1. Lying, stupid, lying, incompetent, misleading, lying, stupid Insurance Brokers who tell lies and are stupid*
2. Toilet paper holders in public bathrooms that have stoppers on them so you can only pull off 3 sheets at a time. I should not have to spend this long and this much effort acquiring an acceptable amount of material with which to wipe my butt.
3. Radio sound bites of cars honking. Those things have come close to running me off the road on many an occasion


*UPDATE: There is a good ending to the story. Continental General Life Insurance is great. Even though they were under no obligation to refund my money because it wasn’t their fault my policy wasn’t canceled when I canceled it, they sent me a check in the mail with a letter entitling me to a full refund. I explained the situation to them and three days later I had a check in my mailbox.

I am STILL waiting on the check Benefits Direct promised me over a MONTH AGO. Ahem.

So…what pisses you off?

Button punched me square in the eye yesterday.

Fortunately, I know it was an accident. We were on the floor and she was playing with my face (a favorite activity for some reason) and she tripped, landing a fist to the face.

Unfortunately, J doesn’t have the same confidence in her intentions. He’s convinced that she’s got it in for him, and I’m beginning to wonder myself. She’s become very good at beating him up. She’ll poke him in the eye, pull his hair, manage to step on/collide with the … er… sensitive parts of his body.

And all when he least expects it. She walks over under the ruse of wanting to point out the features on his face, and POKE - right in the eye. She’ll finger his hair (another favorite activity) really gently, then YANK!

J has a large wound on his shin right now, the result of a softball game gone wrong. He was sitting on the edge of the tub yesterday morning in shorts and she walked right over and dug her fingernail into it.

Then yesterday evening they were both hanging out on the couch (and he was wearing jeans, so the scab and enormous surrounding bruise were not visible). She was sitting calmly, looking around. Suddenly, she whipped her arm up and SLAM! Right on the bad shin, right on top of the wound.

That’ll teach him to deny the M&Ms.

Hey, good news! I’ve been offered (and have of course accepted) a job as part of the Weblog Design Studios team! WDS is the place to go to get great designs for all kinds of blogs. When I see a great template on the web, most of the time I find that it has come from WDS.

I have moved my premade templates to their website and have already sold one. For the most part, I’m going to be doing PSD layout work to start, since that’s what I have more experience with. But I hope to move into full-fledged designing soon, once I master the coding aspect of the other blogging platforms.

Feel free to check out their site - you won’t be disappointed! And they’re still looking for designers so if you have the skills, head on over there and apply.

For the longest time, Button has shown no interest in any word other than Bah. Everything is Bah. Ball? Bah. Fish? Bah. Puppy? Bah.

Today, she said her first non-bah word, while asking to be lifted onto the couch.

Me: What do you want? Do you want up?

Button: UP!

Me: Did you say Up? Did you actually say a word that didn’t start with “B”??? GOOD JOB!!! Can you say it again?

Button: BUP!

Well, it’s a start anyway.

There are times when I am completely in awe of the strength some people are able to display.  I thank God regularly for my healthy, happy, beautiful baby.  It seems that there is no measuring stick with which fortune is dealt out or held back.

I didn’t know Jackson, and I doubt I will ever meet his parents.  But I have the utmost respect for two people who could endure what they have been through and watched their son go though.

He’s so tiny on that hospital bed hooked up to all those tubes and machines.  As a human being, it breaks my heart.  As a mother, it’s almost unbearable.

Bill and Lindsey, my prayers are with you.