Pack Rat Mel...

I am back from a little unexpected hiatus.

I didn't plan on being absent from the social media world for so long, it just happened.

Things have been somewhat busy around here.

People have been asking when I am going to update my blog and I have to say it is nice to know I am missed!

My internet decided to quit working on Friday leaving me without until Monday.

Our internet provider is Verizon and a window popped up on my computer Friday morning that said there was an update available. 

I clicked it and it did its thing and then my internet wouldn't work.  Great!

I spent the afternoon on the phone with technical support and the guy finally said they have been having this problem after people run the requested update and there was nothing else he could do except show me how to activate the dial up connection.

Really?

Dial up!

Umm...yeah I can't do that.  I WON'T do that.

We have had the internet system for less than a year AND  we bought insurance on it (because it is a wireless device and weird things can happen when you have kids....OK maybe I should worry more about me doing something to it...I am the one who has ruined a cell phone by dropping it in the bathtub and another cell phone by dropping it in the toilet!) so I asked the man if I could take it into our local Verizon store and exchange it because everything worked fine until I ran the recommended update.

He said, "No because they won't have them in the store."

I didn't understand this because I bought the original one in the store.

He then proceeded to tell me that they could overnight a new one and he would even waive the $12.99 shipping cost.  I think he could tell I was becoming very frustrated!

So Monday Fed Ex Guy showed up at my house.  I uninstalled the old one and installed the newbie and I was a happy camper.

So, my word of advice to Verizon internet users, when the screen pops up to update to the newer version DON'T DO IT!

Mel has never been attached to one specific animal or "lovey" (unless you count her horses).

However, she gets attached to odd ball stuff as you will see in the pictures below.

She has become quite the pack rat.  You will see that in the photos as well.

Those of you that know me know that a pack rat I am NOT!  I tend to purge things often.  I hate clutter. I'm fine with it in other people's homes, but can't stand it in mine.  It makes my heart race! You can't tell that by the way my house looks 99%, but that is part of having kids and I would be lying if I told you it didn't bother me.

So, this pack rat phase that Mel is in drives me crazy, but I take it in stride and usually just shut the door.

This is her beloved "cow bed".  You can see the cow on the right....

Mickey Mouse, horses, lip gloss, sunglasses and a Leapster call the "cow bed" their home.

She also gets very attached to food and that has to be taken to bed as well, but we make her keep it on the changing table (she still sleeps in the nursery)... 

I love that she has the candy conveniently located next to the dental floss.  And yess that is a pair of tweezers.  She picked up the SpongeBob Mac n Cheese at Kroger one day and carried it around for about 2 weeks.  It is now in the cabinet, but I haven't cooked it yet because I am afraid she will be traumatized.

She raided the pantry one day and latched onto two more boxed of Mac n Cheese.

What can I say?  The girl loves her Mac N Cheese and baked beans! 

Brad got this game for Christmas and we have yet to play it because it has been in Mel's room ever since... 

The house and car are where her Smurf's sleep... 

Apples... 

So that's where my make-up went... 

This is her bed full of horses... 

This is a frog that I made for B (don't laugh...I try to be creative sometimes and this wasn't one of those times).  B didn't like it.  Mel loved it, so she took it to bed.... 

I hope that she grows out of this phase before she gets a house of her own or we may have to stage and intervention.  We have a while before that happens.  Until then, I'll just have to deal with it!