Thursday Thirteen: 13 things I really really want

I SHOULD be blogging about Halloween. Or about my jewelry bag giveaway (still time to enter!) Or about the latest Dresden, which I finished. Instead, I'm going to blog about 13 things I want. Hopefully, blogging about them will make me not go buy them.

1. A nice looking travel mug that will fit in my cup holder. Starbucks usually has cool ones.
2. Or two, in case one is dirty or I leave it at work. (Seriously, how cute is that one?)
3. This cool planner that I saw on 5 Minutes for Mom. I think it might be perfect.
4. A walking foot for my sewing machine.
5. A new jacket. This one is cute. So's this one.
6. Brown casual shoes for work.
7. Amy Butler's Little Stitches
8. These insanely cute baby boots. A bit pricey, but if he wore them every day all winter...
9. This bag. Ok, I could probably make it myself, but isn't it lovely?
10. This fun bird fabric. Or tons of other super cute fabric.
11. Time. (What? I can't buy time? Please?)
12. One of these cool lockets. This one says peace.
13. These rings, to go with the ones I got for Mother's Day. (Mine have the Pirate and the Bug on them, of course.) (You knew I meant their actual names, right?)

I could go on, but I won't.

What do YOU want right now? I'm not talking about new houses, or computers, or cars. Little things, less than $100, that would just make your day.

.

Thursday Thirteen #?

I haven't done a Thursday Thirteen in months, I thought today would be a good day for it.

13 Things about the last 6 years...

1. 6 years ago yesterday I left Alabama after living there my entire life.
   
2. 6 years ago today I drove into South Dakota for the first time. My imagined idea of South Dakota (western SD at least) turned out to be wrong.
   
3. It was then (as it is now) the middle of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and there were a LOT of bikes. I was a bit nervous.
4. In January 2003, I was hired at my current employer, as a teller.
   
5. In August 2004, we bought our first house.
6. The next week we got a dog, Scout.
   
7. On October 2, 2004, Mike and I got married. It was a very small wedding, just ourselves and five witnesses. It was perfect.
   
8. In January 2005, while 5 months pregnant, we took a dream vacation to Cabo San Lucas.
   
9. On April 7, 2005 the Pirate was born.
   
10. That same year I turned 30.
11. In October 2007 I started this blog.
12. On April 10, 2008, the Bug was born.
13. Yesterday, on my anniversary of leaving my home and everyone I knew behind, I told a friend how much I didn't regret it for one minute. My life here is wonderful, more than I could have ever imagined.

For more Thursday Thirteens, go to www.thursdaythirteen.com

Thursday Thirteen #26

Thirteen place I'd rather be RIGHT NOW. I will let you draw your own conclusions as to where I am. (Hint: It's 2:15 on a Thursday. I work a 9-5 job.)

1. At home. (Uh, does that give away where I am NOW?)


2. At Borders.


3. At Dunn Brothers having a Vanilla Iced Nirvana.


4. Camping. (see photo)


5. Alabama.


6. Tennessee.


7. The beach. (And I mean a saltwater beach, not a rocky South Dakota lake beach. Key West would be good.)


8. Actually, even a SD lake beach.


9. Stupid people hurt my brain. Wait. That's not a place.


10. Having a drink at the Loud American Roadhouse and watching the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally go by around me. (I think we're going Saturday)


11. In Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.


12. Italy.


13. Hogsmeade.

Thursday Thirteen #25

Once again, I frantically trying to catch up. I have bookmarked roughly 837 blog posts that I want to mention here, I want to talk about what I'm reading, I have a monkey story to relate... SO you're getting it in a freeform sort of Thursday Thirteen. It's kinda cheating, I know, but it's my blog I can do what I want!

1. I just saw this post over at Elle Fredrix's blog. Freaky cool, huh? They move very slowly for me.


2. Your Friendly Neighborhood Book Dragon posted the BEST review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that I have seen yet. Very insightful. (Note: there are spoilers in the review, bookmark it and come back if you haven't finished yet.)


3. Etsy Love! A journey of 1000 stitches had the brilliant idea to post about etsy and collect some links into Mr. Linky. Go check it out. My own etsy shop (still tiny!) is listed there as well.


