Woohoo! New season of Burn Notice starts tonight!
I ended up getting up at 5:07 (what? I looked at the clock when I rolled out of bed. Like you don’t?) yesterday morning because the kittens heard Fred moving around downstairs and started howling for some love. So I got up, gave ’em some love, and then wandered aimlessly around the house. I finally got around to straightening up my room – I’ve been piling stuff on top of the dresser for ages now. When I was done clearing off the top of my dresser, I went ahead and started going through the clothes in my dresser, pulling out some stuff to stick in the closet ’til it’s cold again, and digging shorts out of the container they’re stored in, in the closet.
I swear, this state – one week it’s, like, 50 degrees out and I’m bitching about how cold I am, and the next week it’s 97 degrees (it was NINETY-SEVEN DEGREES on Monday!) The clothes I wore two weeks ago are too damn hot to wear now. Not that I’m complaining (much), I’d rather be hot than cold, I’m just saying I could use a more gradual lead-in from the 50s to the 90s.
I rearranged the closet, and then tried on some jeans I’d stuck on a shelf to see if I liked them any more than I had. I decided to bring two pairs of jeans out of retirement, and leave the third pair on the shelf. Maybe some day I’ll love them – more likely, in 15 years I’ll say “Why am I holding on to these?!” and donate them somewhere.
Then I rearranged the other closet, which is filled with shipping supplies – boxes, bubble wrap, styrofoam peanuts, stuff like that. Hey, I have to be prepared for when the Habaneros come in and I can resume making Habanero jam!
(I will most likely wait ’til the Fall to actually start making jam, actually. In case you were wondering.)
When I was done, I looked at the windows, thought about getting out the supplies to clean them, and decided I’d done quite enough of that nonsense for the day.
I had to run out to the shelter to get supplies for the kittens, so on the way I dropped off stuff at the recycling center, then ran by the post office to check for mail since I hadn’t done so in a couple of weeks. The person who previously had that PO Box was apparently a mother, because she (I suppose it could be a man, for that matter – they’re addressed to Micheal, so I don’t know how that’s pronounced. Like Michael, or like Michelle, or some third option I’m not thinking of?) receives three or four parenting magazines and Entrepreneur magazine every month. I’d forward them to him or her, but I have no forwarding address (and I made a mental note of his/ her name, but do you think, all these hours later, I can remember what the surname was? Swear to god, if I don’t write shit down, it’s lost forever in the recesses of my brain.).
What would y’all do if you were receiving someone else’s magazines, magazines that could not be less interesting to you?
(In the interest of full disclosure, if they were Rolling Stone or US or People or something along those lines, I’d likely bring them home and read them. Since they’re Parenting and Parents and Entrepreneur, I toss them in the recycling container.)
I s’pose I could start with remembering his/ her last name next time I get one and see if I can’t locate their physical address, but I’m not holding out a lot of hope that that’ll get me anywhere.
Nothing in the PO box was for me – WOE! – and I headed for the shelter. I got there in record time, checked out the kittens (there’s a little girl kitten who is a dead ringer for Dwight, complete with an astounding amount of energy), chatted with the shelter manager for a little while, got my supplies, and then came home.
We actually had a little rain late in the afternoon (Weatherman Fred announced that that makes two days in June when we had rain), but not a lot, and the garden kind of needed it.
But alas, it made the garden wet enough that it wouldn’t really make sense for me to go out there and weed. And I think that when I report to you that I counted 23 mosquito bites on the backs of my thighs from when I weeded on Sunday and Monday, you can imagine how heartbroken I am not to go out there and weed again this morning.
Speaking of mosquitos – tell me about your favorite mosquito repellent, whether it be homemade or something you buy in the stores. What works amazingly well for you? Because these bites are driving me NUTS and I’d like to prevent any more from happening, thank you.
Such a pretty boy.
“Pipe down, Phyllis, this one is mine!”
LOVE his crooked little whiskers.
Dwight jumped over to the window sill and Creed does NOT approve.
I call this one “Princess Monkeybutt with Eye Boogers.”
Sugarbutt was laying on the bed when Miz Poo came up and lay down right next to him. On PURPOSE. I was afraid to look directly at them because I’ve never seen such a thing.
(Sugarbutt’s collar is for the electric fence in the back yard – it keeps him from wandering. Miz Poo’s collar is to prevent her from overgrooming.)
Previously
2008: I KNOW it’s just nature and instinct and all that, but it still PISSES ME OFF.
2007: That whole separating-laundry stuff is a line of bullshit perpetrated upon the American woman in an attempt to KEEP HER DOWN.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: Styrofoam peanuts = pure evil.
2003: It’s got to be the hormones in the air, that’s all I can guess.
2002: No entry.
2001: We call them the Naysayers.
2000: No entry.
What about returning the magazines to the company sending them out saying it’s no longer the right address? Would save you the hassle of recycling them all the time. I get loads of mail for previous tennants of my house and am constantly sending things back. Takes two or three times with some companies but they eventually get the hint.
LOVE Burn Notice! What a great show!
It’s a little bit of trouble, but you can usually cancel magazine subscriptions online with just the information on the address label. You’d have to do a little research to find the magazine websites but from there it’s usually a 5 minute process.
I did that recently for some free subscriptions I was getting that were not worth the paper they were printed on (Cosmo, I’m looking at you) and immediately felt better afterward. That stupid magazine just irritated me every single month.
Miz Poo looks like one of those people who fake neck injuries in order to collect a settlement. Hee!
Woo hoo for Burn Notice!!!!
Miz Poo is obviously seeking out the one cat that can truly empathize with her situation. If I had that thing around my neck, I’d slink up to anyone, anywhere that I thought could just look at me and go, “I know” with any kind of sincerity. Poor Poo.
