Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Spring Has Sprung...

Cockroaches really put my "all creatures great and small" creed to the test. ~Astrid Alauda

So, yesterday I was outside with the remote control dog and the DD. They played, I scooped poop -- ah the glamorous life of an author and SAHM -- we still have snow on about a quarter of the lawn, but it's mostly melted (and a bit soggy, and so is the poop, LOL).

We were outside for about half an hour before I got hungry (is it odd that I didn't lose my appetite?) so we went inside. As I reached down to take off Doofus Dog's remote training collar, guess what I found? Yes... it was a TRUE SIGN OF SPRING!!




A wood tick! Woot!!! Between that and the brown-headed cowbird pair I had at my feeder today, I can tell summer is only a few brief moments away. I am waiting for the blackflies to arrive with bated breath...

Oh, and I guess I'd better start pulling my bird-feeders in at night so the bear doesn't grab them.

However, in the "good news" column: there appears to have been a mass murder (suicide?) of cutworms over the winter. As I've been pooper scooping, I've seen many, many of their little bloated corpses on my lawn. Curiouser and curiouser....

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I did manage a bit of writing yesterday. No, it wasn't the 3,000 words I needed...it was more like 300! LOL... still, I have a whole scene planned for tomorrow for "Kitchen Matches" and I'm excited because my heroine in the unnamed HQA is about to re-meet the hero! I can't wait to write that.

So, barring a disaster, today should be a great writing day.

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Dru, to answer your question from yesterday...when I lived in the city, I bagged my dog poop and put it in the weekly trash. Now that I'm in the sticks, I just chuck it out in the woods behind our backyard. I keep hoping it will keep the deer out of my garden, but apparently the deer here aren't afraid of my dog and treat my garden as an all-you-can eat buffet.

Now, a question for you all: besides Quizilla and Blogthings, anyone know some good quiz sites? I'm starting to run out, and I like having fun... Help?

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Your Thinking is Concrete and Sequential



You are precise, orderly, and realistic.

You tend to get to the point and get things done.

Difficult, detailed work is easy for you. You take things step by step.

Time limits aren't a problem for you either. You work well with deadlines.

What does drive you crazy is any sort of task that isn't precisely laid out.

You don't like anything to be ambiguous. You prefer to deal with the facts at hand.

13 comments:

Dena said...

That tick is creepy, you sure are surrounded by some creepy bugs,cowbird,cutworms? Never heard of them.
I don't know about any fun quiz sites,sorry. I hope you get more writing in today.

Judy said...

Here I am...and I didn't know how to answer the first question about you have a big project due in a couple of weeks. They didn't offer the choice..."you wait til the night before and then panic because it's not done!"

Your Thinking is Concrete and Random

You are naturally inquisitive and curious.
You're excited by new ideas, and you are a true independent thinker.

You are interested in what is possible. You like the process of discovery.
You are often experimenting, challenging old ideas, and inventing new concepts.

Rules, restrictions, and limit don't really work for you.
You have to do things your own way, and you can't be bothered to explain yourself.

anno said...

That tick is a handy reminder... time for our tick magnet (a shaggy-haired wheaten terrier) to start getting his tick repellent.

I had a hard time with the quiz today. More than usual, I felt like my responses could be any of the answers, depending on the situation. Thus, it's probably appropriate that this was my result:

You are flexible, adaptable, and creative.

There are many ways that you can learn - and you're up for any of them.

You relate well to other people, and you do well working in groups.

You can help people communicate together and work with each other's strengths.

You don't work well with people who are competitive or adversarial.

You prefer to work toward a common goal... not toward conflicting goals.

Sarita Leone said...

I couldn't resist this one...

Your Thinking is Abstract and Sequential

You like to do research and collect lots of information.

The more facts you have, the easier it is for you to learn.

You need to figure things out for yourself and consider all possibilities.

You tend to become an expert in the subjects that you study.

It's difficult for you to work with people who know less than you do.

You aren't a very patient teacher, and you don't like convincing people that you're right.

Weird the way some of these turn out so on-target.

Ugh, ticks already?! Those things scare the pants off me! So tiny. Ugh. Did I say Ugh yet? :)

Anonymous said...

This is why I adore you: You say things like, "I guess I'd better start pulling my bird-feeders in at night so the bear doesn't grab them" and you're excited by the appearance of a tick (ticks creep me out--they're like subversive little spiders)...as though those are everyday thoughts. :)

I'm glad spring is coming, but doubly glad I live in the suburbs where ticks and bears would be considered an anomaly.

Is it good that the cutworms were doing themselves in?

I'm a concrete sequential thinker.

Melissa McClone said...

Ick. I do not like ticks!

Anonymous said...

I don't think I've ever seen anyone sound so happy to see a tick. *g*

Brandy said...

Uhg! Here in the South we have way more ticks that we need, luckily they are usually in the woods or tall grasses. That picture needed a warning. ICK! *g*

According to your quiz: My thinking is Abstract and Sequential.
Hmmm. Not sure about that.

Have a great day and continue to enjoy the enroaching signs of Spring!

groovyoldlady said...

I love brown-headed cowbirds!

I hate ticks!

I took the quiz and they said that I was braindead. I just don't get it!

Hey. I joined Scriptfrenzy for April. Goal? 100 pages of any sort of script.

I'm working on short, humorous Christian pieces. FUN!

Dru said...

I don't like tick. They remind me of spiders.

My thinking is concrete and sequential.

Sylvia Dickey Smith said...

Sounds like you're just full of fun Spring ewe's. That and dog poop! It was in the high 80's here today. Ok, I'll shut up bragging!

Sylvia Dickey Smith said...

Marianne, where can I find the word count for my wip that you have on your blog? Maybe that would keep me inspired!

Chris M. said...

Oh, blech... we don't really have ticks here in the middle of the desert. I have chills running up and down my spine... I hate bugs.

According to your quiz:

Your Thinking is Abstract and Random

You are flexible, adaptable, and creative.
There's many ways that you can learn - and you're up for any of them.

You relate well to other people, and you do well working in groups.
You can help people communicate together and work with each other's strengths.

You don't work well with people who are competitive or adversarial.
You prefer to work toward a common goal... not toward conflicting goals.


I'd say that pretty much says it all... ;-)