He was my winter festive light assistant.

Stupid bugger took a nap on the back of the Windstar and fell of at a corner. his body was recovered:

FYI: Mr. Pinchy (or, simply Pinchy, to his friends) was also Homer's pet lobster. He was giving Pinchy a nice, hot bath when he accidentally cooked him. Homer ate him though with much sadness and butter.

Uncooperative cookies.

I've spent the past two days making some 300+ cookies for gift boxes going to friends and DH's coworkers.

The chocolate pinwheels and lemon drops turned out fine, but the raspberry pinwheels were an epic fail. (The raspberry jam just melted out the sides and burned onto the cookie sheet, making them not only tasteless but complete unpresentable.)

The mazurkas I made this morning -- meant to replace the raspberry pinwheels -- stubbornly refuse to cook through, despite being in the oven for almost twice as long as they needed to be. Gah!

There was a kangaroo on the side of the road just near the train station this morning which I wanted to get a pic of for you lot, but it hopped off before I could get the camera to turn on.

Not happy Jan!

I'm on the 12th day of some mutating disease that started out as bronchitis and has morphed to sinus crap. So desperate have I become to obtain relief (been through a cycle of antibiotics already - I could hear the offending viri and bacteria laughing inside my head), I bought a small tin of an herbal concoction from a friend of mine which she calls "sinus snuff". It is comprised of powdered bay leaf, cayenne, and two or three other kitchen herbs. She guaranteed it would cure me as long as I snorted it three to four times a day.

This stuff is mildly irritating to my sinuses when I snort it, but I can definitely say that so far, its working at least as well as the actual meds I've tried so far.

The other thing that's irritating me today is indigestion.

I know it's a natural progression as things continue to grow, but it's giving me the willies. I'm sick of eating chalk!

I'm mildly irritated by people in the secret santa thread not getting the point despite re-iteration, (BigV this especially applies to you, i like it better when you had me on ignore) but i don't want to hijack it any further so I'm going to rant here. My point is not that any sender would perceive the gift as lame (if they did they wouldn't deserve it anyway), but if you send a gift of the suggested value and then receive an awesome way-over-the-top gift, you might then perceive the gift you sent as lame in comparison and feel bad, a sentiment which was conveyed to me by one recipient last year. mmmmkay?

So are those of us who happen to disagree with you allowed to respond to the continuation of the argument in another thread then considering that obviously you don't seem to get the point despite re-iteration? Or do you get that $15 doesn't allow for international postage etc? Or that sometimes you might just see something that you think your giftee might really appreciate regardless of the value?

eta: for the record, the postage for my gift was $28 and it's not even large or heavy. That's just for some perspective.

I'm getting agift - I'm happy that someone cares enough to go through the trouble of getting me one - I don't care if its a $1.50 ornament. Its the thought that counts. I do understand what you are saying though Monster and I can relate.

Hackey McHackfuck two cubes down. For god's sake: ALL day, EVERY day, hacking her fool head off. I want to jam Robitussin down her throat. Why do noises bother me so much? THey do my dad too...he used to give me funny looks when I ate celery. I'm like "DAD, it's celery, I can't eat it quietly."

But seriously, her coughing up a lung all day is driving me bonkers.

And it's rainy and cold and I think I'm PMSing. :blush:

Well, add me to the list of the people irritating you today. *hack* *cough*

*nose-blowing*

Naah, this isn't "I have a cold" this is a way of life...I'm sure of it. I sympathize with sick people, and I really like this lady...but I've been here since what, Oct 20th, and every day I have had a moment where I'm thinking "oh please stop!"

Does anyone else get irritated by irritating noises, or can you pretty much shut them out?

*Every*sound* my brother ever made irritated me. Even his breathing.
Must be why we haven't spoken to each other in more than a decade.

Start one of these up and drown her out.

I would never irritate you by coughing & blowing my nose.

[sits working diligently at his computer, absentmindedly clicking and clacking with his stapler.]

By definition, yes, I am irritated by irritating noises. I often find sounds made by other people to be irritating. I'm not nearly as bothered by machine. sounds (cooling fans, relays clicking, etc.)