Monday 5!

If you're new to the Monday Five Countdown, it started one day when I got tired of starting every work week feeling annoyed at or dreading something. I decided instead to focus on the things I'm grateful for and to simply mention and (hopefully) move on from the things needling away at me. I have found that it honestly helps so I highly suggest giving it a try. :)

Five Things I'm Grateful For

1. Apparently places not all that far from us got more snow today? SOOOO grateful we didn't!!

2. After months (MONTHS!!!) without a working dryer, we have one! I have never been so happy to do laundry, seriously.

3. We finally bought new bath mats. They are midnight blue and plush and fluffy. My feet felt happy and warm getting out of the shower this morning.

4. Nate has had a bit of a cold for a week; he's been coughing and sneezing -  basically shooting boogers all over the place - and hasn't been very interested in eating. However, he's getting better which means fewer boogers and more food. Good signs!

5. Our friend Mickey (the mouse) has not reappeared since yesterday afternoon. Hopefully we never see him again.

Bonus item of gratitude: the hubby ate strawberries in a salad on Saturday! He hates strawberries but somehow these were acceptable (in this very yummy salad from Scary Mommy). Hurrah! Bring on more fruit this summer!

Four Things I Can't Stop Thinking About

1. My teeth. I need to make an appointment for the dentist because I'm pretty sure I have a cavity and the tooth is starting to bother me regularly.

2. Wednesday is the start of Lent and while I am not really religious, I do like to partake in the practice of giving something up for Lent as a way to strengthen my resolve and test myself a bit as a person. This year I'm giving up something kind of huge, for me. Tune in Wednesday for the meltdown.

3. Mushrooms. I hate them. The hubby hates them. However, so many recipes I'd want to make include them. I want to know what I can use as a substitute so the proportions of the recipe aren't thrown off (i.e. I don't end up with too much broth in a soup or too much sauce in a pasta dinner). Any suggestions?

4. Sectionals. We still don't have a sofa in the living room (just a loveseat, an armchair, and the glider). Nate's first birthday and party will be in two months (two months??) and we probably should have some more seating by then.

Three Things I Want To Accomplish This Week

1. Finish half of the two research projects I have to work on for school.

2. Clean the kitchen floor. Really, really well.

3. Find the bottom of my hamper. It's been months since we've had a single day with a completely empty hamper. Now that we have a working dryer, it's time!

Two Things I Am Working To Be Positive About

1. Buster. He's back in stabbing-danger territory again. As per Liza's suggestion (thank you Liza!!!), we bought Buster a smaller crate and removed his blanket/towel from it. This way he will be reluctant to pee in there since he'd have to lay in it. And it worked - two mornings in a row now! However... he peed on the kitchen floor THREE TIMES yesterday. He hasn't done that even once in at least over a month.  WTF dog?? *sigh* I don't know if the new crate made him angry or it was the downpouring rain that made him not want to pee outside. I just don't know. I just know that the hubby hasn't been that angry at Buster in quite a while. But today is really beautiful out (if a bit chilly) and he didn't pee in the crate this morning so maybe, hopefully, it was the rain and we can have our first pee-free day in ages.

2. That really might be it. Buster is draining all of my "working to be positive" energy right now. Please, Buster, get on track and be a good dog so I can go back to worrying about things like chipped manicures.

One Random Thing

1. According to the hubby, Nate said, "Thank you" at the story the other day, repeating it after the hubby said it to the cashier. Considering Nate doesn't say any words (just babbles a lot), I find this incredibly hard to believe but apparently the cashier heard it and said, "You're welcome, little man." So, really, were Nate's first words, "Thank you"?? Do babies have first phrases instead of words? We're pretty sure he tries to say "Buster" sometimes and he was saying something that sounded like "bug" when I was saying "books" to him yesterday, so I don't know... but I think some words are on their way!

Bonus random thing: new R.E.M. album comes out tomorrow! Yay!!!!!

 Do you do the Monday Five Countdown?  Link up below!  I want to read them :-)