectful thing to do. (I was learned well by my parents) Normally, no one else pulls over, just blows by the procession if they are going the opposite way, or even passes the procession if it's two lanes. I can't stand that. I hate it with a passion. You are supposed to stop! But, today, everyone on the road pulled over until the procession had passed. It was amazing. I even called Myles right away and told him, since he knows this is a HUGE pet peeve for me. But yes, I finally gained some hope back for humanity.

It's finally Friday!

Yes, indeed. And I'm in a MUCH better mood today. :) I even get to leave here early. Woo hoo! The assessor is coming over to assess the house and I want to make sure every little this is perfect, so they assess us the highest possible. I'm not the money person in the house, for obvious reasons, and I think Myles said that the higher they assess us, the better it is for us to acquire more properties. *shrugs* There's a reason he takes care of all that and I just spend what he gives me/tells me I can. LOL

And tonight, we'll be going to our best friend's house to have dinner, play some Mexican Train Dominoes or rummy, watch a movie, and have some drinks. And play with my adorable neice, of course. My Squirt. =) I've looking forward to having a relaxing evening. I can't remember the last time I took an evening and didn't touch my laptop at all. I'll make up for it this weekend, though, that's for sure. I'll have the house all to myself since Myles has to work all weekend, plus, he and his one of his best friends are going out on Saturday night for a boys' night, so I'll have an evening to myself to edit, watch my chick flick, and eat ice cream for dinner. I've done well...it's been TWO WEEKS since I have had ice cream. Probably a world record for me. :P

A night for us girls

So, tonight I have my little neice (one of my best friend's daughters) over here. She's going to be two this weekend and Mom and Dad had to do some shopping for the Squirt without her around. :) Yes, I love her to death. She's allllll mine right now. She's kept me from getting any work done, though. And she takes over the TV. She HAS to have her Mickey Mouse. And her Uncle Myles. She absolutely adores him. He adores her, even though he's too "manly" to admit it. LOL So, of course, I had to take pics of she and I tonight, so her y'all go. =)

A random day

Just like I said in the subject, today is a random day. The mother-in-law is in town and tagged along with Myles during a trip to Lowe's. What was supposed to be a quick trip to Lowe's to get a sprayer and bug spray to spray around the foundation of the house turned in to much more than that. They came back with a new grill. Ay yay yay. Yeah. That's usually how things turn out with her. Now, she has decided that we need to grill out tomorrow, so they just left to go to the store for meat, which means they'll come back with a freezer-full of stuff. Literally. But I'm not complaining. :)

While they're gone, I'm using this as an opportunity to watch Moonlight, which I set to tape on the DVR. Oh my God this is a good show! I'm sooooo gonna watch it again. I HIGHLY recommend it. :) Oh yeah. I can't gush about it enough. :)

And when the Myles gets home, he'll be happy--I made him a home-baked punkin pie (Yes, punkin is spelled that way on purpose...My nickname is "Punkin" and I have no clue how it even got started). And I made some punkin cake. Yeah, I'm in a punkin and baking mood. So he'll benefit from it. :) I'm thinking some peach cobbler sounds good, too. And here in a bit we're heading to Mountain Jacks for dinner, so that means I'll get filet mignon tonight. Oh yum. Sounds good to me. :)

There's not much else going on today. I'm working a bit on one of my own stories, reading some submissions, and maybe I'll get to some editing later, but I'm going to spend the majority of the day working on it tomorrow.

So, that's all for now, folks. Other than the fact that the pinched nerve in my shoulder is bugging me again. Blech.