Jamie's Hero and Villain of the Week #23

June is already half way over, and this week is OVER!  As we do every week, let's celebrate the close of this Friday by looking back at the hero and the villain that made this stretch of time so memorable (?).

Hero of the Week:  Dunkin Donuts  

No, I didn't go on a donut binge this week, although that would have been yummy.  Instead, I ordered an iced coffee since America supposedly runs on Dunkin.  The coffee was decent, but what makes it amazing is that I got a free travel cup.  True, I didn't need another travel cup, but this cup has magic powers that enable me to get a $.99 refill for the rest of the year!  I do realize that it's a little bit ridiculous that I'm this excited to be paying a dollar for a cup of coffee that's mainly ice, but with the price of my beloved coffee skyrocketing, I'll take what I can get.  And if it comes in a cute reusable cup, so much the better!

Villain of the Week:  Insomnia

Ohmigoodness, I'm so tired!  I have not slept well this week, mostly I think because I'm bad at timing the taking of my allergy medication.  Whatever the reason, I'm tired and grumpy and unproductive.  I'm so groggy during the day that I can't focus on my work; then at night, I can't sleep more than a few hours.  One might think that I could get work done during the wee small hours , but no, my thoughts are not nearly coherent enough to accomplish anything.  I feel like Insomnia is a person who sits in the corner mocking me, all like, "Oh, you think you need to sleep every night?  What's that aboot?"  Insomnia happens to be fuzzy, blue, and Canadian.  It's also most definitely a villain.

I'm going to try to sleep before too long, so that's all from me for now.  I hope you all have a lovely and restful weekend!

Summer Fever

I am so proud of Kristen for finishing her first year as a third-grade teacher.  She worked so and had to put up with truly atrocious little children who whined and yelled and couldn't sit still.  I am so glad that she finally has a chance to rest and take some time for herself.  

Unfortunately, I don't have the summer off and all I want to do is hang out with her. Although I haven't worked nearly as hard as her all year, I still feel like it's time for me to have a break.  I think that I have a case of severe summer fever.  Summer fever is a very serious condition characterized by restlessness, increased daydreaming, lowered productivity, and intense craving for iced coffee.  Spring fever gets all the press, but I assure you that summer fever is just as real and very dangerous.  There should be a celebrity telethon to raise money for those suffering from this condition.  I'd plan it myself, but it sounds like a lot of work.

Sorting

I really hate those little plastic bead containers.  Every time I try to open it, the tiny glass beads go shooting everywhere.  They get all mixed together and discombobulated which makes it much more difficult to find what I'm looking for when embellishing cards.  Consequently, I spent over an hour today sorting teeny tiny little beads into their individual compartments.

This experience brought to mind the Harry Potter books, because I wish I had a singing hat to do all of my sorting for me.  I could just set it on the desk, and it would sing a fantastic little song, then all of the beads would be back in the appropriate place.  Instead, I just have a pair of long skinny tweezers.  It doesn't even have a British accent!  Just a lame Canadian accent which does nothing to help my mood.

I hope you all have had a less frustrating and more productive Monday than I have!

Jamie's Hero and Villain of the Week #22

Happy Friday everyone! Today's blog is a bit of an experiment since I'm trying to post it via email through my iPhone. We'll see how it goes, but please forgive any formatting and/or auto-correct issues until I can get to an actual computer.

Hero of the Week: Kittens
I mentioned last week that we have feral cats living under our front porch. While this is a source of endless frustration for my father, I'm delighted. Yes, Mamma Cat has the crazy eyes and is a little bit creepy. But the four little kittens are the cutest things ever! I go outside three or four times a day to look for them. I don't try to feed them or anything (I promise, Daddy); I just watch them run around and play. There are two black kittens with bright blue eyes that always play together; I call them Thing 1 and Thing 2. The little gray kitten stays very close to Mamma Cat, so I call it Rory. The forth kitten, which is gray with black stripes, is the bravest. He is most likely to wander into the open on his own. I feel like I might actually have a shot at getting to know this one, so I call him Fox (for serious, you need to read The Little Prince). It's my plan to spend more and more time outside every day so that they will get used to me and not spaz out and hiss like crazy Mamma Cat. Sure, it's highly possible that they'll remain afraid of me and either and leave for good or gang up on me like the hyenas in The Lion King. But for now there is hope, and while there is hope they will remain my fuzzy little heroes.

Villain of the Week: Writer's Block 
As you can tell, I haven't written much this week. And by much, I mean anything. I have, however, spent many hours staring at a blank computer screen. I wrote and erased many opening sentences and even stories, but for some reason, my thoughts would not gel. Then I couldn't even come up with a topic. My brain turned into a mushy boring pile of goo. Since I'm trying to make a living as a creative type, writer's block is one of the scariest villains I've faced in a while. Here's hoping that my brain comes back to life over the weekend!

That's all for now. I hope you all have a weekend that feels like school just got out for the summer!