Happy Birthday Niki

Today is my dog's birthday. She is 15. She knows things about me that no one else ever will. She has never turned up her nose at anything I have cooked. She treats me with utmost respect, except when I have to trim her nails. She HATES that. She is deaf now, although I am sure that occasionally her ears ring, as she will bark and run to the front door, and be totally surprised that no one is there. Her favorite treat is pizza crust, she can still grab it out of the air. She used to sing with me,` but,` no more. Rolling in stuff is still one of her favorite pass times. Right along with walking between my feet and tripping me. She does not like to eat bananas. She can count, and knows how many people have eaten and whose bowl she hasn't licked out yet. She is very social, and must really have suffered in her life, as I am not. Before she lost her hearing, when the AOL man said "Good-bye" she would get up from under my feet and lead me into the bedroom. Ah, what a girl, my Niki!

Things that I like, not in any particular order

The feeling I get early in the morning before leaving on a trip

Being greeted by my dog

Smelling laundry fresh off the line

Crunching fall leaves under foot

The smell of apples

Peanut M&Ms

Doodling

Finding treasure in a thrift store

The smell of the library

Going barefoot

Air-conditioning

Having a fireplace

Popcorn with cinnamon

Looking at old snapshots

Turning off of a highway for a 'scenic view'

Watching the 'sand dune' slide show at PJ Hoffmaster State Park

Book illustrations

Stacks of decorating magazines

Collecting stuff

Quiet

Talking with toddlers

Walking in the woods

Wearing a sweatshirt

Cracking through that thin layer of ice on a puddle

Campfire smell on my clothes

A new notebook

Being with my family

When the AOL man says "Welcome. You've Got Mail!"

my personal pet peeves

What is it with people who do not change the toilet paper roll? It isn't difficult, it isn't time consuming, you're already sitting down...CHANGE IT! I think the makers of toilet paper should put a surprise in each new roll...

Those who always tell you what they paid for everything they buy. I am one of those people. I hear myself saying it, and I think - Judy, just shut up! - but, I don't. I hate that. By the way, I'm paying $50 a month for this laptop, for how long, I can't rememeber.

Directions. What has caused this obsession with directions on/in the box of the most basic and self-explanatory items? What a waste of paper. Although I am grateful toilet paper doesn't come with this. "Remove vacuum from box". NO KIDDING! I read the directions on the tampon box every month, just incase they have come up with a NEW way - like a gun, or something.

People who smile ALL the time. Why? What do they do when they are REALLY happy? And, are they really happy, or are they covering something up? I think they are covering something up.

I'm annoyed by people who try to figure me out. I am boring. There is nothing to figure out. I like it that way.

I cannot understand people who do not like to read. It is the PERFECT form of entertainment, education and excercise. What? It's ISN'T the perfect form of exercise? Well...that explains A LOT...

Then there are those who point out spelling errors. Hmmm. DID YOU GET WHAT I MEANT? That was the point. Yes, thank you for caring, but as long as I'm not writing for publication, I will make mistakes. I MEAN to. Just to prove that I am a failable human being. You would like me even less if I were perfect. Because THAT would annoy you. Because it wouldn't be true.

Loud children are such a bother. Why can't they just talk normally? Didn't their parents teach them the whole thing about having an 'inside' voice? Were they brought up around an international airport? Loud children are hard to ignore.

And, I am totally sick of politics. How I will survive the next two months, I do not know. I think we should just throw out voting entirely, and just have two folded slips of paper. One with a black dot, and one without. The candidate who chooses the blank piece will get to be president, the other one, well...a good corn harvest IS a 'good thing'.

I also do not like school buses. Only one of my children ever had to ride one, and only about a dozen times. They are the root of most evil. One adult, and as many children as you can pack into it. How can this be good? I only rode the school bus to swimming lessons at the Y. We sang songs from musicals. The school bus always smelled better on the way back. That is all I can remember, yet, I still have strong opinions about school buses being evil.

What is it with people commenting on things they know nothing about? It reminds me of those people who give out recipes for things they have never made. Or advice on things they have never gone through. Or, people who try to make you buy very expensive vitamins from them. Especially when these vitamins are supposed to cure a problem that you never made public that you had.

Oh, and in the hospital parking ramp, in the spots that say 'compact car only' ALWAYS sit about a half a dozen SUV's. I would like to compact them on the spot. While leaving the hospital parking ramp the other day, a driver going THE WRONG WAY gave me the 'beverly hills hello', and yelled for me to turn my lights on. ??? So I could better see him coming the WRONG way? I wonder, how many people have been killed for less?

These are just A FEW of my pet peeves...they tend to increase the older I get. More to follow, I'm sure.