Pirates, water and snow- one day in the life of a midwesterner

Bug has been on a pirate kick lately- he sits at breakfast saying "ARGGGGGG" with one eye shut and then he asks me to do the same. We have a tons of laughs at the table while we enjoy the start to our day. Well, last week, Bug noticed that the giveaways at McDonald's (Donald's in Bug speak) were pirate themed. It was not a happy scene last week when we did not order a Happy Meal for him. But, tonight, he got a Happy Meal and so did Pap- so he got 2 pirate themed toys. Of course, the toy slashes things 9why do the boys always get the slasher toys?) and he also got a bandanna with plastic gold coins hanging off of it.

Ignore the Elmo shirt, no self respecting pirate would wear one, and imagine the pirate pictured below is really saying ARGGGGGG and you have my evening. One eye shut, smiling and saying ARGGGGGGG while showing off the coins
Huge smile that the ARGGGG was scary to Momma
2 weeks ago, we had 12 inches (1 foot of snow), the last 2 days, we have gotten 7 inches of rain and this evening we got snow on top of the saturated ground. Pictures of my backyard- with the stream flowing through it.

Just a mud pit
Close up of the mud pit (formerly the place where a pool stood- long before I bought this house)
Snow in the front yard

We had a leak in the basement last night, Uncle Dave's mattress got wet- but I moved it. I thought I had fixed the leak over the summer when I caulked the base of the wall, caulked the crack in the wall (surface crack) and sealed the wall with paint designed to keep out water. Clearly, I need to recaulk the base of the wall, since that is where all the water came in. Well, put that on the never ending list of things to take care of.

On a happy note, bonuses and merit raises were announced this week. I never plan on a bonus- too many times as previous jobs I was told I would get a bonus and then it never came for one reason or another- but this time, I get a bonus!!! I think I am going to do somethings around the house that I was planning for later in the year as I saved money- so nice that I can start researching options and companies. The raise is nice too- not that I expect raises either- heck I went years without a raise- so just to get anything is unexpected. Maybe I am pessimist at heart- but I learned long ago not to plan on things until they happen with regards to raises and bonuses and jobs- that way, I am surprised when nice things happen instead of being disappointed when nothing happens.

I am off to research driveway fix ups- do I switch to concrete or stay with asphalt and just redo the asphalt? Oh the choices and options to consider.

Love to you,

Deb AKA Momma Bug