Caution: May cause irritation

I am feeling irritable today, but I also feel like blogging. Lucky you! Here is what is irritating me today.

1. Spring Pictures.
School pictures stink. And now not only do they take them at the beginning of the year, they also take them in the spring. I have requested every year that they not take my kids pictures in the spring. I'm not going to buy them so don't waste your time and the photo paper. But every year they take them anyway. So then they send the photos (that I did not want in the first place) home with my kids and I'm expected to buy the photos (that I did not want in the first place) or return the photos (that I did not want in the first place) to the school. Got that? I don't want you to take a picture of my kid but you do it anyway, then it is my responsibility to return the photos to you. I'm thinking about keeping them this year and telling them that if they want them back they can come and get them.

2. The Census.
I understand the reason that they take the census and I totally don't have a problem with that. I'm happy to do my duty as an American citizen and fill out the census and return it. What irritates me is the letter that I got about a week before the actual census came. "Hey this is just to let you know that in about a week you will be receiving your census papers. This isn't them, they will be coming in about a week." How much did that cost- to send that to every household in America? Crazy.

3. $15,000 hospital bill.
That is what Cole's broken arm is costing. Luckily we have insurance so we don't have to pay that amount. It's insane to me that we paid $350 for an ER doc at Riverton to walk in the room and say "Here is his x-ray, we need to send you up to Primary Childrens to see a Pediatric Orthopedic specialist." 15 seconds tops. Ridiculous.

4. People who don't say thank you.
I'm a pretty independent gal, I don't ask for much. But I do like to be thanked when I do something for someone. Seriously. I'm not saying I need a plate of cookies or a thank you card. A simple, "Thank you." Yes, I like to feel validated. I have had a couple of experiences recently where after doing something for someone I got...nothing. Is it that hard?

5. Advertising on the bottom of the screen when I watch TV.
I hate commercials. Nowdays I never watch them. I just watch shows that I have recorded so I can zip through the commercials. But it seems like every channel now puts advertisements on the bottom of the screen during the show. Something in the corner or something taking up the whole bottom third of the screen. I can't be the only person irritated by this right?? Oh Oh I just thought of another TV related one!!! When they come on before the commercial and give you a little preview of what will happen after the commercial. Honestly I think I can wait 2 minutes to see what happens.

6. People who focus so much on one little detail that they completely miss the point.
Ok this one will have to be in secret code so I don't offend anyone. Let's just say that someone comes to your door and says, "Hey I'm collecting t-shirts for kids in Haiti who need clothes."
So you say, "great, hold on I have a bunch of shirts that I could give you."
and they say, "wait- are they T-SHIRTS? Because we call it 't-shirts for kids in Haiti' We don't want other kinds of shirts."
and you say, "really? I have a bunch of perfectly good shirts that aren't necessarily t-shirts. You don't want them?"
and they say, "No, I guess not. Since that doesn't match the name of what we say we are collecting I guess we can't take them. Thanks anyway."
Yeah, something like that.

I guess that's all. Carry on.