4. This review of The Time Traveler's Wife (again at Your Friendly Neighborhood Book Dragon) makes me want to move it up my list- fast! I own the book, what am I waiting for? (oh yeah, all those OTHER books I own...)


5. Erin at The Paperback Stash nominated me for the Rockin' Girl Blogger award. I LOVE that picture at the top of her blog, no, not that one, the one on the right.

1. Trish nominated me too! Does this one cancel out the other? Thanks ladies.


2. Your Friendly Neighborhood Book Dragon (can you tell I just discovered this blog? and that I love it?) posted the Best. Ever. Story about used book shopping. Go read it.


3. I am reading The Storyteller's Daughter by Saira Shah. It is about Afghanistan, and I had hoped it to be an enlightening follow up to A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's a memoir, and so far I'm finding it to be much less serious that I had hoped. The author is clearly enchanted with Afghanistan, and it is coloring her writing. This is good for most memoirs, but not really what I'd hoped for this one.


4. I am also reading Glass Houses by Rachel Caine. This is the author of the Weather Warden series, which I love. (Ok, I've only read the first one. I love it though!) I've read about half of Glass Houses, and the jury is still out. It is only just now getting interesting. Fortunately, it is also short.


5. We are going camping for real this weekend. Like, in a tent and everything. I can't wait to see what the Monkey thinks.


6. And speaking of His Monkeyness- yesterday he told me he wanted to wear a specific shirt. I said, "this one? the one with the Brontosaurus on it?" and he said, " No Mommy! APATOSAURUS." Gee thanks kid. Correcting me ALREADY??? and he's not even 2 1/2 yet!


7. Dewey created a blog where we can discuss Harry Potter with full spoilers. Go check it out.


8. There is a necklace on Etsy that I really really want. Like really. Badly. WANT. I visit it every day to make sure it is still there. Because I want it. A lot. Only now I am nervous about posting the link, cause what if you want it too?? So just imagine it, k?

(for whatever reason, blogger doesn't want me to put that picture there without renumbering my list. 5+8=13)

A very tired Thursday Thirteen #24

Thirteen Random thoughts.

1. I forgot to do Monday Math. Again. I'm at 97 books in (last one being a JD Robb), 39 books read, for a deficit of 58 books. I don't stand a chance at ever catching up.
2. The number of books I have at home that are NOT on challenge lists that I really want to read are starting to outnumber the ones that ARE on challenge lists. I am starting to worry that I will not complete any challenges due to lack of willpower.
3. I am less than 100 pages away from finishing the 40th book- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
4. I will make a post some time tomorrow that links to my predictions for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Please, come discuss it with me! (It will NOT be on this page, no fear of spoilers from visiting here.)
5. I am deathly (heh) afraid of the Internets right now. I do not want to see a spoiler for Deathly Hallows. Because of this, I am only visiting sites and blogs I trust until I have finished The Book. This means I will not be visiting very many Thursday Thirteens this week. I will not be watching tv.
6. I do not understand why people take such pleasure out of spoiling things for others.
7. We are taking the Monkey "camping" this weekend.
8. No, not in a tent. In a hotel room. We will be spending time at a campground and at the lake though, and there will be a tent for him to play in.
9. Even though we will be "camping" with 15 members of our family, at least 3 of us (and probably 5 of us) will be reading Harry Potter instead, having gone to Wal-mart at midnight to buy our copies. (Wal-mart being the only store open at midnight in Pierre, SD.)
10. I have almost completed my next tote bag for my etsy store. My bobbin ran out of thread SIX INCHES from finishing and I did not have time to reload. SIX INCHES.
11. Yes, there is only one bag up for sale at this time. I bought several more tshirts yesterday (including one with a monkey dressed as Elvis, I can't wait to get to that one) and plan to have several more up next week.
12. Have a t-shirt you'd like to see made into a bag? Leave me a comment!
13. I have Half-Blood Prince in my bag. Do you think my boss would notice if I whipped it out to read it?

Thursday Thirteen #23- Phone-tag.com Edition!

This week's Thursday Thirteen is all about Phone-tag.com



What is Phone-tag.com, you ask? Well, Phone-tag is a fun way to win prizes using your cellphone or digital camera. Each week an email/text message is sent out with instructions, you take a picture, submit it, vote, and the winner gets a cool prize! The more people who play, the better the prize. I'm all for better prizes, so go sign up!

