The good, the bad, and the muddy

The Good: Temps are still pretty warm with it getting above freezing these last few days.

The Bad: As soon as I wrote that last post about the glorious sun, if promptly went away. We've had nothing but rain, wind, and gloom since. We've even had some new snow!

The Muddy: Mud boot season is back! The slushy muddy meltwater, combined with the rain as of the last couple of days has made for huge puddles in the middle of most of the parking lots in town, including my own driveway. Unless you want your shoes covered in mud, it's best to just break out the mud boots. Avery, however, refuses to wear mud boots which annoys me completely. He is ruining his shoes...I get the whole...I'm 13 and WAY to cool for mud boots thing. But it still annoys me.

The Good: Melt water means spring. It means the breakup of the river and the continuation of another season of life. Here is one of the streams cut into the dirt road by the school. It is kind of cool to see these little streams rushing by with the days melt water. The light, wistful sound of water is all around.

The Bad: The downfall is that they sometimes create huge gaping trenches in the roads that are treacherous, if not impossible, to safely cross in a vehicle.

The Muddy: Well, just look at it...it's muddy.

The Good: I can actually see my front porch again. It is warm enough for Taboo to go outside for extended time periods on his chain.

The Bad: Taboo WHINES constantly to be put out on his chain. The melting snow uncovers all of the dirt and trash that has collected over the winter. All of the dog poop that has been covered by snow all winter is starting to show itself.

The Muddy: This is the time of year when I start having to clean up muddy paw prints near the front door. Why didnt I train him to wipe his feet?

The Good: We finally found out what is wrong with my truck...the catalytic converter is clogged and needs replaced. Fortunately the cat has its own warranty, so it is still covered. The parts have been shipped. In an attempt to fix the truck before we knew what was wrong with it, a friend put on new spark plugs, new coil wires, changed the oil and filter, and replaced an O2 sensor. So, it should run really well once it's fixed. A friend of mine is out of town for the weekend and has loaned me her car to get around in for a few days, which is totally awesome!

The Bad: My truck is still in the shop. It's been almost a month now. I have to pay the labor up front and wait to get reimbursed by the warranty. I had to have it towed to the shop because it wouldnt run at all. I've already spent $300 on parts that didnt fix the problem. The parts were shipped yesterday, but havent gotten here yet. The dealership guy said they were shipped with Penn air, but Penn air doesnt fly to Bethel...I'm hoping he misspoke and they were really shipped with the right carrier.

The muddy: Driving in all the mud is a pain. I am always more worried that I'll get stuck in the mud, than I ever am about getting stuck in the snow.

The Good: Avery has been hooked lately on the Twilight series of books. He likes to turn on this red light next to his bed to do his reading.

The Bad: He has kept himself up way too late these last few night reading.
The Muddy: Uhhhhh, ummmmm, i got nothin'.

The Good: It is classic Archer style with plot twists and turns to keep you guessing. I got the book on sale for 4.99. It was a fast, fun, easy read. Entertaining! This is my second April book for Number 2 on the birthday list.

The Bad: I dont think it is as good as his other books. Maybe he's losing his touch? It felt kind of forced and contrived. Like he has really trying hard to make connections the just werent there between plot lines and characters. The plot twists, while fun and interesting, were more predictable than the usual Archer books.

The muddy: Archer used to be one of my favorite authors, but now I dont know. hmmm...figurative mud instead of literal mud. good enough.

That's all for now....

PS...hey Tamara over at Watching the Grass. I have tried several times over the last couple weeks to comment on your blog and it wont let me. Ever since you changed up the look of the blog. Just FYI...i've tried to comment, but cant! I've tried everything!