I love living in the country. I really do. It's nice to not deal with asshole neighbors, traffic, noise, and all that stuff.

There is a drawback though................................................................................

ASSHOLE PORCUPINES!!

Lately, there is at least one porcupine in the yard at night, usually there are 2 though. My breaking point was a couple of weeks ago when there were 4!  Really, the porcupines wouldn't be an issue if we didn't have dogs. Homer got quilled once years ago, and that seemed to have taught him a lesson. Reuben is another story though. I don't know if he'll ever learn, so having porcupines in our yard is an issue.

Here's how it works. Once it gets dark out, if the dogs need to go outside, I have to go out and check the yard first. If there are any of the rodents out there, I have to chase them off. This can take a little time. Bet you didn't know that they are kind of slow, clumsy and bumbling. They do not throw their quills and they won't chase you. When they get scared, they put their quills up and turn their backs to you. You would actually have to walk up to one and touch the quills to get any stuck in you. Reuben has done this.....more than once.

So I finally asked Ryan if he thought that I could shoot them. Take in mind, I've never shot anything in my life. I actually have never even fired a gun. He laughed at me. Doesn't matter though, because as I started looking online all about porcupines and ways to get rid of them, I realized how cute their little faces are. They are also peaceful animals and that just did it for me right there. I can't shoot them.

Ryan can shoot them though, and that he did! Another porcupine fact- they sleep in trees and can be hard to spot. Ryan did find one though. Yes he shot it, and it fell from the tree, and yes I felt soooo bad. Not so bad though that I don't want him to shoot the rest of the little bastards and get them out of my yard. Next time, I won't be watching though.

So the stomach bug missed Ryan and I again. BUT, I've been sick anyway. I probably haven't mentioned it on here, because I don't want to complain about it, but I have fibromyalgia. For anyone not familiar with fibromyalgia- it SUCKS!! I currently take 2 anti-depressants and Lyrica to try to keep it under control. I also supplement with a daily multi-vitamin, Vitamin D, and magnesium. Then there are the actual pain medications. When I'm not popping pills, I am at my Dr's office and then at the chiropractors once a week. I try anything I can to find relief, including massage and acupuncture. Jealous yet?! Oh, did I forget to mention the migraines?

With all of that, I am fortunate enough that I don't spend every day in pain. I seem to be in a cycle right now of every couple of weeks. If it's not the migraines, then it's the pain and extreme fatigue. This past week has been a combination of both. It started with a migraine on Sunday. Then it evolved into the horrible fatigue. Trust me, this isn't the kind of tired that taking a little nap will take care of. I can sleep all day. Doing a load of laundry is hard work

Right now, I'm just really frustrated and venting. I apologize if this whole post is depressing. It just sucks so much when my 4 year old son says "Mommy, you never feel good". Seriously heartbreaking for me.

The stomach bug has entered the building...AGAIN!! This is getting old. Griffin woke up last night just before midnight after throwing up.....in his bed. About 1/2 hour after getting everything cleaned up and his bed changed, he did it again. The bed was spared this time, the carpet, not so much. Luckily for him, that was the end of it. He has been quiet all day and resting, but no more throwing up. Of course, he couldn't go to daycare and no one else wants a sick kid, so I had to stay home with him. Guess who is feeling a little funky now? I am praying that it's just coincidence and that I'll be fine. My friend is having a St Patty's party tomorrow night and I have been looking forward to it all week. Even going as far as spending $50 on completely obnoxious party wear. I will be extremely disappointed if I don't get to wear the shamrock headband and suspenders!

My new Birchbox came in the other day. I haven't had a whole lot of time to dive into it, but it looks like there a few interesting things in there. I'm still using stuff from the last 2, including the Vichy products. Still love them and highly recommend them.

This month I got a bonus box from Birchbox. No extra charge- totally free! LOVE!! Usually the samples are pretty random. Different types of things from different companies. This one though is a selection of products from Vichy. There is a face wash, eye makeup remover, face lotion, night cream and cellulite lotion. They are fantastic! Very gentle, great for sensitive skin, and my face feels fabulous. This box was a total win. I just bought the Dermalogica lotion, but I may have to buy the Vichy face wash and the night lotion.

I just finished crocheting a blanket that I've been slowly working on for the last couple of months. I found the pattern on Pinterest, of course, and I really wanted to try it. It was originally going to be a baby/toddler blanket. I figured that I'd find someone to gift it to. Then it sort of got bigger, so I turned it into a throw blanket. Not sure yet what I'll be doing with it.

If you're interested in the pattern, this should bring you right to the blog where I got it from. http://thelazyhobbyhopper.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-crochet-granny-ripple.html

We dodged the bullet, and neither Ryan or I got the stomach bug! Yeah! Griffin is past it and feeling so much better now. Everything is back to normal in the Karcher house.

Ryan's cousin hosted a family gathering/potluck on Saturday. I was so glad that Griff was better and that we were able to go. There was so much delicious food, and of course lots of wine. For my part, I made homemade Cheez-its and a loaf of beer bread. I was hoping that Griffin would just love the homemade Cheez-its and never want to touch the other ones again. Nope. He hated them. However, they were a big hit with the adults, and I received lots of compliments. My personal favorite of the night though was the chocolate chip cheddar. Yup, you read that right. Chocolate AND cheese, c'mon how could it possible be bad. I need to find out where they got it, and stock up on this stuff. Seriously, what a great PMS food!

On Sunday, my friend Angela and I had our "chick-flick date". Her and I usually get together to see movies that neither of our husbands would be caught dead seeing. This time it was "The Vow".  Now, Angela can be pretty emotional during movies, so we brought a couple of tissues in preparation. She should have brought in the whole damn box. I am not kidding when I say that she cried through the WHOLE thing. Luckily, I grabbed tons of napkins for my popcorn because she was out of tissues before we got half way through it. It was good though, not Oscar worth or anything, but in terms of totally indulgent chick flicks it rates right up there.

Ladies and gentlemen, the stomach bug has hit the building. Oh yeah! Griffin was up all night, throwing up. Today he was much better, so I let him eat a few Cheez-its. Big mistake. He barfed all over the backseat of my car. That was a fun time. So far, both Ryan and I feel fine, but Ryan keeps telling me that it's just a matter of time. I am praying for mercy.

I went to the Chiropractor today and got adjusted for the very first time. I've wanted to go for so long and try it, but just have never taken the leap. Well, I finally did it. She starts out really slow, so I had a very small adjustment today. I was surprised, there was no major cracking or discomfort. No scary neck cracking. I'm excited to go back and see how and if this makes a difference for me.