Rabbit (That's Me!)

You know the old phrase 'Don't Sweat the Small Stuff'. well, sometimes you just have to sweat the small stuff in order to try and pretend that the large stuff isn't happening!

I am going to be facing a HUGE vet bill from Taylor. It's a bill big enough to do major damage to my budget, but it was a completely necessary procedure. I can't let her be crippled with pain. So instead of getting my tooth fixed, I got the bone spurs in her left front coffin joint and her right hind hock taken care of. I had no choice, it had to be done. But the bill will be astronomical. I am sweating profusely over this! So instead, I will start my rant and sweat about the little things in life that bug me, annoy me, drive me nuttier than usual:

1. People who open up a new roll of toilet paper and don't bother putting it on the holder. This bugs me to no end. I did an experiment this weekend and for the past 4 days I have not changed anything. People used up the roll, opened a new one, and left it either sitting on the counter or sitting on top of the roll holder. Downstairs we are on our second roll that has not made it into the holder. Very odd...it's not hard to do!
2. People who don't use their turn signals while driving. I am convinced that if every single person in the world used their turn signal for every turn, we would all shave about 2 hours per year off of our driving time...maybe more. How many times have you sat at an intersection waiting for the lone slow car to cross, only to have him turn right without a signal. GRRRR!
3. Running out of pretzels. It's my own fault, but dangit I hate it when I am all out of pretzels and have to make a special trip to the store just for that. I want all of my groceries to run out on precisely the same day so I don't have to make multiple trips.
4. Untrained dogs. If your dog barks incessantly, please train it, shock it with a bark collar, or leave him in the house. It gets very annoying to those of us with well-behaved dogs.
5. Copy Machines and locked offices. Why am I the only person who can jam a copier running simple copies at least once a day? Friday it was 4 times. Of course while I was jamming the copier, there was a line of teachers waiting to use the machine since the administration leaves at 3:30 every day and those of us who work longer hours cannot get in to do their work outside of regular school hours. I don't think anyone has any idea of how much work I do after band practice at 5pm every day. They are gonna find out, sicne I will set up camp at the copier at every free moment and not let anyone else use it until I am done!
6. Rain on a 3-day weekend. Now this is just WRONG! Tomorrow is my last day off until Thanksgiving, and it rained so much last week and this weekend that it is way too muddy to ride outside at home or at a show. Not fair!
7. Obnoxious parents. Here's a quote from a real prizewinner parent: "You are lucky we even have a football team, because if we didn't have a football team there would be no need to even have a band program". Yeah, ALL we do in band is groom kids for the only purpose they have - to play the fight song for touchdowns. Sheesh...talk about tunnel vision. That statement is too ridiculous to comment on any further.
8. Gas prices. It's unamerican not to gripe about gas prices. I won't be satisfied until gas is FREE.
9. Soft lead pencils. I hate soft pencils that don';t write smoothly or precisely. Likewise I hate pens that feel rough when you write with them. I am not a great fan of ballpoint pens in general. I prefer the felt tip, but they don't last as long...which leads me to another pet peeve.....
10. People who don't put the caps back on markers. They should be shot at dawn. I swear half my salary goes towards the purchase of dry erase markers because cheeseheads forget to put the cap back on after they use my markers to graffiti all over my board. Remember the good old chalkboard days? You never had to cap up your chalk, and it was so cheap and plentiful I don't think I have ever spent a dime on chalk supplies. But I don't miss the dust....
11. Shampoo that smells like vanilla. Does anyone really like the odor of vanilla? I mean, it's a bean! Yuck.

OK, I could go on and on, but what's the use? It won't cover up the fact that I have over a thousand dollars in vet bills coming...Congress is coming....Christmas is coming...cruise payment is coming...and the money isn't.