*Warning*: I feel like whining

And since this is my blog, I'm gonna. But I warned you, so feel free to skip this post if you don't wanna hear me gripe.

Let's see... here are just some of the things "wrong" in my World today:

1) I woke up at 4am this morning for the stupidest reason ever. A couple of nights ago we had a cook-out in our backyard with some friends, and I was eaten alive by mosquitos. So, this morning, my bug bites were itching me to death... and finally forced me out of bed before the sun came up to desperately search for some Benedryl cream. I am NOT a morning person, by any stretch of the imagination (and had just gone to sleep a few hours earlier), so I wasn't a happy camper, to say the least.

2) After searching for (and finally finding) the Benedryl cream, I was pretty much awake... So I sat on the couch and started channel surfing (it's very hard to find a channel without "paid programming" at 4am, by the way). So, I ended up on the Home Shopping Network, where they were having a "Scrapbooking Pajama Party." I'm a huge fan of buying scrapping goodies on QVC, but HSN has really crappy stuff in comparison... so this wasn't really as exciting as it sounds. But, I watched for a while and the sun started to rise and I actually felt "inspired." I decided to take advantage of the quiet morning and dashed up to my room to clear off my scrapping desk and scrapbook. ahhhhhh, heaven! NOT. Wouldn't you know it, my children (who usually sleep in until around 9 or 10am during the summer) both came wandering up to my room at 6am. Avery was whining and crying and babbling about some kind of crab that was in her room and biting her ankles (I don't know WHERE she gets this stuff... but maybe she has bug bites, too?!?!). So, I reluctantly turned off my country music radio and turned on the Disney channel for the kids, who curled up in my bed. I did manage to scrap for a couple of hours, but it wasn't nearly as much fun with tired, whining children in the room with me.

3) Last night I had to pass up two fabulous opportunities for an evening out of the house. Some of my Mom's Group friends were gathering for our monthly "Mom's Night Out"... All You Can Eat crabs. Yummmmmmm. I didn't go because Nick was on call all night, and Fridays are usually busy for him. I also didn't really want to spend the money. Then, I got a phone call around 6pm from a scrapbooking friend, who was inviting me to a crop last night. That would've cost significantly less money than eating crabs, but Nick was still on call... and didn't seem willing to take the kids along (not that I really blame him for that). So, I had to turn that down, too. Major bummer. I don't "get out" very often, and it really stinks to have to turn down an evening out, away from the kids, the dogs, the house, the husband, etc. So, I'm still upset about that, even after the fact. I know, I know... get over it, Erin. I'm trying. I'm promise.

4) I had a really crappy week work-wise. The people that I work for have recently started using a "new and improved" program/Web site thingy. It's supposed to make it easier for us to transfer files, for me to accept/decline work, etc. All week I've been reminded of the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it." This new system has been nothing short of a pain in the rump since we started using it. And I'd love to meet the person who decided it would make my life "easier." Hmpf. The deadline for my current issue was set for last Wednesday... and today I still don't have all of the files that I need to complete the work (yet, I feel guilty for missing the deadline... twisted). This new system also leaves me with a lot more "Admin"-type work on my end, which I technically don't get paid for... and I really have a problem with working for free. Of course, the geniuses who implemented the new and improved system work in-house, which means they have a nice salary (or at least get paid by the hour) and benefits, so I can see why this is working well for THEM. I'm a little bitter (in case you missed that).

5) Rent is due today. Every month it physically pains me to hand my landlord our rent check. Luckily, we HAVE the money to pay rent (so I know it could be worse), but I had really hoped that by the time I was 31 years old, married, with 2 kids that maybe, just maybe, I'd be in the position to buy a home. And, the really depressing part is that if we lived anywhere other than where we live (where the housing market is nothing short of outrageous), we might actually be able to think about buying a place. But I'm slowly coming to the realization that as long as we live HERE, we're going to be writing out rent checks (unless we hit the lottery, which I'm not counting on... especially since I can't afford to PLAY the lottery). Nick and I have discussed relocating... again (yes, we've tried this once or twice before), but that's a very overwhelming, not to mention expensive, task. And, like I said, we've tried it before with little success. Sigh.

Well, now that I feel pretty ridiculous for complaining about trivial things in my World (when in reality I KNOW that my life is pretty good and I'm a lucky person), I'm going to spare you any more whining. It's finally threatening to rain here (and Lord knows we NEED some rain)... it's thundering and my cable modem keeps going in and out, so consider yourself spared by Mother Nature.