Thursday Thirteen #39

A recap of Thursday Thirteen’s of the past.
My 13 Favorite Thursday 13 Posts
At least those written by myself.

1. 13 Things That Made This Morning Suck - [link] - My front tire was flat. At least it happened at home and not down the road in the middle of the forest.






2. Parts of My Body That Have Been Altered or Fixed – [link] - Nose – My Boy, aka Wreckingball Head, caused damage to my nose. So I had to have surgery to correct my deviated septum. After a weeks worth of uncomfortable stuff up my nose, I can breathe a lot easier.






3. My Favorite 13 Spooky Things – [link] - Surveillance Video Ghost - A surveillance video shows a ghostly object flowing around a car impound lot. After seeing the video on the news, a widower thought that this was the ghost of his wife who had died in one of those cars.






4. 13 Muppets in Order of Trustworthiness [link] - Bert – Put aside all the “Bert is Evil” negative propaganda, , Bert is a nice guy who makes a great roommate to Ernie. With all that he has to put up with, I’m amazed that he still has a good sense of humor. Although I suspect he votes Republican, anyone who loves pigeons is a good guy in my book.






5. 13 Silly Names I Have for Everyday Things [link] - P.R.F.I. = Poop-Related Fart Incident.






6. 13 People I Hope to Meet in the Café at the End of Time [link] - Mark Twain– Who wouldn’t want him at their party? This is a guy who wrote great books, gave wonder speeches, and hung out with the likes of Nikola Tesla.






7. 13 Songs I wish I never heard [link] - We Built This City - Starship (or Jefferson Airplane, or whoever).






8. My Favorite Hoaxes [link] - Bert is Evil - Bert, the Sesame Street muppet, appears on posters carried by supporters of Osama bin Laden. Actually, the joke was on someone in Bangladesh who was looking for pictures of Osama and found this one with Bert. He actually USED this image on thousands of posters that were used in demonstrations. Pictures of the demonstrations were carried by credible news agencies. You go Bert!






9. 13 Potential Thursday 13 Topics – Help Me Decide What’s Next! [link] 13 things that chocolate is not good on. – For example: Tailpipe hitch. (I still haven’t done that topic, yet.)






10. 13 Things Written On The Walls In My Creekistan Home. [link]Divide your flatulence into two partials and you will find great satisfaction.






11. 13 Things On, Under or Near My Desk At Work [link] - Turd - I don't know what else to call it. It's a piece off of a sculpture a friend was making. It looks like an abstract, polished turd pile.






12. 13 Things, Good and Bad, About Going Out and Drinking With Aimee the Red: [link] - Bad: Transformers Dude left the bar without paying his tab. We’ll just have to send Optimus Prime after him.






13. 13 Favorite Palindromes. [link] - Oh no! Don Ho!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. ItÂ’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Stinkbag

One of the unfortunate side-effects of living “way out,” is that every so often a stray dog wanders by. Some are strays, some are lost, and some are dumped. I guess the cowards that had the dog didn’t know what else to do with their unwanted mutt, so they drive “way out” and dump the dog.

In the year or so that I’ve lived in Creekistan, we’ve had a few dog visitors. First was Sirius. http://creekistan.blogspot.com/2006/05/sirius-black-dog.html. I was able to “lose” him by having him follow my car for a while, and then I sped off. Another car passed me going the other way, and he got confused and followed the other car..

Then there was Max, who our good neighbors were considering keeping. He was a long, short, bowlegged dog that was good at escaping and chewing up everything. He would wander the ½ mile between our house and our neighbors, seducing our dog, Bandit, to follow. He was a bad influence, and I was glad when he wandered off, never to return. I think I spotted him one day, about 5 miles away.

Occasionally we see a dog that I’ve named Ghost. We only get glimpses of this light-colored dog late at night. We suspect he may belong to someone who only comes to the area to visit or camp nearby.

Right now we have Stinkbag. This dog showed up the day after Christmas. He is the ugliest, smelliest dog I’ve ever seen. He looks like a cross between an old goat and a wrinkly Chinese dog with bowlegs. And he smells like he’s already dead. He’s got a collar but no tag. He won’t leave, preferring to sit on my welcome mat, blocking our door.

The dog warden can’t do any pickups until next week. Stinkbag better wander away, or he’ll get arrested. I hope he doesn’t die before then.