Here are 13 reasons you should play:

1. It's a lot of fun.
2. It lets you be creative or silly or sneaky with your camera.
3. Hey, you're paying for that cell phone camera, might as well get some use out of it.
4. You don't have a cellphone? Well clearly you have the Internet. Use your digital camera! (But you can't photoshop, so no three headed dogs.)
5. I've won 2 Amazon.com gift certificates. I used them to buy BOOKS.
6. I won a Victoria's Secret gift certificate. I bought *two* bras. (Hi dear, aren't you glad I told the internet that?)
7. I won a gift card to socks.com.
8. I won movie tickets from Fandango. (We were supposed to go see Transformers, but we cheated and are going to see HARRY POTTER tomorrow instead! Woo, first movie since the monkey was born 2.5 years ago!)
9. I've managed to take most of my pictures WHILE AT WORK. What better use of company hours?
10. Really, are you gonna get another chance to dress up as a pirate. AT WORK? And then post it on the internets? (Sorry, I can't link to photos on phone-tag, but trust me, it's there!)
11. Got a lot of friends? The more friends who come vote for your picture, the better your chance of winning. (Why do you think I'm posting this to my blog, anyway?)
12. This week's tag is all about Harry Potter. It hasn't started yet, there's still time to sign up, and the prizes are cool (Free books!)
13. Did I mention that it's fun?

PS. I'm lisah over there, give me some credit for sending ya, will ya? Go now, sign up, have fun.

PPS. You should be able to play, even if you're overseas- all it takes is an email account and a digital camera or cellphone camera that you can email to yourself. So sign up!

Thursday Thirteen #22

Last week I listed 13 books that I hoped to read soon. This week will be the last 13 books I noted in my notebook and why. These are usually books I do not own and might want to read, but sometimes I write it down for other reasons. I"m too lazy to link them all to Amazon, ya'll know how to do it yourself.

1. The Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinski- read a review of it on Trashionista.
2. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly- reviewed by Kailana's Written World
3. If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name by Heather Lende- reviewed by Bookfoolery and Babble.
4. Five Quarters of an Orange by Joanne Harris- chosen for the Something About Me Challenge by The Magic Lasso
5. The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani- also reviewed by Kailana's Written World. I thought this would be a nice follow up to A Thousand Splendid Suns.
   
6. Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by LaFevers- reveiwed by A Patchwork of Books.
7. The Other Side of the River by Alex Kotlowitz- reviewed by Caribousmom.
8. The Faith Club- reviewed by A Journey of 1000 Stitches- I wrote it down to remind myself who else had read it so I could compare when I was done.
9. A Wrinkle in Time by L'Engle- reviewed by 3M- this one is on my Newbery list.
10. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Houssini- reviewed by This is the Life ( and at least half a dozen others, this is the first one I saw)- I'm reading it now.
11. Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus- reviewed by Not Enough Books. I love stories that revisit high school relationships.
12. The Sword and Blossom by Dagnamenta & Williams- reviewed by A Work in Progress (and someone else later, but I failed to write it down.)
13. Wuthering High by Cara Lockwood- YA novel reviewed by Bookshelves of Doom.
    

Thursday Thirteen #21

Ok, these last two Thursdays were way too close together. Here's a cheap and easy list:

The next 13 books I hope to read/complete. (As of this moment, this list could change!)

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
   
2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
   
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
   
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
   
5. Too Much of a Good Thing by Dan Kindlon
6. gods In Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
7. The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
8. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
9. The History of God by Karen Armstrong
10. A Song for Summer by Ibbotson
11. Uglies by Scott Westerfield
12. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
13. A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison

What are you reading next?

Thursday Thirteen #20

While we were on vacation last week I had very little time to check Google Reader for new posts. We returned Sunday morning and I had 670 new blog posts to read. For this week's Thursday Thirteen, I give you thirteen of my favorites, in no particular order.

1. Letters from Mommy's Journal at Nattie Writes! As many of you know, Nattie recently passed away. These are letters written to her children a week of so before.



2. The best book so far this year over at This is the Life. This is the second review of A Thousand Splendid Suns that makes me want to run out and buy it. In Hardcover.



