5/30 Thursday Thirteen

How did it get to be Thursday already? 

Oh, wait - we had the Memorial Day holiday on Monday so that made it a 4 day work week....although for me it was actually a five day....and I'll explain in a second.

Lets see if I can come up with thirteen things about the week.

1. First off - Monday I mowed my dad's neighbors grass.  Dad had asked my brother if he could do it, but brother had too much going on...I knew it was important to Dad to get this favor done, and he sure couldn't mow it himself, so I went over and did it.  I don't mind mowing grass really, but this wasn't the easiest yard to do, and I was already feeling crappy because of #2

2. I have poison ivy or something similar all over my lower face and chin.  Odd place, I know...even more so because I know I"m allergic so I am very careful to wear gloves and long pants when I'm working in the jungle out back....but no, its just my face and a small spot on each arm.  Benadryl and Calamine have helped a lot, but it still looks pretty bad under the makeup.

3.  Especially since the makeup has been melting - we are having an August style heatwave around here and I've never been one to "glow" gracefully - I sweat buckets, my hair goes frizzy/limp and my face gets blotchy, sigh...I guess I should be grateful I didn't grow up in Florida or I likely would never have been asked out.

4.   Not that I got asked out that much.

5.  Batcat got out a couple of times over the weekend.  I hate when that happens because there are wild things in the woods not to mention some crazy drivers down the street.  But both times after half an hour or so he came back...and I think that's actually where I got the poison ivy from - picking him up to bring him in, sigh.

6.  I ordered a new hot tub cover...these things soak up water after a few years and become really heavy and troublesome...so nothing unusual there.  However what was unusual (for me at least) is that the trucking company called, made an appointment with a six hour window and then didn't show up.

7.  Even more unusual, I called the local truck depot and they told me they had no way of knowing what driver had the delivery - and even if they knew they had no way of contacting him.  In this day and age, what truck driver wouldn't have a cell phone?

8.  The company that sold me the cover sorted things out with the carrier and they will be delivering Monday after 4:30 so I don't have to take any more time off from work.

9.  Speaking of time off work - in just a month I shall be in Seattle catching up with my friend Lisa and her husband....I'm really looking forward to that.

10.  Jezebel still needs shots - but I think we might manage on once a day...I'm going to try that this weekend and see how things go.  It would certainly be easier if I can have a sitter come in rather than board her while I'm gone.  She isn't much for strange places or strange people.

11.  I had a delightful visit and dinner with my friend Pete tonight.  He happens to be vegetarian so he wanted to show me that meatless cooking could be interesting and delicious and it certainly was.  He'd French themed the meal - had menus printed out at the place setting and French music in the background.....it was marvelous.

12.  He's got an awesome apartment that feels more like an upscale hotel - a rooftop garden and pool - a concierge desk - and granite countertops - I confess to being a bit envious of them.

13. I went bowling with my teammate Steve -  duckpins to be ready for the summer league that starts tomorrow night.  I'm afraid I've forgotten everything I ever knew about throwing those small balls - I was terrible.

OK - I made it to thirteen - I'm going to call it a night.....Hope your week was a good one.

Thursday Thirteen - things that made me smile

I've done quite a bit of smiling this week and on this dark and rainy evening I thought I'd recall some of them to brighten my night - and hopefully your's as well.

1.  I smiled when I saw the package from Proflowers on my doorstep - my BFF sent them to me for my birthday.

2.  I smiled when I mentioned to a friend that I was determined to see a moose this summer and she replied that she'd always wanted to visit Maine.

3.  I smiled when little IM smiled.....I know babies just "do that randomly" but it doesn't matter....she brightened up my world.

4.  I smiled when I went down to the basement after a day of rain and didn't see any water spots on the floor - maybe the Drilok worked.

5.  I smiled when a coworker came back from visiting "my" dentist and said everyone there made him promise to tell me Hi.

6.  I smiled when I googled DWTS and learned that Nancy Grace was voted off (she really wasn't very good).

7.  I smiled when I opened the box and saw the awesome spinner suitcase my Dad ordered for me.

8.  I smiled after my yearly review - it showed they really appreciate what I do at work.

9.  I smiled when Gov Perry couldn't remember the Department of Energy - I'm sure he's a very nice man, but I do not smile at the idea of another Texas governor in the White House.

10.  I smiled at the chocolate cake (and associated shot) that my son and DIL provided me for my birthday.  And don't let me forget the photo album which I'll fill with little IM pics.

11.  I smiled when I discovered that my friend Carol had sent me a moose from Canada since I didn't get to see one myself when I was there.

12.  I smiled when I was craving meat loaf and mashed potatoes and both were on sale at the local grocery store tonight.  I smiled even more when the meat department guy offered to make me bacon/cheddar burger patties this weekend so I can grill on Sunday.