Hey Robyn. One of my clients told me to use Listerine as a bug repellant. She said to put it in a spray bottle and mist yourself. I haven’t tried it myself just yet, but plan on doing so.
Avon Skin So Soft, original (putrid) scent. For the mosquitos.
Bounce! Just rub a Bounce dryer sheet all over you and they will not even land! It is amazing. I did it to the little one last year for a test and I would watch them fly up to about an inch away and then take off. Then tuck the sheet in a pocket *I generally tuck it in the waistband so it is hanging out a bit*. I tried an off brand and it didn’t work nearly as well. While you are avoiding the skeeters, you smell yummy too! I know, it sounds ridiculous. My grandma told me about it a few years ago and now it seems I see it all over about that trick. She also taught me other tricks… like how to not get a pot to boil over and how to cut an onion and it not make you cry. Why why why couldn’t she have told me those things years ago?!?!?!?!?
I also got some Benadryl in a stick so when you do get a bite, dab the Benadryl on it and it doesn’t itch and simply goes away.
Avon Skin-So-Soft is the best I have used. As an added plus it smells great.
For outdoors on a patio table our friend uses those off coil things and they seem to work pretty well. I get eaten alive and my husband barely gets a bite. Pisses me off. I’d like to try the listerene and maybe the Bounce sheet. I’m allergic to a lot of detergents etc. so I’d try the bounce sheet on one small spot first. I hate the thought of the commercial bug sprays on my skin-the feel and smell too. I would love it if the listerene works for me-it sounds a lot more pleasant and natural.
Princess Monkeybutt with eye boogers and Pipe down PHyllis this is mine had me ROFL.
It’s raining here but I’m glad because it’s cool enough to have the a/c off and enjoy some fresh air.
Easiest bug repellent ever… crush ferns in the palm of your hand, then smear it around. Easy, quick, and doesn’t kill my allergies like perfume-y bounce or avon stuff.
Have you tried turning the magazines into the postal employees at the counter? I know if they are putting the mail in your box, it doesn’t seem like they have a current mailing address for the last renter…but it might be worth a try.
I don’t have a particular favorite mosquito repellent but a friend of mine who was in the Special Forces down in Guam or someplace mosquito-y tropical told me that if you eat bananas it attracts mosquitoes. Something about the way the body processes banana drives the suckers nuts and they’ll flock to you like kids to the ice cream man.
Poor Miz Poo – she looks miserable. I cannot get you any advise on mosquito repellent. I’m a natural attractent and nothing works for me. What’s worse, I welt up horribly from mosquito bites. It keeps me indoors.
Everyone’s suggestions sound great and will probably work but I just read somewhere(garden blog probably) that if you plant marigolds, skeeters will not come near. Apparently they hate the smell of them?
I give our old magazines to my Mom. She reads them and then takes them to work and puts them in the break room. You could collect them up and then drop them at a retirment home (for the money type mag) or some kind of community center where there might be parents. I sometimes take them to work and leave them in our breakroom also.
I have a request for you Miz Robyn. I need a little favor and you are just the person with the skills to meet my needs.
I am in need of a private go to rant/mantra that I can recite to myself, silently since I usually need it at work. The rant needs to be foul, aimed at the useless, talentless, asshat mother####### who make my life miserable through their stupidity. I could have used it 3 times this morning before 8 AM. I need your help Obi-Wan. You are my only hope!!!!!
ooooh good idea Elaine! I’m sure a women’s shelter could really use them. Although, my first thought was to call the company and let them know the address is no longer valid (I don’t think they’ll do the “return to sender” thing on magazines) Maybe they have an email or phone number that will work so they can contact the people.
Poor Poo! She looks Joan Kuzak in Sixteen Candles. I want to see her use a drinking fountain and wipe her mouth with the dress tacked on her t-shirt. hehe.
Oops – and also, seriously, the weather?! Woke up at 2 a.m. to what appeared to be bombing. Turns out it was SEVERE thunderstorms. Every time the thunder crashed I’d dig my nails into the fiance’s leg. I bet he wishes he hadn’t woken me up. I’d have slept right through it.
I’d think you’d handle the magazines the same way you’d handle misdirected mail at home–mark not at this address and let the P.O. take care of it.
1. There’s a new Off clip on thing that you can wear. I saw the commercial and it looked interesting. I have no idea how well it works.
http://www.offprotects.com/clip-on-mosquito-repellent/
2. I would tell the post office employees about the old mail.
Robyn, could you handle taking a Vitamin B (complex) supplement? Vit B makes your blood smell and taste terrible to mosquitoes. I haven’t been bitten by a mosquito in about 20 years. And they used to LOVE me.
Some doctor I used to go to recommended Avon SSS also. Along with about a million other people. 🙂
I have to be careful with Estee Lauder fragrances during the warm months. They attracts gnats in droves. The gnats don’t bite, but they’re mighty annoying.
Our post office has a slot JUST for mail that doesn’t belong to us in our PO boxes. Maybe ther eis one their too. I would put a slash thru the name and put moved in pen. That should get their attention.
I WANT Creed! lol
Poor Poo! 🙁
I was also going to suggest donating the magazines to anyplace with a waiting room.
My local library has a free magazine box. Sometimes my neighbor gives me parenting magazines and I swear those disappear in the five minutes it takes me to go into the library and pick up the books on hold for me.
If you sit next to me, they will leave you alone.
I think Sugarbutt looks like he’s “waiting for the shoe to drop” and Miz Poo will institute a smackdown! Also, why not sell your extra tomato sauce, like you did the HabJam?
Hard to believe Suggie was that tiny sick kitty when you first got him. He’s one powerful looking guy now.
I would give the magazines to a postal employee, but if the subscriber cared about them, they would have changed their addy. I think.