3. Amanda at A Patchwork of Books recently read 13 Little Blue Envelopes and also enjoyed it. Here's my review.



4. If you've been anywhere in the book blogging world in the last month you can't help but be aware of the big debate over the value of book bloggers vs. in print reviews. I haven't talked about it here, but Bibliolatry has a nice blog post about it.



5. 3M posted about the incredible amount of reading she has to do by the end of June. I am amazed, as always, by her.



6. Mother Reader hosted a 48 hour reading challenge last weekend (while I was on vacation or I SO would have been there!) and posted the results here. The winner read an amazing 20 books.



7. Darla's Thursday Thirteen last week was memorable first lines- I have got to get in on the Jim Butcher bandwagon!



8. Suey over at It's All About Books posted this great conversation between her spouse and kids.



9. A High and Hidden Place has a review of The Lightning Thief- a book I just bought on vacation.



10. Mary Elizabeth Williams has an opinion on the Sopranos finale. I didn't get to watch it (yet) but hope to soon.



11. So the fish said... has a wonderful post about being a parent. I know exactly how she feels.



12. The only book I read on vacation was Number the Stars (my review here), 3M also read it.


13. Oh My God! They Nebulized Kenny!
    

Thursday Thirteen #19

In honor of next week's VACATION, I give you 13 things I'm going to do while in Tennessee and Alabama:

1. Eat at Chick-Fil-A
2. Eat at Nothing But Noodles
   
3. Drink real sweet tea.
4. Drink a Sonic Cherry Lime-aide
   
5. Swim in my aunt's pool
6. Show off my monkey to his grandma and other family
7. Go to the Nashville zoo
8. Observe the monkey when he realizes that we are ON the airplane. In the SKY.
9. Drive a lot.
10. Watch and see if my South Dakota husband melts on his first June trip to the South.
11. Sleep.
    
12. Read.
13. Relax.

I will not be doing a Thursday Thirteen next week, for the above reasons.

Thursday Thirteen #18

My birthday is coming up in a week and a half (June 11th) and thought this would be the appropriate time to make a wish list. So here goes!

1. Gift certificates to Amazon.com.
2. Gift certificates to Dunn Brothers Coffee.
3. A good kitchen knife for chopping veggies.
4. These shoes at Old Navy are cute.
5. 200 Crochet Blocks
6. A pedicure.
   
7. A new Auburn Sweatshirt. My "new" one is from 1996. I like this one. And this one. But would be equally happy with a plain gray one that just says Auburn.
   
8. Fried pickles from Sanford's.
9. Keurig K-cups.
10. The chance to sleep in.
11. My car washed and filled with gas when we return from vacation.
12. Books.
13. (this entry left blank for your imagination.)

What do you want for your birthday?

For more thursday thirteen, click here.

Thursday Thirteen #17

This week I give you 13 things about The Black Hills of South Dakota. I originally got tagged for the 5 restaurant meme, and thought I'd just add 8 things to do when you're done eating.

I got tagged by NOLADawn over at Kids, Cats & Books for this one.

Here's the rules:

These are the rules:

1. Link to the name of the person who tagged you.
2. Include the state and country you’re in.
3. List your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location (locally).
4. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged.

1. Sanford's Grub & Pub- This place has a real junkyard feel and roughly 800 tvs (all muted). They serve my favorite appetizer ever- Fried pickles. I'm also a big fan of the salad called "Where the Buffalo Roam" and the burger "Kardiac Arrest" Here's a link to Humphrey's Bar & Grill, which is the same restaurant in another town. Humphrey's is sports themed, and the menu items have different names, but it's the same things.
2. The Alpine Inn in Hill City. An old convert inn, they now have a very popular restaurant on the bottom floor. At lunch they serve German food- the only restaurant in the area that does. For dinner there are two choices- the large or the small. You get a filet, baked potato, and lettuce wedge. At all times there are homemade desserts- pie, cake, bread pudding, and these awesome waffles topped with sundae toppings. They don't appear to have a website, but here's a link to some reviews.
3. Roma's Ristorante in Spearfish. Spearfish is a little more of a drive, but Roma's makes it worth it. Italian food with a huge wine selection. This restaurant is a little fancy for South Dakota (we're pretty casual around here) and is a nice place to go for special occasions. They don't appear to have a working website, but here's a review page.
4. Jake's is in Deadwood. It's the top floor of The Midnight Star, which is a casino owned by Kevin Costner. This is where we went for my 30th birthday- in a limo. It was great.
5. The Loud American Roadhouse in Sturgis, SD. Sturgis is famous for it's annual motorcycle rally, and many of the businesses on Main St. close for the remainder of the year, but not the Loud American. They have a great steak tip dinner, live music most weekends, pool, tvs, darts... I was just there tonight!

