Fruity Pebbles & Kleptomania

Soooo - we live in Cereal City..... on any given day you can smell the sweet smell of some of your favorite cereals. Although Fruity Pebbles is a Post cereal, and I'm no longer allowed to eat it (only kidding).... I was pleasantly surprised as I walked into the Y tonight to smell nothing other than Fruity Pebbles all throughout the air. It was awesome. Fruity Pebbles was definitely my favorite childhood cereal. I could eat half a box for breakfast.... let's remember, they are small boxes. hahahaha. I can remember being excited to get out of bed to get up and open a fresh box of Fruity Pebbles. If my brothers were reading this blog, they would tell you that I also slurped my cereal. I think I eventually grew out of this (I did), but I can remember them telling my mom that they couldn't eat breakfast at the same table if I didn't stop slurping. hahahaha. I'm thinking now that it was my innocent way of getting back at them for the beatings, the pillow suffocating, and other gross things that only older brothers do to their younger siblings.

Kleptomania (Greek: κλέπτειν, kleptein, "to steal", μανία, "mania") is an inability or great difficulty in resisting impulses of stealing.

Our dog, Snickers - a kleptomaniac. We still haven't gotten the invisible fence transmitter - we were hoping we could do without it. We will be getting one, very soon, though. It is very cold and snowy here almost every day, so we have been letting Snickers out on his own fairly often. Our neighbors next door like to leave their garage door open fairly often, as well. Snickers has discovered this wonderful treasure. They have 2 younger kids, so there all kinds of treasures inside the garage that he thinks he HAS to have for himself. He has stolen a ball, mittens, stocking cap, socks...and probably other things that we do not know about it. The reason I believe he is a klepto is because of the sheer joy that spreads across his face as he races from their garage back to our yard, as fast as he can, with his new treasure in tow. Unfortunately when he arrives I have to take it from his mouth and ruin his joy, and return the items to their rightful owners. He's going to be so mad when he can't leave the yard anymore!!! It will be nice not to have to worry about our neighbors hating us, though.

Well - that is all for today!

6 Minutes of your Day, 99 Balloons They will Never Forget

What a touching testament to the value of every life....even if it is only 99 balloons worth. Every day is a gift!! I was reading in a magazine recently that if you see a child/person with Down's Syndrome, give them a hug...... because 78% of babies with down syndrome are aborted before they even have a chance at life.

Four Things

I've been tagged by Heather --- these are fun!! :)


4 jobs I've had:
1. The Berean Bookstore
2. Walt Disney World - Conservation Research Internship
3. Tate & Lyle
4. Butler Animal Health (right now!)


4 movies I've watched over and over:
1. The Cutting Edge
2. Shag
3. The Parent Trap - original version w/Hayley Mills
4. Meet the Parents/Meet the Fockers



4 places I have lived:
1. Central Illinois
2. Orlando, FL....which interestingly enough could be considered "central" FL
3. South-Central PA
4. South-Central Michigan


4 shows I watch: ....only 4??
1. The Office
2. Lost
3. American Idol
4. Grey's Anatomy



4 places I've been:
1. St. Lucia
2. Playa Del Carmen
3. Mexico City - for work, not a destination.
4. New York City


4 favorite things to eat:
1. Pizza
2. French Fries
3. Sugar cookies with icing
4. Banana Salad... Mmmm... thanks Aunt Vera!!!


4 places I'd rather be:
1. Somewhere warm and toasty, snowless
2. Hanging with friends & family
3. Sweatin' to the Oldies - hahahaha
4. On the Rock Boat - it's a cool cruise w/Rock Bands like the BoDeans, Pat McGee Band, Josh Kelley, etc...


4 things I look forward to this year:
1. Summer in Michigan - we have MORE lakes than Minnesota does.
2. Meeting up with friends/family in D-town, or elsewhere
3. Heather's adoption referral - she's having a baby this year!! :)
4. ...... taking guitar lessons??

And they were out of Milk Duds.....

We have had a wonderful "Holiday" from work!! I feel like I can finally use that term... usually Europeans have long holidays - and we managed to have quite a nice break ourselves. It turned out that we only had to take 3 days off of work, but gained well over a week of time off - if you include the weekends!

Our journey started out with leaving Snickers in Decatur. My mom & R and my dad tooks turns watching him while we were in Austin, TX visiting Dave's family. Thankfully we were able to see Joe, Maritza & Jimmy (my nephew) before they headed back to CA. The picture above is how Snickers looks when we leave... quite pathetic, as if to say, "where are you guys going without me, NOW!" Anyway - we had a wonderful time in TX where it was very seasonable. It was fun to see how much our niece, Ava, has changed - she is talking now, and has quite a bit to say. We also finally got to meet Dakota, he is the newest Harder that was born in August. We arrrived back to Decatur without any flight complications - we spent a few days visiting some more with friends and family - then we headed back to Michigan to relax before returning to work tomorrow (Jan 2).

Our New Years Eve started out a little rocky, well actually - just for me!! We decided to go see a movie...and they were tragically OUT of Milk Duds. I truly feel that I am missing the movie-going experience if I do not have my Milk Duds. But, luckily - we went to see National Treasure and it was SO good that I forgot all about my Milk Duds. I am wondering though, why they think it is okay to run out of Milk Duds.... I'm sure they never run out of popcorn or drinks!! Additionally, at $2.00/box... WHYon earth would you run out? Regardless, this is a lesson to myself to start saving my money by purchasing my milk duds elsewhere before we arrive at the theatre.

ANYWAY - we had a WONDERFUL New Years Eve. One of our neighbors invited us over, and they were having some other neighbors and friends over. We weren't sure at first, since we didn't know them very well - but, we decided it might be fun - and it certainly was!! The time flew by so fast we were counting down before we knew it!! Lots of yummy food, games, and laughs. (They even had Karaoke!!) ha.

It was the most beautiful New Years Eve that I can remember. It was snowing from about 8:30pm until morning...we watched as the beautiful snow accumulated outside. One-by-one neighbors and friends began to leave, and so we headed out as well sometime between 1-2am. One of our neighbors that left about 10minutes before us was out shoveling his driveway as we walked out. He has helped us numerous times with our driveway, so Dave and Snickers put on their gear and headed out to shovel at 2am!!! ha. Brings new meaning to "No Time Like the Present!"

Snickers loved all of the snow...he absolutely adores it. So, here are a few pictures of how Snickers looks in and after the snow. Somehow he accumulates snowballs in is fur, that just won't come off until they melt. Meanwhile, he won't sit down and he walks around like a person that wet themselves - because he is just so uncomfortable. It's quite humorous, actually.