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Lifestyle

A Frog Was In My Kitchen

A Frog

A frog was in my kitchen.

Seriously?

We’ve had our share of pests in the house.

Ants, of course.

Spiders, flies, moths and mosquitoes.

An occasional cricket.

Once we even had a mouse.

But this morning I had a first.

I was so shocked that I had to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing  things.

It was a frog.

A FROG!!!

A frog was in my kitchen.

It was huge and brown and ugly.

Maybe it was a toad.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or to scream.

Or to kiss it.

It was as big as my fist, so squishing it wasn’t even an option.

And catching it seemed a little creepy.

OK, a LOT creepy.

Luckily, it was a smart frog.

I opened the back door, and it seemed to sense its opportunity.

It headed right toward the fresh air and hopped outside.

That’s one Texas-sized crisis that was averted.

Categories
Family Lifestyle

An Amazing Rest Stop

Amazing

The other day, we finally visited the Buc-ee’s rest stop.

We’ve been in Texas a year, and we had yet to visit this place.

The word is it’s an amazing rest stop.

We happily discovered that it IS an amazing place.

The gifts!

The candy!

The beef jerky!

We had just eaten, and Bob was disappointed.

He would have liked to have eaten dinner here.

I promised I would bring him back for Father’s Day.

And then I immediately regretted that offer.

My birthday falls on Father’s Day.

I don’t want to have my birthday dinner at a rest stop.

Apparently I have already made the commitment…

Categories
Lifestyle

You’ve Got to Love Karma

Karma

Oh, you’ve got to love Karma.

I was driving down a residential street in my neighborhood.

It was a lovely spring morning.

People were outdoors playing ball, doing yard work and washing their cars.

Families with strollers and dogs were out and about.

Bicycles and joggers were out in droves.

So, of course, I drove very slowly and carefully.

Apparently I was driving too slowly and carefully.

A young lady, driving fast, screeched behind me, yanked around my car quickly and roared past in a fury.

Everyone yelled at her.

One guy chased after her.

Several people took a picture of her license plate.

I continued on slowly past the now-outraged crowd.

When I drove out of the neighborhood and turned onto the main street, the traffic was backed up for a passing train.

I pulled up right behind my speed-demon nemesis.

I honked and waved.

She flipped me the bird.

Whatever.

You’ve got to love Karma.

Categories
Diabetes Lifestyle

It Was A Great Day

 A Great Day

It was a great day!

We saw the Cubs at the Rangers yesterday.

What an exciting game!

It was tied at 10 in the bottom of the ninth.

The Rangers got a walk-off run on a wild pitch to end the game.

It was very disappointing for us Cubs fans.

Meanwhile, the weather was a very odd factor.

It’s been kind of cool these past few days, so I wore a heavy jacket.

When we arrived, our seats were in the sun.

It was hot, so I took off my jacket.

Soon enough, however, the sun shifted.

We sat in the shade for the rest of the game.

And froze our butts off.

I zipped up my jacket, pulled on the hood, and was very glad that I found some mittens in the pockets. 

I wished I had also found a scarf and a blanket.

As the Jumbotron scanned the crowd, the sunny-side people were seen wearing short sleeves and looking kind of sweaty.

The shady-side people, on the other hand, were seen wearing jackets and hats and were shivering.

It’s hard to believe we were all in the same stadium.

The only disappointing part of the day, aside from the shade-induced frostbite, was that Brandon Morrow didn’t pitch.

I’ve been following him for years.

Brandon Morrow is my hero.

He is a Type 1 Diabetic AND a world-class athlete.

There are other T1Ds that could be a role model for my kids.

But they’re not particularly relevant to a young man.

Mary Tyler Moore (who?).

Sonya Sotomayor (meh).

Nick Jonas (….fuggedaboudit)

But Brandon Morrow…

Now there’s an amazing role model for any T1D kid to emulate.

Sorry we missed you Brandon – we’ll be following you all season.

It was a great day!

Categories
Lifestyle

I Intended To Slack Today

Slack

I intended to slack today.

I wanted to spend the day in my pajamas, drinking coffee and reading a book.

Instead, I found myself mopping the floors.

I’m kind of disappointed in myself.

But don’t judge me.

I had a good reason.

No one was home.

It’s rare that no one is home.

And it’s the perfect time to clean the floors.

When they are all home, someone always walks across the wet floor and ruins it.

I’ll say, “Stay out of there for a few minutes, the floor is wet.”

And they’ll walk across the floor anyway.

They’ll say things like,

“I didn’t hear you.”

Or

“I heard you, but I thought you were talking to HIM, not me.”

Or

“Don’t worry, I was careful, I didn’t slip and fall.”

Well, I intended to slack.

I failed.

But I’ve got clean floors, so there’s that.

I’ll slack another time.

Categories
Lifestyle

A Buzzfeed Quiz Says That I’m a Genius

Genius!

I took a Buzzfeed quiz while I was waiting forever on hold.

The results said that I am a genius.

I laughed and laughed and laughed.

Wait, was that genius?

Or genus?

I guess I’ll have to take that quiz again to verify my results.

Or maybe I’ll just stick with genius.

Yeah, genius, that works.

I heard it on Buzzfeed so it’s gotta be true…

Categories
Lifestyle

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Happy birthday Dr. Seuss!

Back in the day, before he made it big, Dr. Seuss worked in the newspaper business.

My grandfather also worked in the newspaper business.

When my grandparents would have Ted over for dinner, he would always bring a book for my mom.

I love this edition of Horton Hatches the Egg.

Dr. Seuss inscribed it, and he drew my mom’s picture with Horton.

This inscription is not particularly valuable.

I checked.

But I am a nerdy book lover.

It’s one of my prized possessions.

Categories
Lifestyle

Fog Advisory

Fog Advisory

A heavy fog advisory was announced on the local news this morning.

I opened the front door to check out this North Texas fog.

I burst out laughing.

It was just a bit of mist in the air.

It’s not really fog until you can’t see the house across the street.

It’s not even a fog advisory until you can’t see the house next door.

I’m laughing now.

I won’t be laughing so hard come tornado season…

Categories
Lifestyle Work

Allergy Medication

Allergy Medication

When I take my allergy medication, I don’t sleep well.

When I don’t take my allergy medication, I can’t breathe.

Uggg.

Allergies.

Breathing…sleeping…

It’s a tough choice.

I haven’t been taking the medication lately.

I really do need to sleep.

But this morning my nose wouldn’t stop running.

I teach English on line.

I need my voice to be clear.

I need to be able to teach pronunciation properly.

Today we studied the /zh/ sound.

As in treasure, casual, vision…

You can’t pronounce /zh/ properly when you are congested.

I don’t want my students to learn English with a cold accent.

I took an allergy pill.

I may regret it later.

But the lesson went well, so there’s that.

Categories
Lifestyle

I Got Cold

I Got Cold

I got cold.

I put on a sweater.

I got hot.

I took off the sweater.

I got cold.

I got hot.

On, off, on, off.

All day long.

This time of year is kind of annoying like that.