Top 10 things I find irritating today....

1. Plastic refrigerator pieces that cost $25+, but you have no choice because you can't leave a duct-taped frig for the new homeowner.

2. Neighborhood dogs that think an open door is an invitation to walk right on in, muddy paws and all. Especially when they act all excited to see me so I can't even yell at them properly without feeling bad about it. But then one peed right on my doorstep, so now I don't feel bad for yelling at all.

3. Young women who think the perfect going away party would be for me to host a sleepover this weekend. The phrase "Couldn't you just work around us?" still echoes in my head.

4. Young women who think that, since I flatly refuse to host a sleepover, a movie marathon will work instead. (What part of "released" do they not understand?) ;)

5. Having to get up tomorrow at the crack of dawn so I can pay people to make repairs to "my" house that I will never get to enjoy. And if the roof vents make an immediate noticeable difference in how the house cools during the day, I'm going to be even more ticked off not to have done it ages ago.

6. Toilets that decide a week before closing is the perfect time to start leaking. (Fortunately it was just a loose nut where the tank bolts to the bottom part - Heidi probably remembers that very nut fondly. Unfortunately, I didn't notice it until the bath mat had become completely saturated - you know there's a problem when the mat is wet before you take your shower.)

7. Spaces in boxes that just aren't quite big enough. And the associated time I waste looking for something to pack in that space.

8. Doing things for the last time. (My last fill-up in Tulsa; my last time to use my pikepass - beeeeeep; hopefully my last tornado warning/power outage; etc.) Well, this is more sad than irritating. I presigned for closing this morning, and I actually got a little teary driving away. (Crying at odd things is a sign of stress for me - at least this made a little sense.)

9. Calling to cancel services. (At least moving as a reason reduces the "what if we offer you..."s.)

10. Settling down for a break only to discover that CSI:NY was preempted by tornado coverage last night. Sure, there were tornado touchdowns all over the place - but I was going to be prepared and recorded everything all night long to catch whenever the replay was. No Replay! Apparently it's more important that The Bold and the Beautiful air at 1:05 am. I have to wait till 2:37 am Saturday morning.

And the one thing that's been good for a laugh all day:

There is this very aggressive bird that has been dive bombing my cats all afternoon. Aubrey can't decide whether to try to catch it or run for cover. Bodie was so traumatized he's been behind the dryer for hours. The fat neighbor cat was completely ignoring it, and eventually the bird got close enough that I think it got some fur.