Thursday Thirteen #38

13 Resolutions for 2007

1. Eat less junk food. I guess I’ll try to bring food into work so that I am less tempted to go out and grab something.



2. Read more. Okay, perhaps I should say that in the last year, I haven’t read at all! The occasional book-on-tape is how I’ve been surviving. But I do hope that the 7th and last Harry Potter book comes out this year.



3. Take care of the stupid, petty debt. You know, those little things here and there that keep accumulating.



4. Potty train my daughter. No more diapers!



5. Go for more walks. It’s hard when it’s dark outside, but I could always carry a flashlight. Besides, I’ll have the dog with me.



6. Try to go on more “dates” with my husband.



7. Find a babysitter. This way, I can do resolution #6.



8. Plant and take care of a bigger and better garden. Perhaps I’ll even have corn this year!



9. Finish the kitchen. This will involve painting and putting up a backspash around the stove and sink. It’s not a huge project, but it will disturb things for a while.



10. Have more parties at home. We enjoy entertaining. Why not invite more people to come by? Okay, so the house isn’t done and the living room still has pieces of old wallpaper hanging down from the wall. But the floor is down and there’s plenty of room to dance!



11. Blog more often. Sometimes I think if it wasn’t for Thursday 13, my blog would be empty.



12. Take more pictures. With a digital camera, there is no excuse for not taking pictures. I’ll need a big memory card, but that shouldn’t be too difficult.



13. Enter something into the county fair. I don’t know what, yet. But I could try entering a piece of artwork or a photo, or even a pie.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Deer Hunting Season

This is the first year I’ve really paid attention to hunters and deer hunting. Last year, all I knew that during the week of deer hunting season, we shouldn’t go for walks in the woods and, if we were to go out, wear a bright orange vest or hat.

This year, I learned a lot about hunting deer. Mainly because my husband gave it a shot. (Excuse the pun.)

• A hunter should legally get a hunting license before going out.


• If you kill a deer, you need to take it to a “deer check station” and have it “tagged”. I guess this is to keep track of how many deer are killed as well as evaluate their health.


• Hunters are limited to the number that they are allowed to kill.


• A lot of people hunt without a license and don’t check the deer. But I don’t know any! ;-)


• Hunters need to wear the bright orange color as either a coat, vest, or hat. That way they don’t get shot by another eager hunter.


• Hunters can’t shoot from their car.


• Deer have excellent noses, so hunters should reduce their “scent imprint.” They can spray themselves with deer urine (available at Wal*Mart), shower with peanut butter, wash their clothes with special soap, and keep their clothes outside.


• The best time to hunt is at dawn or dusk. The deer sleep during the day.


• My dog loves the “deer corn” that hunters put out as bait. It makes him throw up all over my porch!


• My dog also loves to get the “pieces” of deer left in the woods by hunters who field dress their kill. This morning, I found him carrying a deer leg.


• During hunting season, deer run around in fear of everything. They especially like to run in front of cars.


• Deer (venison) tastes good.

No, my husband didn’t get a deer this year, but we had ½ a deer given to us by a friend. Maybe we’ll get one next year!

Thursday Thirteen #37

My 6 year old son is here at work with me today. So I thought I’d ask him to list
13 Things I Like About Christmas

1. Our tree.



2. Presents.



3. Lights.



4. Toys.



5. Parties



6. Cookies.



7. Candy.



8. Getting together with family.



9. Snow.



10. Christmas music.



11. Santa.



12. Christmas movies.



13. My son is insisting that #13 be “What do YOU like about Christmas?”

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Thursday Thirteen #36

13 Things That Made This Morning Suck

1. I awoke to the dog barking at the garbage men. He was barking from our front porch. But when I went out to grab the dog so that they could work in peace, Bandit got “heroic” and ran towards the guys. He got kicked. Don’t worry, he’s alright. He deserved it!



2. My hair was not cooperating, but I managed to make it look okay, somehow.
   



3. I drew a bath for the kids. My son was enthusiastic, but my two-year-old daughter was screaming and giving me dirty looks.
   



4. I spilled a bunch of dog food on the porch while trying to pour it into his dish. Oh well, he’ll eat it.
   



5. My front tire was flat. At least it happened at home and not down the road in the middle of the forest.
   



6. I had to clean out my trunk so that I could get to the spare. The trunk had Christmas presents that I was hiding from the kids.
   



