Thank the Lord I made it to Friday.

I don't know if it's the bad weather, or just some kind of mid-winter funk, but I have not been feelin' it this week. Any of it. It has been one of those put your head down and push through until you are done kind of weeks. I'm sure you know the kind.

Maybe I just need to get some more indoor lighting or something.

1. I read a story from CNN (I should have known better) about a couple who paid almost $155,000 cash money to clone their dog. Even though they already have nine dogs at home that they love, the one that died was their favorite and therefore a prime specimen for cloning.

Come on, folks, haven't you ever watched any movies at all? You just know that's not going to turn out right. They are going to get some weird bad seed dog who looks like the original but is really some kind of wild dingo.

All I'm saying is that you can't monkey around with God's plan and expect no repercussions.

2. I have received an abundance of bloggy bounty this week.

First, the rosary I won from Barbara at Praying for Grace came in the mail and it is so beautiful.

It is a pro-life rosary, colored in pink and blue, and my meager photography skillz don't do it justice. If you are looking for a special rosary for a gift (or for yourself!), be sure to check out her site, Prayerful Beads. Thank you, Barbara!

3. I also received a cool package this week from Val at Nothing, Really. A couple weeks ago she emailed me and asked if I thought it would be weird for her to send a little birthday gift to Bun since Bun and her baby, Bubba, have birthdays so close together.

I told her I'm surrounded by weird, so bring it. (Actually, I said no such thing, although I am surrounded by weird on a daily basis. I just said yes, like the boring person I am.)

In addition to Bun's little gift, she sent sheet music for Francie, elixir of delight coffee for me, and some authentic Mardi Gras beads. These were scored from a real Mardi Gras parade, not the party supply store, and we will be happy to drape them around ourselves on Fat Tuesday while we stuff ourselves with fastnachts.

Nothing like mixing two cultures worth of Fat Tuesday fun, right? Thanks so much, Val, and laissez les bon temps roulez!

(Oh, and of course I have no pictures of the box from Val because my children descended upon it like the jackals they are.)

4. I have to tell you how much I am starting to loathe the whole Great Digital Television Switcheroo of '09.

First of all, I hear about it all the stinking time and I don't even watch that much TV. I hear people talking about it in Target, I see it on news updates on the computer, I get little love notes about it from my cable company.

Now people want to delay the switch because they say that too many people don't know about it, or misunderstand what will happen, and they will miss out on some programming until they get converter boxes. THEY WILL MISS OUT ON SOME PROGRAMMING! TEMPORARILY!

Don't get me wrong, I like TV, and maybe I am just crotchety, but if the human race can't survive the temporary loss of television programming, then God help us all.

5. Another thing that has annoyed me this week?

Celebrities who try to act like they are in touch with the real world, and that they have normal lives.

Hello, my name is Aimee and I'm here to tell you that if you carry around a purse that is more than $1000 American dollars, you are not in touch with the real world.

And please stop calling purses and shoes and coats "investment pieces." Are these investment pieces going to yield dividends that will take care of you in your dotage? Nah, I didn't think so. These are purses and shoes and coats, and no matter how well they are made, they will wear out.

And yes, the Oscars are pretty much a bloated, over-priced love fest during some lean economic times. It's all right to say it; we all know it's true.

Most of the time I can laugh over their hazy sense of the world, but apparently this is a bad week to test my sense of humor.

6. As the result of some interesting findings from some recent testing, Fiver's occupational therapist has made some significant changes in his therapy goals.

Let's just say that the early days with the new goals have been challenging, but amazingly revealing of the tremendously adaptive qualities of the human brain.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made, indeed.

7. And finally, I'd like to say that I'm not as cross and grumpy as the preceding list would have me sound. Sometimes you just have to let off some steam, you know?

Despite the long week, Bun is turning ONE on Sunday, and that trumps it all. It's party time around here, my friends.

Be sure to check out Conversion Diary for more quick takes!