13.  I smiled when I accidentally discovered a bookcase at Target that makes a perfect wine bar - and it was on sale when I bought it.

I smiled about a lot of other things too..........like sitting in my hottub under the almost full moon and drinking my way through some of the under 10 dollar Italian wine that I stocked up on a few weeks ago and realizing that I'm not on a single prescription medication - which is apparently a bit unusual for the over 50 bunch.

So, what did YOU smile about?

Thursday Thirteen

The thirteen things I would grab if my house was on fire  

1 and 2  -  Batcat and Jezebel -  the furkids are at the top of the list - though they'd likely rush out of the house as soon as I opened the door rather than wait for me to be safe too.

3.  My purse - which holds my keys, money, credit cards and phone.....and its automatic that I don't leave the house without it.

4.  My jewelry - at least the stuff I could grab quickly - I wouldn't really sort through it, I'd just dump it in my...

5.  Wooden makeup box - it was my mothers box actually so it has sentimental value  - but its bad enough to be in a crisis - living through it without mascara is unthinkable.

6.  A couple pair of jeans and tops - I'm already in the bedroom grabbing the other stuff - might as well have some extra clothes.

7.  My passport.  I know it can be replaced, but what a pain....and its easier for me to find than my birth certificate or my social security card.

8.  Box of important papers that I "hope" contains the above mentioned documents as well as newspaper articles mentioning some of my son's accomplishment, my mothers obituary, a letter from my grandmother, and a picture of me with Santa (among other things).

9.  My netbook or my laptop, whichever I happen to get my hands on first....I couldn't survive without a computer.

10.  My bowling balls

11.  My portable hard drive that hopefully has been backing up my life for the past year.

12.  My nook to make sure I find out the ending of whatever I am in the middle of reading at the time.

13.  My BOB....not because the idea of destruction turns me on, but because I'd be really embarrassed to have the fire department find it.

So do you think I'm more practical than sentimental?  In any case, what would you save first?





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February 24th - Thursday Thirteen

I have been trying to blog more - but oddly enough - as much as I intentionally structure my life....I sometimes feel the need to rebel against my routine.....and blogging (or rather not blogging) seems to be how I do that.

I mean, I can't not feed the cats or the fish, or not show up for my bowling team, or skip a weeks worth of classes..I've got responsibilities.

So today I have a few minutes to do more than a bit of facebook catching up- and since it happens to be Thursday, I can give you some snippets of recent life at Chez Em.

1.  A fish died.  Yes I know that's part of an aquarium owners life.....but it's a part that is generally invisible to me - the snails and the other fish take care of the remains and I generally don't know there was a death in the family unless I take a headcount.  However this was one of the bigger fish and maybe he (or she) just didn't taste good because the carcass just lay there and I had to net it out. 

2.  Pumpkin has decided he will only eat canned food, and not a whole lot of it.  I don't know whether it's because he has teeth issues or smell issues or if it just means he's not very hungry and is getting near the end of his time with me.  He's an older cat anyhow - and if you've known me for a while you might remember that last October the vet discovered an inoperable tumor on his leg.   All the furkids are off to the vets next week for shots - and maybe I'll be lucky enough to find this appetite/weight loss thing is something treatable.  But whateve happens, we've still had almost a year and a half of good times since the tumor diagnosis - and I'm grateful for that.

3 Financial Accounting class still sucks - but at least the homework gives me three chances to get it right - only three more weeks to go and I think I'll manage an A.

4.  Work kinda sucks too - there's a lot of it and we're shortstaffed and the big software project I'm helping with is busy as well so I feel like I never get a break anymore. 

5.  But I'm going on vacation in 23 days.....in a Spa Cabin with unlimited use of the giant hot tub and the thermal suite.

6.  And the ports on this trip are full of opportunities to do two of the things I love best - snorkel and look at archeological sites.

7.  I also booked my flight to  Nova Scotia to meet up with my friends Bundy and his GF in September.  And it was lucky that I went ahead and booked....I was doing this with airmiles - as it was the number required had gone up so I barely had enough - but I did, and that's what counts.

8.  I love this season of Survivor - I thought the show had gotten predictable - but the twist of Redemption Island is going to make things interesting....and I have to admit that Boston Rob is brilliant.

9.  A Facebook friend of mine had a great quote up this morning - I think I might needlepoint it as a wall hanging for my office.  "The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it"

10.  My Safeway started selling naan again (yum)

11.  My state AND federal tax refunds arrived safely in my savings account this week - and I only filed on February 15th.

12.  I've got enough flexibility back in my right knee that I can do a proper quad stretch on that side.....and it doesn't hurt me at all anymore.

13.  I have a friend who works at Best Buy and he used his discount to get me a deal on a water resistant boombox - perfect for taking out to the hot tub...which is where I think I'll be heading shortly.