I have the best friends...

Do you remember when I told you about my breakfast with Jo? Well, last week, she sent me an email telling me that she picked up some friends for me on her road trip, and now that she's home, she's going to send them to me. Now, I knew by the way she said "friends" that it was going to have something to do with penguins, which made me smile.

This morning, when I went outside to see if the damn mailman ever showed up yesterday (it obviously was after 6, cuz that's the last time I checked my mailbox!) I found a package on my doorstep. Look what was inside!!How flimmin' flammin' cute is this trio?!?!

I had just taken them out of the box and set them on my table this morning when my sister walked in the door. She took one look and yelled, "Where in the world did you get brass penguins?! Those are adorable!" I agree wholeheartedly!

Thank, Jo! You're the best. That was SO totally unnecessary, but oh, so appreciated!

You can't make this shit up...

Happiness is...

...the fact that, currently, my weather widget says 63. Ahhhhh....all the windows in the kitchen are open and there's a gentle, cool breeze blowing in....

...that it's been raining, on and off, for about 3 hours now. It's a gentle rain, despite the weather guy saying we were in for a big storm, complete with thunder, lightening and hail...

...that dinner is cooking away in the crock pot. I'm trying something a little different and I hope it's good. I've posted a million times about my favorite Mexican chicken in the crock pot, but today I decided to try it with pork tenderloin instead of chicken. What could be bad about that, right? Shredded pork, corn, black beans, cheese, sour cream, avocado, yum...

...that Stud seems to have transformed over night from a goofy, sometimes annoying, teenager to a responsible young man. A young man who is 3 days into his senior year, and who will be (gasp!!) 18 in less than 2 1/2 months...

...the fresh box of Swedish Fish I bought yesterday. I can't wait to enjoy a few...

...the brand new, and very exciting next chapter in my bloggy buddy, The Girl Next Door's, life...

...that I'm almost finished composing The Post, where I fill you all in on what's been going on around here lately...

...my life, at this moment...

Mmmmm....

How yummy does my breakfast look this morning?!
I've been on a little kick this week of sprinkling granola into my cup of yogurt. I know, nothing extraordinary. But, then yesterday I bought some yummy strawberries at Sam's Club, and on the way home, all I could think about was layering the berries with the yogurt and granola, kinda parfait style. Let me tell ya, I was NOT disappointed. This was the bomb diggity!! I'm almost thinking of having the same for lunch.

And, yes, this was taken on my bed. There's nothing better than breakfast in bed, even if you have to get it yourself. ;-)

Grab some Kleenex...

...and watch this video. Some of you may have already seen it. I heard about it on some morning show this week, but didn't realize they only showed highlights of a much longer video. Then Bestest Friend sent me a link to the video this morning. Enjoy!

Lifted from FB

Salary of retired US Presidents .............$180,000 FOR LIFE
Salary of House/Senate .......................$174,000 FOR LIFE
Salary of Speaker of the House ............$223,500 FOR LIFE
Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders ...... $193,400 FOR LIFE
Average Salary of a teacher ................ $40,065
Average Salary of Soldier DEPLOYED IN AFGHANISTAN.......$38,000
I think we found where the cuts should be made!

Email of the Day

Thanks, Pops!

For Maria

Ok, for some reason, the video in the post below has been pulled from YouTube. Sadly, it happened before Maria had a chance to see it. While I was trying to figure out what happened, I found this. Maria, you can get a little taste of the original video, and if you're a Jimmy Kimmel fan, you might find the rest of the video amusing, as well.

Need a giggle?

Thanks right back at ya, Tiff!

My buddy, Tiffany, reposted the Matt Damon video that I posted yesterday, but also added a few more. Check them out.

You go, Matt!

Thanks, Vodka Mom, for sharing this!

When is this misery going to end?

It is so incredibly miserable outside right now. This God-awful heat continues here in ChiTown, much to my dismay. Thank the sweet Lord, my air is fixed!! I was out shopping with my sister this afternoon, and every time we stepped outside, it felt like we were walking into a blast furnace. There was an alert earlier today about the poor air quality. The 283% humidity didn't make it any easier to breathe. We both decided that walking to our car felt like we were walking next to an open grill, or standing in front of an open oven, while trying to breathe underwater. Sounds great, right?

Now, for the past hour, there's been a constantly streaming weather alert on the TV. We're supposed to get severe thunderstorms tonight. Great. I have a feeling my power will be going out soon. And, if that happens, we're screwed. We'll be stuck here cuz CSJ is out of town again.

Oh, holy crap, they just broke into the show I have on to say there is now a tornado warning going on. WTF?! Guess I'd better go check in with the rest of my bloggy buddies before the power goes out.