I'll take coffee in that half-full glass

I should be busy doing something, but I don't have to. That's the good thing about waking up at the crack of dawn. The extra time you have is yours. It's a bonus.

I saw on the news, starting in November 2012, all cigarette manufacturers will be required to cover 50% of the front and back of every pack of cigarettes with one of 9 graphic pictures. Here's an example of three of them:

I think it's a great idea, and yes, I'm a former smoker. I've said it before: quitting smoking is one of the things I'm most proud of doing because it was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

In other big news, I am now the very happy owner of a weave-it afghan, made by my friend Happyone (Karen). Follow the link to see pictures! Karen wrote that she was making the afghan as a surprise for a friend. I really hoped that friend would be me. She came to the salon yesterday to have her hair done. With her, she had the afghan and a bag of home-made chocolate chip cookies for me and my co-workers. I'll treasure my afghan always. Thank you Karen!

I'm so disgusted with the ants in my house! I've put the liquid Terro on squares of shiny cardboard all over the house. The ants have swarmed in the foyer by my garage entrance, by the front door, and on my kitchen counter. The foyer was the worst, but now most of the ants have disappeared. The front door area is better. The kitchen counter ants have just arrived. It's so hard not to use Raid spray or crush the ants. Yuck.

Summer left a comment the other day about my trip and the 'familiar' things. Yes, Cafe Risque is one of them. You drive for miles and miles along I-95 seeing signs for it. When it finally comes into sight, it's little more than a building that looks like a nondescript house. There's the Shetland Pony ranch, Kings Dominion, the model Log Cabin Homes, the upside-down truck, the clock tower in Richmond, South of the Border, etc. I have my 20-oz bag of generic Jelly Belly jellybeans ready to go. I never go on a road trip without them. And my denim Big Dog dress? It's still officially retired. I do wear it around the house sometimes but I only wear it out for watering my garden. It really shouldn't be seen in public. I'll still be wearing a traveling dress. It makes those stops so much easier.

Time to get ready for my last day of work. I have two clients who want to change their haircolor, so it won't be an easy day, but it will be a short day and one that ends with vacation. And coffee! I'm a glass half-full person, if nothing else.