Why is it that people are so dang grouchy t his time of the year? I mean, it seems like as soon as Halloween is over, the whole world goes to hell! Seriously, why is that? Is it the stress of the holiday shopping season? That seems like a silly reason, after all, the holidays aren't about gifts, they are about family and friends. Yes, I know, everyone loves to give and get gifts, but why has that become center stage over a friendly visit or a phone call from someone you haven't talked to in a while? I don't know, but I know that I'm tired of dealing with people already, and Thanksgiving isn't even here yet. And the truth be known, I don't walk around spewing rainbows or anything, but I am not short and rude either. I give a smile when I pass someone, say PLEASE and THANK YOU (which I think is honestly becoming a lost art!!!), and for the most part I try to be pleasant. Of course, there will always be people I don't understand, but the rude behavior is so unbecoming and I just don't get why they feel that they have to be that way.
Which leads me on to my next point, rude drivers. 
We have all done something stupid, and probably something inconsiderate on the road, most likely on accident. However, it seems more and more that people have the inability to open their eyes and look beyond their cars. I drive the same roads day after day, at a pretty regular time, and it never fails, I have at least 1 close call every single day. I have saw more people blatantly run stop signs in this past week than I think I have in my entire life. They don't even slow down, just fly through it as if it doesn't exist. Now I am pretty cautious and if I see headlights coming towards an intersection, I automatically start slowing down. That isn't a common thing though, what if someone "new" moves into the area and doesn't know that these nitwits are flying around with no reguards to signs? Where are the police that should be watching for these guys? Not to mention the people who seem to think the highway is the Autobahn. What the heck is up with that? I follow the speed limits, #1 because I can't afford a speeding ticket, and #2 because I can't afford a speeding ticket. I'm not some stick in the mud that thinks that every rule has to be followed. Believe me on that one.....I'm just not. But I have come to realize that I can't waste money, and speeding is a waste of money. But why don't these people ever get caught? I'm not talking about 5 mph over, I'm talking leaving me like I'm standing still! I don't know.......
I'm almost done, bear with me. I went to the grocery store last night. 
I have been doing really well with planning meals around sale items and stocking up on sale items that I have coupons for, other wise known as "can't pass it ups". So, I saw that the sale was almost over for the week and there were a few "can't pass it ups" I wanted to pick up and I get there and they were out of almost every single sale item in the store. What the hell? I mean really, if you are gonna put it on sale, at least get extra! There were a couple of things I could have lived without, honestly, but it still made me mad. Why advertise things that you don't have? And the biggest one was the turkey sale. I know, I know, everybody has them this time of the year, but I went the day the sale started and they had like 5 turkeys. WHAT? Yeah.....well, you advertise turkeys at $20.00 off, and all you have are 5 turkeys? And to beat that, they were little turkeys. We usually do between an 18-20 lb turkey, all they had were 12-13 lb. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. It is so irritating! So, all in all, I did pretty good, I spent 98.00 and saved 31.00. Not bad....especially when this is enough food to get through 2 weeks, and about 2/3 of Thanksgiving dinner. Whatever, I'm just bugged this morning and nothing seems to be helping!
Okay, last but not least, my sweeper died 11 days ago. 
I loved my sweeper, it was the best little fella a girl could ask for. Or so I thought! I gave in after 5 days of trying to get mine fixed and bought a new one. My old sweeper was a Eureka Whirlwind bagless, and I loved it so much, I thought I'd get another Eureka. This one is called a Eureka Capture. Let me tell you, my house was GROSS! Apparently my old trusty Whirlybird had been on it's last leg for quite some time. I have 2 rooms with carpet, both are equally 14'X15' rooms and I filled a grocery bag 3/4 of the way full in just one cleaning of each room. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I was so grossed out at the thought that we had been living in that crud and I didn't even know it! Okay, so I'm not exactly a clean freak, but I keep house fairly well. I had been sweeping the floors quite a bit as to deal with the flea problem that we've had all summer, so it was VERY hard for me to believe that it was that dirty. I think I know now why I have had such a battle with fleas, as the old sweeper was aparently not doing it's job so well. This new sweeper has 4 filters, 3 of which you just wash, and I have already had to wash them. I am just sooooo grossed out! And my house has never smelled so fresh! Really! I have tons of critters, so that is always a problem, but I really feel like things are clean now. Of course, I used to feel that way with the old sweeper too.....LOL. All in all, I love my new sweeper, I do have 2 issues with her though.....the cord seems to always be in the way, it doesn't have one of those clippy things that holds it up by the handle and the hose is too short. It's stretchy, but it's too short. I used to be able to reach my ceiling fans with the old one, and this one, I can't. But that's okay, I'll survive that! Oh yeah....my other issue, it's green. Lime green. Bleh! I do miss the friendly light blue of my old model, but I do think I'll get over it, that is, as long as she keeps up the good work!
Alright, I think I'm done now, but I can't make any promises.....
Have a great Thursday all!
Close up of the front porch area:
