Oh Help

After my sunny (pun intended) prediction recently that spring was finally here, I find myself hoisted on my own petard and spent Thursday and Friday glowering at a fresh coating of snow. I know, I know, it melted before the end of the day yesterday and what am I complaining about but honestly, it just seemed a bit much. We're well past the first day of spring (and I firmly believe we need to reasses that whole March 21st thing) and Easter is a distant memory so the snow just seemed somehow cruel. And it put me back on the garage project as it was too dang cold out there to get anything accomplished. On the up side, the basement can be called finished (not "finished") but the project from the previous month can be checked off the list. Whew!

I told the grand garage plan to my friend Terri (the one with the bird, more on that later) and she's decided we need to have a garage sale in my garage. I'm planning to put her off as long as humanly possible as I loathe the idea of having a garage sale. It simply seems like an awful lot of time and effort for very little return unless you're selling either hard drugs or stolen merchandise out of your backyard. She's got lots of stuff and very little useable space, I have the space and not as much stuff...together we're a dream team. I know I will ultimately give myself over to the inevitable, but will fight it as long as I can.

My husband and youngest are as, if not more, ready for spring than I am. They started seeds a couple of weeks ago and we now have corn, carrots, peppers, dill and cucumbers growing in cups on the kitchen table. All was well until the cats decided this was a buffet set out just for them and have since been dining regularly on the tiny shoots peeking out of the potting soil. We've attempted to protect them with varying degrees of success and I'm currently plotting against the cats in a variety of ways.

On that note, I know I mentioned my friend Terri's recent acquisition of a Mynah bird...that talks. She and her kids think this is wonderful, her husband and the dogs beg to differ. The bird not only talks, but actually mimics voices rather well and has both Terri and her daughter's voices down pat. This is leading to some confusion as the bird likes to call both husband and dogs from its home by the kitchen door. The poor dogs are becoming complete head cases and the bird repeatedly asks them if they want to go out. You know what happens in doggie brains the moment they hear the word "out"...a certain response (call it an urge) kicks in and their need becomes rather desperate. I'm sure the bird knows this and is enjoying torturing these hapless canines but I doubt the dogs are going to weather this well at all. Her husband, on the other hand. is trying hard to teach the bird to say Terri's name so she can have just as much fun as he's currently enjoying. Petty revenges are sweet, but must be used with care.