I'm not tagging people, if you want to do it, do it!

8 Things to do in the Hills.

1. (The most obvious) Mt. Rushmore.
2. Crazy Horse Memorial. I think Crazy Horse is more interesting than Mt. Rushmore. Once a year they do a 3 mile hike through the woods than ends up on top of his outstretched arm looking up his nose. People of all ages do it, and it's a lot of fun.
3. Visit Deadwood. You may have seen the HBO show. Modern day Deadwood is a lot different- very touristy, casinos, and bars. It's still a lot of fun.
4. While you're in Deadwood, be sure to visit Mt. Moriah Cemetary. Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are both there, and the drive back to town will take your breath away.
5. Badlands National Park. This is my personal favorite. Pictures don't do it justice.
   
6. The Mickelson Trail- miles and miles of bike trails, most of it through National Park lands. Do a little or do a lot!
7. Bear Country USA. This one is a drive through animal park. Bears, moose, wolves, bison, elk, big sheep and at the end- BABY bears!
8. The one and only- Wall Drug. The Rock City of the North, you can't miss it. A little shopping, a little eating, a lot of kitsch. All in one place. Wall Drugs is a warren of little shops and weird things. Once is probably enough.

Thursday Thirteen #16

Thirteen Musical Memories

1. Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet- I remember this song as a very young child on my parent's pontoon boat.
2. Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler - The first song I remember hearing on the radio because *I* was listening to music.
3. Angel Eyes by Jeff Healey Band - my best friend's first slow dance. No, I wasn't there for it. In fact, I didn't even know her at the time. Regardless of this fact, the song always makes me think of her.
   
4. Never Tear Us Apart by INXS- "our song" for my first boyfriend and I. I was 13, he was 15. "I was standing You were there."
   
5. Patience by Guns N Roses- that same boyfriend recorded a his voice over this one as a romantic gesture for a time that we would be apart for ONE WHOLE WEEK. I still have to change the station if this comes on the radio. " Girl, I think about you every day now"
6. Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood and the Destroyers- My second boyfriend insisted that this was his theme song. So not true."Every woman I meet They all stay satisfied" That snort you just heard was me, sorry.
   
7. The Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Picture Show- because my high school (LIKE EVERY OTHER HIGH SCHOOL ON EARTH) thought they were SO original in playing this at every dance.
   
8. I'd Die Without You by P.M. Dawn- Give to me on a mix tape by a "friend" our freshman year of college when he decided it was too hard to be my "friend". For a relationship that wasn't, I grieved for way too long.
   
9. Let's Get This Party Started by Pink- makes me remember my EverQuest raid days. ZONE IN!
   
10. Y.M.C.A. by The Village People- another EQ memory. Sometimes I miss that game. "Young man!"
    
11. Closing Time by Semisonic- this song came on the radio as I drove down my driveway in Alabama on my way to South Dakota on August 6, 2002. "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."
    
12. Breathe by Faith Hill- makes me all mooshy for my husband. "Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be"
13. Heaven by Bryan Adams- ditto. "Baby you're all that I want" (apparently we like the endearment "Baby")

Thursday Thirteen #15

This weeks Thursday Thirteen is in honor of Mother's Day- great things about being a mom.

1. I've been promised that I can sleep in on Sunday. No snuggling until *I* request it! No breakfast in bed until *I* request it.
   