7. The trunk also contained two bags of dog food. The smaller bag was purchased by my husband on sale at Big Lots. The dog refused to eat this food. Then, the other day, I went to the store and got a very large bag of dog food. Stupid me, I purchased the VERY SAME BRAND. I’m going to donate them to the dog shelter.
   



8. My husband is home on break, so I had to wake him up to help change the tire. He was not very happy since he was up until 5 working on a project.
   



9. My son started crying because he thought he was going to miss his class field trip. They were going to a retirement home to sing carols.
   



10. I went in to call the school to see if the field trip bus could wait for us. The phone didn’t work. It took me a few minutes to realize that my husband had taken the cord out of the phone and put it into the computer so that he could use the Internet.
    



11. The “doughnut” (spare tire) is not full size, so driving was slower then normal.
    



12. I got passed on the road. I hate to get passed. I’m usually driving fast enough that they don’t have to.
    



13. Now I have to buy new tires. You can’t buy just one. That means I have to drive to the tire store and beg someone here at work to pick me up and then drop me off when they are ready. Ugh!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Thursday Thirteen Holiday Header Graphics

Poison or Plastic?

I have never had a live Christmas tree. As a young child, I remember helping my father sort through the branches of our plastic tree. As I moved onto my own, I acquired used Christmas trees. Some better then others.

Our plastic tree was being stored under the house. That’s where our dog, Bandit, found it. I noticed him playing with a branch about a month ago. So much for our old plastic Christmas tree. Perhaps this would be the opportunity I’ve been waiting for! I could get a real tree.

You would think that by living out in a forest we could have an abundance of free Christmas trees just waiting to fulfill their holiday destiny. But we live in a deciduous forest—one that does not feature many conifers (pine trees). And after some discussion, it was decided to buy another plastic tree.

Right now, in my unfinished living room, I have they typical Wal*Mart, pre-lit Christmas tree. $29.95. The kids love it. It was hassle-free.

My friend, Aimee the Red, got a live tree grown by her Aunt. She said it was beautiful and she paid very little for it. At least, she paid little for the tree. Unknown to her at the time that she lovingly decorated it, it had poison ivy. The next day, she started itching. Now the rash has spread all over her body and even around her eyes. She has to get a shot to stop the spread of the rash.

Her cat has knocked over the tree. No one wants to set it back up again.

My $30 plastic tree doesn’t look so bad right now!

Thursday Thirteen #35

1. Las Vegas vacation, with gambling money and tickets to see Penn & Teller and a Cirque du Soleil show.







2. New couch and loveseat.







3. An LG Washer/Dryer Combo. Yes, put the dirty clothes in, clean, dry clothes come out! .







4. Macbook (Laptop) – A Macintosh Dual-Core (able to run Windows and Mac programs!) .







5. An LG 2 Cu. Ft. Countertop Microwave.







6. iHome Under Kitchen Cabinet iPod® & Shuffle Stereo Player with FM/TV/Weather Band and Remote Control.







7. Sirius Satellite Radio Receiver and Service for my car and home.







8. Satellite Internet.







9. A pocket home theater system: View-Video Eyewear. I could watch videos from my iPod that look like it’s on a 42’ screen!








10. DidjLIGHT – “It’s a floor lamp,” “NO, it’s a didgeridoo!” “It’s BOTH!”







11. Nintendo Wii – Why not, everyone else is getting one!







12. Black velvet Celtic Druid Cloak with hood, perhaps lined with purple satin lining!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Interpret This!

Last night, I had a strange dream. Any help interpreting it would be greatly appreciated!

I dreamt that I was back working at a company that I worked for several years ago. The place had been remodeled and barely resembled what it was when I left. But I could still tell that it was the same place. (Have I lost you yet?)

We were having a department “game,” or meeting, or team-building exercise that was facilitated by an outside company. This outside company was made up of non-violent criminals that were still in prison, but were allowed to travel to help facilitate these training sessions. After a while of being uncomfortable with these prisoners, I realized that I knew one of them! I used to work with him at this company. He was in prison for doing some kind of illegal pornography. His crime also involved him being naked. I think his name was Tony, but I don’t remember working with a Tony.

Anyway, the dream could be a result of stumbling across following picture yesterday. I mean, who wouldn’t find this traumatic?