Three things I'm loving this week:
1. Working on Good Friday...and any other holiday most other people are off. It's peaceful, it's quiet, there was almost no traffic this A.M. and no waiting at Tim Horton's. Even here at the paper, things are quieter, the printers are less busy (no waiting for proofs!) and our computer programs run faster because there are less staffers using them. I haven't gotten an e-mail in 2 1/2 hours -- not even a piece of junk e-mail. Woohoo.
2.Free birthday treats. I can't say I'm real enthusiastic about my birthday anymore. They were fun until...oh...about the 30th one. Now, not so much. BUT...here's some good news about birthdays -- they can earn you some cool free stuff. This site provides a list -- separate for adults, kids & pets -- to the places that offer free treats on your birthday. Word of caution: Signing up for all these "birthday lists" means you're on their mailing/marketing lists. Is it worth a free ice cream cone? You be the judge.
3. Beary Creative -- Erie's locally-owned build-a-stuffed-animal place. You can go to the pricey, brand-name Build-a-Bear in the mall and stand elbow-to-elbow, sweating from the body heat in that tiny space and spend $50 on a stuffed animal that they stuff for you OR...you can take a nice drive over to the west side of town (eastsiders...it's as easy as hopping on the Bayfront Hwy.) and spend $20 on an animal AND an outfit and support a local Erie family business. The birthday parties at Beary Creative rock, too -- $10 a kid and you get use of the playroom, the party room and each kid stuffs an animal.
Things I'm NOT loving this week:
1. My Yak Tracks. Tripped over the suckers yesterday. Actually...a wire from the Yak Track on my right foot caught the lace of my shoe on my left foot and...whammo...I went down...hard..on the crusty ice/slush crap that was all over the roads yesterday morning. Sure enough, by the time I got to work, I had two black and blue knees (not to mention a bruised right thigh and left elbow -- what the heck?). Just call me Grace. At least I didn't put a hole in my tights this time.
2. The airport runway extension debacle. Oh, dear God...isn't there anyone who can save Erie from itself? Sometimes it's just embarrassing to live here. This project needs a mother...a woman to come in...stop the boys from fighting, clean up the mess, delegate and get the job done. Period.
3. The Obama/Hillary fight. I realized that I'm officially sick of it this a.m. when Matt Lauer and gang were breaking down Obama's speech on racism, analyzing his later comments about the speech on a sports radio talk show and showing pictures that Obama's camp reportedly released of Bill Clinton embracing Obama's controversial pastor. No good can come of these two tearing each other apart. The GOP must be loving this. I'm completely sick of it -- and it's not even April.