2. Most mornings I get the Monkey out of bed and he snuggles in my big chair with me until it's time to get ready for work.
3. On the days I pick him up from daycare he is SO SO excited to see me.
4. When he unexpectedly gives me a kiss, or takes my hand and kisses my palm for no reason.
5. Someone might buy me one of these chairs for reading in the backyard on Mother's Day.
6. Perfect opportunity for a small gift card.
7. Living with a two year old can be so much fun. You get to see things in new ways all the time.
8. Getting to identify the town landmarks *every*single*time* we pass them- Dinosaur! Guitar! Fire Hydrant! (ok, so that last one might not be a landmark to YOU...)
9. Finding monkey stuff in your bag all the time- suckies, big bird, stickers, etc.
10. Watching my little guy flirt with the new girl at daycare. His first crush! Awww.
11. Looking for ways he's like me or his dad.
12. Encouraging his obsessions (dinosaurs! fire fighters!)
13. Being a mom is the greatest thing ever. It's also the hardest thing ever, but so worth it. I love that monkey so much!
    

Thursday Thirteen #14

Thirteen Things I did on my afternoon off:

Yesterday was my afternoon off. We get one afternoon a month off in exchange for working that Saturday morning. Here's what I did:

1. Had lunch with my husband at Khoury's Mediterranean Restaurant. (I had falafel and baba ghanouj and he had chicken shawarma)
   
2. Went to the library for ONE book and came home with NINE.
3. Got my eyes checked.
4. Got contacts (for the first time in 5 years!)
5. Got an iced coffee from Starbucks.
6. Went to Old Navy and bought NOTHING!
7. Bought some k-cups on sale at Sears, of all places.
8. Went to the shoe store and bought NOTHING!
9. Bought two casual skirts at Target (this is the summer of the skirt for me!)
10. Bought two birthday gifts at Target.
11. Spent most of my paycheck on Mother's Day cards at Target. (ok, finally I think that this is a Hallmark Scam.)
12. Bought cheap sunglasses (woohoo!! this is the whole reason I got contacts!)
13. Went to Borders and redeemed my Border Bucks and spent NOT ONE PENNY of my own! (I got a little notebook, not even a book.)

Thursday Thirteen # 13

To celebrate my gorgeous new blog, I give you....

Thirteen Questions for YOU regarding my new look and blogs in general...

1. How awesome is Lindsay at Splat Designs?
2. I'd like to add bloglines or a blogroll or *something* that will condense my bloglist down. Any suggestions? #1 criteria is: free. I looked at blogroll.com today, but after entering a lot of links discovered in the forum that all was not well.
   
3. If I do end up just typing them all into a list, would it be better at the very bottom of the sidebar? It would be fairly long.
4. What about the archives? Should they be at the bottom instead?
5. Do people actually use the archives? (besides me, I mean)
   
6. Have you been to Splat Designs to check it out yet?
7. I have a very small handful of non-blog links. Should they be near the top? The bottom? Do you follow links (not-blog links) from other blogs?
8. I'm thinking about adding a quote in the footer. What's your favorite quote?
9. What is the coolest little feature of your own blog?
10. What is the coolest little feature you've seen on someone else's blog?
11. Do you generally notice changes to sidebars or new elements in blogs?
12. Do you usually read it all from a feed like Google Reader and rarely see the blog itself?
13. Why have you not gone over to Splat Designs yet?

Confidential to Lindsay: I still love it, you rock!

Thursday Thirteen #12

. . . Thirteen Pet Peeves. . .

1. Businesses that intentionally misspell their name to be funny- special mention to those that are aimed at children. For example, Kid's Kastle or Wee Kare Daycare or EZ Money Check Cashing.
2. People who repeatedly say, "But we need the moisture!" in the middle of a snow storm.
3. People who repeatedly say, "But we need the moisture!" in the middle of a drought.
4. People who chew gum while making business calls (or, more specifically, while calling me to ask for a loan.)
5. People who take phone calls while in my office. I honestly don't care if their phone rings, so long as they don't answer it. I completely understand forgetting to turn it off or down. The exception, of course, are calls related to their business with me.
6. Forwarded email that have not been edited to remove all the forwarding info.
7. Forwarded email that promise me a wish come true, or a coupon to Outback, or a free trip to Disneyworld.
8. Nasty, dirty flip-flops.
9. Sweatpants worn in public to anywhere that isn't the gym or the doctor's office/ hospital.
10. Especially if you are a man.
11. Bullet hole decals on your car.
12. When you call someone's cell phone and it says, "Please enjoy the music while your party is reached" and suddenly you are listening to some crap song.
13. When my neighbors take the parking in front of our house, while there is perfectly good parking IN THEIR OWN DRIVEWAY.
    

