SPRING!!!!

It's true! My second favorite season of the year is here! Spring, wonderful Spring. And the weather today was just about perfect, sunny, yet still crisp. Absolutely delightful.

Unfortunately, the inauguration of Spring has also brought a few unwelcome guests to our home... Ants...the littlest of pests. At least they are not spiders, that would totally freak me out. Happily, I can report that they reside only under our couch, and not in our kitchen or other areas. I have no idea why they would, or how they could, get into our house via the wall behind the couch, but it does make for an easy place to stick ant traps, where the cats can't get at them. Hopefully, in a few days, the ants will have gone to that special place where ants who eat poison go. (The neighbors! ) Ha Ha Ha!

When I think about ants, I am reminded of a story my sister shared with me about setting up an ant farm a couple of years ago. When you order the ants with the farm, the instructions suggest you put the ants in the freezer for a few minutes to stun them before putting them into the farm. (Shh, don't tell PETA.) The directions would also be wise to suggest you to set up the farm before any children enter the classroom. Unfortunately, my sister was not privy to this little bit of advice.

So, with her kindergarten class in front of her, my sister takes the ants out of the freezer and opens the container intending to pour the stunned ants into the farm. As any professional ant farmer could tell you, it takes quite a bit of time to stun an ant using the freezer, so instead of peacefully falling into the farm, the ants swarm out of the container and proceed to go everywhere except into the farm. After several unsuccessful tries to collect the ants and put them in the farm, my sister was forced to stand up and tell the class, "I'm just letting you know, I'm killing them now!" And proceeded to stomp around and kill all the escapee ants, to the horror of the 20 five-year-olds sitting in front of her. To my knowledge, none of those children had any permanent trauma from the experience. But, I'm pretty sure that memory will come back to haunt them one day.

So here's wishing you a shiny, happy spring --- free from unfrozen ants.

Can I Get Some Fries With That Shake?

Sorry to have two food related posts in a row...but the other day I was reminded that the magic is back at McDonald's. No, they haven't brought back Grimace and the Hamburgler...it's simply time for those amazing, fabulous, Shamrock Shakes!

Now, I enjoy a minty fresh Shamrock Shake every March or so, but I had no idea people were so fanatical about them (or the lack of them). My sister has always had an unhealthy infatuation with the Shamrock Shake. As a teacher, she has been known to whip up a batch or two for her school's St. Patrick's day party, and would always have two or three, or ten, straight from the source. I personally think it's an addiction. But yet, as I sit here talking about them, I can almost taste the frothy, green goodness that is the essence of the Shamrock Shake.

Darn you MickyD's what do you put in that green dye? And why does the name "Shamrock Shake" have to be so catchy? Get thee to a McDonald's before it's too late, they are only available for a limited time.