Yes, I Will Have a Holiday Weekend Brain Dump, Thanks!

It is the much anticipated Memorial Day Weekend here in the States!

It is so well liked because it is considered the "summer kick-off".

I don't want to rain on any one's parade (although it will probably rain on mine, literally), but class, do we remember what Memorial Day is really about?

Dead soldiers.

Yes, I did just say "dead soldiers". The title of this post says "brain dump" and it's on my mind, so there ya go.

When I'm out with my husband I've noticed that whenever he sees a veteran or active duty military, he stops, shakes their hand and says, "Thank you for your service." He did so just yesterday in the Safeway check-out line.

Without Method or Conscious Decision

The March edition of Old School Blogging is completely random!

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Questions have been asked, which I have answers for:

What is the last thing you watched on TV? Grey's Anatomy and Scandal. Scandal was super intense. And sad. It made me FEEL, and I like that.

When did you last step outside? What were you doing? Yesterday afternoon to go with my husband to his first physical therapy appointment.

What is on the walls of the room you are in? We moved our computer upstairs to the "loft" a couple of months ago. There are two airbrush paintings JHo did so long ago she wasn't even "JHo" then, some kid art, a clock, a Sky Landers chart and the Bon Jovi logo my friend Jess painted for me.

If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? A super fun, awesome vacation for my family.

Tell me something about you that most people don’t know. So I have bad eyes, right? Well, sometimes I pretend I see something someone is trying to show me instead of explain that I can't see it, or just to make them happy.

Who made the last incoming call on your phone? My Aunt Renee.

If you could change something about your home, without worry about expense or mess, what would you do? Oh let me count the ways! I like my house, I really do, but.....when they built it, they could have done a few things differently. Like, extend the master bedroom all the way over the garage, they should have done the half bath door differently (it battles with the door to the garage), I don't understand the rocks on one side of our house and I kind of wish there wasn't a tall juniper blocking my view of the street.

What was the last thing you bought? A copy of Star Trek: Into Darkness on Blu-ray with a Target gift card. I may have said, "Hello, Chris Pine", when I picked it up. Maybe.

Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? No. Seriously, I don't understand. Life is dangerous enough, I don't get why one would need to tempt fate.

If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be? Jon Bon Jovi. Or Nathan Fillion. Or Oprah.

Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Probably Costco. If they accepted anything besides American Express.

Is the glass half empty or half full? You know the answer to that!

What’s under your bed? The cable for the TV and some other random (there's that word again) electronic wires, a blanket, pillow, dust bunnies.

What is your favorite time of the day? I think the moment I feel like I'm done for the day, when I feel like I don't have to do any more things.

What inspires you? Truth, courage and a sunny day!

Now, tell me some random thing about you!

Thankful November #2

No, there wasn't a "Thankful November #1"....technically. But I know now that's what I should have called last week's post!

DUH.

THIS WEEK I've got my act together! I've been keeping track of what I was grateful for all week. It's easy. Just start a post, and add to it as the week progresses.

DUH.

Speaking of DUH, this is going to date me, but I used to have this exact poster on my wall and my mother hated it.

Now that I'm a  mother, I understand why. Parents do not like their children to say DUH to them. Also, knowing now what I didn't know then, I was in no position to be claiming I was smarter than anyone!

Ahem.

My gratitude list

1. The scheduler at my kids' doctor's office not yelling at me for rescheduling my daughter's check-up for a second time.

2. Being able to make my daughter an eye appointment for right after her check-up. Will get that all taken care of in one day!

3. The delicious dinner Mark prepared chock full of fresh garlic to try and kick our cold's butt! Even if it didn't really work.

4. I have had bad luck with the anti-reflective coating on my new lenses, but I just got back freshly coated lenses so now I'm seeing clearer again.

5. So glad my daughter shared the essay she wrote for Health class with us!

6. The husband's birthday. He made it to another one!

7. An honest auto repair place. So honest, in fact, they let it slip that not everyone in the state of Washington is required to pass emissions checks. WTF?

8. My replacement Starbucks card. Mark lost my last one. Don't let him tell you he didn't. He totally did! This girl needs to earn free coffee!

9. Receiving a text consisting of just the word "benign". My friend had a boobie thing, but it's all good. (I played it cool, but I really was relieved.)

10. Saturday! I may be a SAHM, but it's still nice when no one in the house has to get up at an early hour if they don't want to. (Yesterday, I nearly had to DRAG the teenager out of her bed. Oy.)

TGIF: Randomly Happy Edition

Welcome to....