Thursday Thirteen #11

Thirteen Things on my To-Do List:

1. Write thank-you cards for the monkey's gifts, so the monkey can "sign" them.
2. Update the monkey's blog for the out-of-town grandparents benefit.
3. Order some pictures for my mom. I love ordering pictures from Walgreens. I can upload the pictures here in South Dakota, and place an order for pickup in Alabama. In one hour!
   
4. Finish the little gift for my new nephew.
5. Finish Addison's blanket. Hahahaha, yeah right. She's almost one.
   
6. Mail a little package of happiness to a friend of mine.
7. Work on my ripple blanket.
8. Mail a book for paperbackswap.
9. Read something. As you can tell by the new element in my sidebar, I keep starting new books.
10. Finally post my nominees for the Thinking Blogger award.
11. Purchase an absurd number of gifts for birthdays in April and May. Ouch.
12. Start looking for plane tickets for our trip to Alabama/Tennessee this summer.
    
13. Check out Booktribes.

For more Thursday Thirteens, click here.

Thursday Thirteen #10

I try to not talk so much about him here, but in honor of the Monkey's 2nd birthday on Saturday, I give you 13 things about my boy:

1. Sometimes he gets real quiet and stands real still, and just when you're thinking he's filling his pants he HOPS! and gives you a giant grin and says, "Mama, I a FROG!" Granted, when he hops his feet barely leave the ground, but it's still cute.
2. He is in love with dinosaurs. He calls most of them "DINOSAUR" except for the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops and the Parasauralophus, which he calls "Carol!" after his daycare provider.
3. When he wakes up in the middle of the night he often starts with "Daddy! I awake!" This is great for two reasons; one, it's just cute; and two, he's not yelling for me.
4. He's starting to use more complex sentences, a recent example is "I go to Grandpa's house to color! With Jo!"
5. He is a sweet sweet boy, full of kisses and hugs.
6. When driving we have to be on constant lookout for busses, and be prepared to shout "BUS!" at every one of them.
7. He *always* needs a hat. *Always* Sometimes two.
8. He loves firetrucks, which he calls "Fire Fighter Trucks." Police cars, garbage trucks, delivery trucks, tow trucks, ambulances, lawn maintenance trucks, pickups with ladder racks, and mailtrucks are also "Fire Fighter Trucks!"
9. He loves other kids. He isn't shy at all and is always ready to jump in with anyone who's playing.
   
10. He is SO DRAMATIC when he wakes up. "Eyes, mama, eyes! Bright eyes!" His blonde hair is all fluffly like an dandelion and he's so horribly put out by the light. "Off!" "Sweetie, that's the SUN, mama can't turn it off!" "Off! Off! Eyyyyyeees"
11. He will wash his hands and brush his teeth for 20 minutes, easy. Probably longer if we'd let him
12. He loves books. He likes to be read to, but he LOVES to look at them by himself. He likes to bring us our books and point out the "CCCs" Good thing too since his parents both love books.
13. He loves to count the steps into the house, and 75% of the time he GETS IT RIGHT. There are 14 steps, sometimes he skips 7 (always 7). He is very very reliable at counting things up to 6. He's not even 2 until Saturday!

I just love that kid so much.

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Thursday Thirteen #9

Ok, so this is a totally wimpy post, sorry. Next week I'll do better, I promise.

I give you: The last 13 books I got from Paperbackswap.

1. Cracks in My Foundation by Marian Keyes
2. Carved in Bone: A Body Farm Novel by Jefferson Bass
3. Shadowland (The Mediator, Book 1) by Meg Cabot
4. The Guy Not Taken: Stories by Jennifer Weiner
5. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
6. Over the Moon by various
7. The Organized Home: Design Solutions for Clutter-Free Living by Koll & Ellis
8. The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
9. Mike, Mike and Me by Wendy Markham
10. Nearlyweds by Beth Kendrick
11. Too Much of a Good Thing: Raising Children of Character in an Indulgent Age by Daniel Kindlon
12. Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald
13. Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Childhood by Jennifer Traig

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