smile!

Today, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Literally, Luke was barking like a madman at 5:45am after Claire left for work. Usually, he doesn't remember that I'm upstairs in the bed so he just hangs out in the backyard until I make noise in the kitchen and then he is reminded of my existence and barks to get in. But, today, he knew I was upstairs deep in slumber and was ready to see me. So, Luke's barking and I jumped out of bed on the other side than normal and went to wave my pointer finger in Luke's face. I leave him outside and go back to bed. Barking. A lot of barking. I storm back downstairs and wave my finger in his face a second time. Back in bed. Ah sweet silence, eeeerrrrhhh eeerrrrhhhh eeerrrrhhh, already time to get up?
So, since I was already kind of moody, I started thinking of things that irritate me. Probably not a great way to improve one's mood, but sometimes it's interesting to be pessimistic for a change. So, here's my list:
1. Houses on the highway. It never fails that a house is being carted on 20/59 towards Tuscaloosa. And the house takes up both lanes of traffic and does a frightening little sway that makes it difficult to get up the nerve to pass. And of course, to top it off, the little truck is always following behind with the 'oversize load' sign on the back. As if the enormous house meandering down the road didn't already catch my attention. Driving that ridiculous little truck behind an oversize load would have to be in my list of top ten worst jobs in the world.
2. Luke barking at 5:45 am. Still upset about that apparently.
3. Radio DJs talking in the morning instead of playing music. The last time I want to hear people chatting and laughing hysterically at their own jokes is in the morning. I want music and a sense of calm.
4. Cooking shows in the morning. This morning as I'm sitting in the student health center, Good Morning America (I think that's the show) is doing a cooking demonstration. Not of waffles and fruit or french toast. Nope, some kind of meat and vegetables. Made me kind of sick thata early in the morning.
5. What's worse than a political debate? Two politicians talking at the same time while apparently having a debate. How can you debate something when you can't even hear the other point of view?

Okay, that's all I came up with. I'm sure that are other things. But, that's enough of that.

On a happier note (I can't help myself), I did see a trailer filled with flats of pansies this morning. All those colors were just waving in the wind. My grandmother used to tell me that the black part in the middle of the pansy was a face and they were all smiling at me. I don't ever see a pansy without thinking of my grandmother.

And one time when I was little, my brother, Warren, was teasing me about something and called me a pansy. I replied, "Oh yeah, well, you're a sunflower." He burst out laughing while I just stood there waiting to find out what made a pansy different from any other flower. Ohhhhh.