2/11/08 Monday Five

Normally, I talk about just one thing that's going on, but I'm a bit all over the place today, so we're going with a list of little things. Think of it as a Ten on Tuesday, but only on Monday. And only 5. And more random. First on the list is:

1. Happy Birthday Dad! It's officially the Old Fart's birthday today! (Old Fart has a story to it. Apparently about 27 years ago, he referred to his father as an old fart too, so I make a point to carry on the tradition. He really appreciates that).

2. Okay, the not complaining thing? Sooo hard! Maybe even harder than giving up chocolate, because the complaint seems to pop out of my mouth before I'm even aware of it. I've tried to turn it around by instead thinking of why I'm grateful about the thing I'm complaining about, but it's taking practice. Apparently, I am a whiner and didn't know it.

3. I started my Cheerios diet too. I've seen the commercial a couple of times now about eating Cheerios every day for 6 weeks to lower your cholesterol, but when I went on their website to find out the details (do they mean once a day, or for every meal? Do frosted cheerios count?) I couldn't find anything. Sure, the website says that they're good for your health, but not how often you should eat them. I'm assuming one serving (1 cup), once a day for breakfast. It occurs to me that I haven't had Cheerios for YEARS. I was never really a cold cereal fan growing up. I think it was just too early in the morning for me to want to eat anything before school. Anyway, today I had my little bowl of cheerios with 1 cup of skim milk and one banana, and it was pretty good. Surprisingly filling. One day down, 39 more days to go. Take that bad cholesterol!

4. We had the most beautiful weather here this weekend! Sunny and high of 55 with blue skies and puffy white clouds. (It's amazing how happy I am when the sun is out. I really am solar powered). I played outside all day Saturday. I'm building a storage shed for all my garden supplies, and all I have left is to put the hinges/knobs on the doors. Mom gave me her old deep sink, which also fits quite nicely beside it. That will be perfect for all my planting and watering needs. Ya'll, my back porch rocks! I can't wait until spring gets here and I can officially start planting.

5. Speaking of spring planting, is anybody out there a squirrel expert? I have a squirrel question. There are a few squirrels in my yard, and they've developed the bad habit of digging up my bulbs in the flowerbeds. I've been thinking about putting a squirrel feeder with the dried corn up in my back yard, far away from my bulbs. My question is, will the lure of the corn keep them out of my beds? Or will it just attract more neighborhood squirrels who, after a tasty corn cob lunch, will work it off with some bulb digging exercises? Anybody have a guess? Or better, a way to keep my bulbs underground where they belong in the first place?

I could go on with more random randomness, but 5 seems like a good stopping point. (And I'm hoping that the squirrel question is still fresh so that you'll answer and stop the bulb madness. My tulips are counting on you). And be sure to say happy birthday to Dad.