Today I shall present a list of random things that made me happy this week. Because, well, just because!

1. First, last Sunday I watched the Anderson Cooper interview with Adele on 60 Minutes and was so relieved to learn her vocal chord surgery was a success, her voice is fine, better than before if that's even possible, and she would be performing at the Grammys! She was so stinking cute in the interview too.

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

2.Six wins! Adele won all six of the categories she was nominated in - the TOP six! Her wins showed that God-given, natural talent and simple, pure performances can shine through all the glitz and over-the-top antics of other "artists" {cough} Nicki Minaj {cough}. Adele's Grammy performance of "Rolling in the Deep" was perfection; she even let out a little giggle or squeal right at the very end because she had been so nervous. I just cannot say enough about that girl. Love, love, LOVE her!

3. We got our tax return. Yay, woohoo money, right? Yeah, not so much. Because of that little problem with Mark's secondary insurance I told you guys about last month, we had to use our return to pay off the car, which will free up that money to pay the premiums. Not only that, but the car decided it needed work RIGHT NOW, which takes another chunk. BUT, I'm happy about the timing of it all and the relief of working out a way to pay that bill.

4. I got to do some shopping All.By.Myself, and add a little to my stay-at-home momdrobe. New yoga pants and plain t-shirts!

5. I love the picture of my big fat kitty-witty, Julius, that I posted on Wednesday. He is SO going on a diet, though!

6. That you guys don't seem to mind when I write a post like I did yesterday. Honestly, if you did mind, I'd have to tell you to get over it (MY blog - you think you can do it better, just go on ahead with your bad self!). But I truly appreciate that you get it, and are even happy that I said what I did.

7. February sweeps! This week's Castle ended in a very exciting way, and Revenge had an interesting twist I did not see coming. And then we had a Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crossover event last night....ah the drama! Oh, and I watched some of American Idol's Hollywood Week and heard a couple of stellar performances.

8. A new bloggy award! My bacon-loving friend The Sarcasm Goddess has passed on the Kreativ Blogger Award to me....

Isn't it pretty? So now there are these things I'm supposed to do as an award recipient:

1. Thank & link back to the person who gave you the award. (Isn't it funny that we have to remind adults to use their manners?)
2. Answer the form questions below.
3. Share ten random facts / thoughts about yourself.
4. Nominate (at least) 7 other blogs for the Kreativ Blogger Award.

Favorite song:
My all time faves are The Rose and Over the Rainbow, but currently, anything by Adele. Obviously. OMG, what if she sang The Rose or Over the Rainbow? I'd die!

Favorite dessert:
Ice cream

What ticks me off:
Where do I start? Right now this very minute, my kids fighting. I really hate lying liars who lie. The fake and the flakes both irritate me as well. When people on reality shows don't do what I think they should. Oh, and when news reporters try to report the news before they even have any facts. Because then they say things like "alleged" and "unconfirmed" and "what we think happened" and this in NO WAY helps me.

When I’m upset, I:
Depends on what I'm upset about. I might cry. I might get irritable. I might sit and stew. I might need to call someone. I might blog. I'll probably need a glass of wine. Or all of the above.

Favorite pet(s):
Kitties!

Black or white:
Black.

Biggest fear:
Um. I have a lot of fears. My very biggest fear? Losing a child.

Everyday attitude:
The Sarcasm Goddess said, "Oh you know, being awesome", and I'm gonna go with that too.

What is perfection?
SG also said, "Well according to Pink, I am F*cking Perfect and she seems like a really wise gal, so I'm going to trust her." I agree with this too.

My guilty pleasure:
I'm gonna go with watching The Bachelor/Bachelorette. My husband cannot stand these shows and has to bite his tongue hard when they're on. He thinks it's actually immoral how these people are going about dating a bunch of people at once. I see it as intensive speed dating. I'm a hopeful romantic and I can't help it! So sue me.

Alright, I've accepted the award and answered the prompts. I think it's a little redundant to also list 10 random things about myself. And in the light of the recent chain letter blogger tagging fiasco that recently ensued, I really feel like I've done enough of this for now. However, I will list 7 bloggers whom I would like to pass the Kreativ Blogger Award on to.

1. Anything But, and Then Some
2. MyBelovedAdoria
3. Mom Rocks Mealtime
4. Craftarrific
5. Life Ever Since
6. Bees With Honey
7. My Suitcase Full of Tricks

Phew! That's a whole lot of happy, isn't it? Please tell me you've got some happy to share too!

Grab the button and link-up the HAPPY below!