Is it Just Me..... Part Deux

So Ryan told me that my last post accomplished two things: I let everyone know I was having a bad day by ranting and that I proved I was a dork by comparing segments of the Star Wars and LOTR trilogies. He's right on both counts. I'm not embarrassed to admit I'm a dork (because he is one, too), but I after re-reading the post, I am embarrassed by how negative it was. So here's my positive "Is it Just Me...." post.

Is it Just Me.....

......or are Jane Austen's stories really not that bad? (I know, that's not truly positive, but it's as positive as I can get about Jane Austen.) I never could get all the way through "Pride and Prejudice" and I've tried twice: once as a teenager (yay for Cliff's Notes) and once last year. I never made it past Chapter 3, but I did check this out of the library last week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I just might have to try the book again.

......or is Colin Firth one of the best and cutest actors EVER? I've loved everything I've seen him in, even when he played a jerk in "Shakespeare in Love", and it was perhaps his starring role in the movie linked above that made me check it out in the first place. If you're a fan of "Friends", you'll understand when I say I think he just scored a place on my "List".

......or does watching your kids accomplish something difficult help you keep plugging away with all of the hard work of parenting? Seeing Liam crawl and Sydney sound out words and actually read them ("I did it!! I did it!!") kind of gave me a second-wind of sorts this week.

......or is ice cream the absolute best invention EVER? Next to air conditioning, of course. I think I'm addicted to ice cream and we don't even have it all that often. Just thinking about it makes me salivate a la Homer Simpson and his donuts.

.....or is yard work an activity that can actually be fun? I spent a couple of hours pulling weeds and raking last weekend and enjoyed myself. Of course, my iPod shuffle helped keep me going; I just love being "surprised" with the songs it selects. Were it not for the gallon of bug spray I had to use to ward off pterodactyl-sized mosquitoes and the buckets of sweat that poured off of body parts I didn't know I had, I think yard work could actually rank right up there with reading and cooking as one of my favorite activities.

And in more positive news - our car is back! It has a new hood, bumper, radiator and other innards that I don't know the names of and it looks and runs great! We paid a grand total of $38 to have the side mirror replaced since it was a casualty of my ill-fated Monday Morning Garbage Can Obstacle Course run and not the wreck, but that's it. Our insurance took care of the rest and it's now up to them to haggle with the other guy's insurance. And our insurance turned down his claim to repair his car. HA!

So how's that for being positive?