Screw the Earth

WalMart is going the way of the environmentally friendly. They're no longer packaging their half & half and heavy whipping cream in plastic bottles. They've gone back to the 70's, it seems. I remember these pseudo-cardboard cartons from my youth. I hate them. I hate that they don't have a cap that'll just pop/screw off. I hate that I have to open them the old fashioned way (I always seem to rip the cardboardy stuff). I hate that these old school cartons never tightly close again.

Argh.

I hate to have to pay more for my fatty milk products, but I'm gonna have to see if Safeway still carries cream in a plastic bottle. I don't care if the plastic bottle is non-biodegradable and I am the sole contributor to a land-fill full of plastic cream bottles, I WANT MY CREAM IN A RE-CLOSABLE BOTTLE, dangit!

End of rant. (And aren't you glad?)

I think I'll go and pick up a 32 oz Coke at Circle K now. (Did I tell you that they went back to styrofoam? I'm their biggest fan right now. I heart styrofoam cups, because they keep my drink colder longer.)

And now that I've made that additional statement about my love of styrofoam, I think I'm really done. Thank you for listening.

End of rant. (Officially and truly, this time.)

Anybody want a cat?

Frankie's on 48 hour notice.

I'm not even kidding. I figured I'd offer her up to my friends and family and give ya'll an option to claim her for your own before I just dropped her back at the pound. She has come to the point where she needs either someone who is home more than I am, and/or an outdoor litter box and/or scratching post. I've been dealing with her scratching up the arm of the couch for nigh onto a year now, but since she's recently taken to "doing her business" in places other than the potty ... she's dead to me.

She went through a phase last week, but I thought we were over it. (I'd gone straight from working 12 hour days to being in Utah for 5 days and then back to work, which screwed with her schedule.) We'd had a good long talk about her needing to go potty in the potty last weekend and I was pretty sure she'd finally learned English and she understood that if she didn't shape up, I was soooo sending her back to the slammer. But alas, she has forgotten all about that conversation. She's NOT going in the litter box, so I figure she's doing it somewhere else - but I can't find where in order to rub her nose into oblivion in it. Stupid dumb idiot cat. I gave her a chance. I even spoke calmly to her when I layed out the options.

She's generally a good girl. She just needs someone who's home more than I am. So.... any takers?

S-N-O-W

Snow is a four letter word.

I mean, it's pretty from the sky (when I was flying into SLC, I thought "ooh, that's so pretty!"), it was beautiful in its pristine glory at the temple (I thought "Shelly's so lucky to have this beautiful, perfect snow as a backdrop in her wedding pictures!"), I thought it was absolutely lovely as I drove down from the airport to American Fork yesterday (I thought "it's like a literal winter wonderland... I can't believe I'd forgotten how absolutely gorgeous fresh, clean snow is!").

And then it started to snow last night - as I was driving home from the reception - down hills, and roads that look like they haven't been cleared in 1,000 years... and I started to have very different thoughts on the matter of snow. Very different thoughts indeed. And since I know that my mother (along with varied and assorted other friends & relations who read this blog) would be shocked and appalled if I told you the actual words I was using as I was driving down hills, on said roads, I'll spare you the details. But rest assured, S-N-O-W has been added to my ever increasing list of 4 letter words. And right now it's beating most of them out. The usual top offenders: camp, dirt, tent, fish, hike, etc... have been replaced with what I have decided is the most insidious of all weather issues.

Because snow is so darn pretty, it was easy to forget how much I hate it. But now that I've been in it again, the memories have come back full force. (And not many of those memories are happy ones, let me assure you.) And I'll be in it for the next 3 days. Driving at least twice during that time frame. Egads and Heaven help us all! (Yeah, I'm not kidding. Any and all prayers are greatly appreciated.)

How on Earth....?

Yet another testament to the importance of having a copy editor on staff. (Mind you, I'm pretty sure that the person who wrote this caption is the same person who owned & operated the local paper, sent the copy to print, and then distributed the newspaper from behind the counter of the one & only gas station in town as he/she sold Big Gulps to fellow townspeople, so I shouldn't judge too harshly.) But honestly... this was in the paper?