Items on My Night Stand

  1.  lamp
  2. bottle of water
  3. Carmex
  4. 2 Prescriptions
  5. allergy medicine
  6. 5 different bracelets
  7. a ceramic box holding mismatched earrings
  8. 3 empty bowls
  9. 1 empty plate
  10. half a dozen napkins
  11. my college degree
  12. a bag of cough drops
  13. 3 AA batteries
  14. a thermometer
  15. paperwork for the website I write for
  16. a phone list from work
  17. anklet that says “Maui”
  18. prescription eye drops I haven’t used in 6 months
  19. 2 Tootsie roll wrappers
  20. blue plastic maracas from the Silvis Moonlight Parade last August
  21. coupons Caleb made for me when he was a kid
  22. 2 hair ties
  23. another box of allergy meds (different kind)
  24. cell phone bill

Thoughts On the Current Season of Survivor

  1. I am abundantly glad Colton is gone.
  2. Bad people get what is coming to them.
  3. Which means Alicia will soon get caught by karma too.
  4. Kim and Chelsea seem to be the only strategy-driven players left.
  5. Tarzan is as annoying as Coach was the first season he played.
  6. Christina is either a bigger person than I am, or a cloying yes-man.
  7. Jeff Probst gets hotter every season.
  8. It must be much more difficult while in the game to develop a clearer picture of your opponents.
  9. It’s cute and sadly mistaken how Jonas thinks he can be a leader now.

Love Survivor!!

Things I Miss About My BFF Wendy

  1. Her laugh – the way she would throw her head back and clap her hands together and laugh with her whole soul
  2. Her ability to get things done.  Now.
  3. Her willingness to stop whatever she was doing to do something more important for her friends.
  4. Her enthusiasm for life.
  5. Her refusal to let the cancer define her as a person.
  6. Her stubborness.  It’s a trait we share.
  7. Her slightly naughty sense of humor, which probably most of you didn’t get to see.
  8. Her all encompassing love for her children, all 5 of them.
  9. Lunch at Chi-chis.  Or Bishops.  Or Hardees.
  10. Girls time in DesMoines with all 3 of us BFFs
  11. The way she never ever ever complained about anything.  Not the cancer, not her divorce, not the chemo, not even at the end.
  12. Her drive and ambition.
  13. Her cream cheese mints.
  14. Planning events with her.
  15. When she would load up all the 8 million kids and take them to her house to make cookies.
  16. How she always told me the truth.  Always.  No matter whether I wanted to hear it or not.
The 3 of us - www.wendysbutterflygarden.com

Why St. Patty’s Day Was Awesome This Year

  1. My new “Feeling Lucky” / Lucky Charms t-shirt
  2. Joining the 20,000 people at Kelly’s Irish Pub & Eatery that day (Literally, they announced the number at the end of the night.)
  3. Skydiving Leprechauns
  4. Walking under tall people
  5. 1000 people singing “Living On a Prayer” at the top of their lungs
  6. The camraderie in the line for the women’s bathroom
  7. Green beer
  8. Screaming to talk to your friends
  9. Late night Village Inn
  10. Having my BFF in town

In Recognition of the Ides of March, Some of My Favorite Shakespeare Quotes

  1. “Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look.  He thinks too much.  Such men are dangerous.”
  2. “This above all: to thine own self be true.”
  3. “I am not bound to please thee with my answer.”
  4. “With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.”
  5. “Cowards die many times before their deaths.”
  6. “Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
  7. “Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.”

Most Interesting Texts in my Inbox

  1. “You text like a 2nd grader” – from my son Caleb
  2. “I’m behind the trees”- from KM
  3. Picture text, bicep tendon surgery – from RL
  4. Picture text, baby quilt, “R just finished Grace’s quilt!! It’s AWESOME!” – from SP
  5. “PS  Is this picture of pi make you want to come here sooner?” – from my 10 year old nephew AR
  6. “I had yeetg pilled aboug 30 monitrs ago. I cznt” – from another employee I’d texted about working
  7. “Teeth. Pulled. So many drugs.” – the next text from the same employee
  8. “Which part of the story? The resolution. If you meant store, I’m headed toward the front.” – from honorary son AD
  9. Picture text of handwriting, “What does the word ‘hearing’ say about me? I feel like I’ve been doing crazy stuff to my g’s lately which has to mean I’m secretly a lunatic.” – from KB
  10. “I just watched Survivor. Those women are STUPID!!” – from RD
  11. Picture text, aluminum cooking pot, “At IKEA buying pot” – from JD
  12. “We gage all the babies.”   followed up with  “I mean, we are on the way” – from Caleb
  13. 3 texts in a row:  “What?”  “Really?”  “This could be the stupidest move ever” – texting with my sister while watching Survivor
  14. 2 texts in a row: “What the f…?  They need to get rid of Colton.”  “Stupid!!!” – texting with JK during Survivor
The "pi" referred to in #5