Thursday Thirteen Things I Wonder About (#19)

My mind works in strange and mysterious ways…

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. How often do other people change out the underwear in their underwear drawer? I mean, so they schedule a regular amount of time? Twice a year maybe to go through and throw out all the ratty old underwear they wouldn’t wear on vacation or on a date or in front of their cats and replace them?
2. Speaking of underwear, am I the only one who’s ever bought new underwear just so I didn’t have to wash clothes? Or whole new outfits even? Or a couple of days-worth of clothes?
3. What do other people think about during their commute to work? Do they just space out and not remember how they got to work? Do they think about the AIDs issue in Africa, last night’s Daily Show, what they’re going to make for dinner? Am I the only one who has whole imaginary conversations and arguments with myself that I might have with other people that just piss me off further when I’m already pissed off or help convince me more that I’m right about something?…What?
4. Do other people worry that they might look up and find someone staring in their window at them, especially at night? Every night? Even on the second story? Or driving in their car? Especially when looking in the rear view mirror?
5. Why can’t someone invent a spray that discourages my puppy from poo-pooing on my rug? They make stuff to clean it up. They make stuff to “neutralize” the smell. Can’t they make something that makes him sniff that spot and think “naughty!”?
6. Why can’t all my pets learn to use the toilet like me? Is it really that difficult? I mean, they’re always watching me, studying me when I use it. Surely by now they’ve figured it out.
7. Why do people think South Park is funny? Seriously. I just don’t get it.
8. Why don’t Target or WAL-Mart carry white floating shelves? Do people really only decorate in dark colors anymore? Don’t the people who order stock for them watch HGtv or TLC at all?
9. Was my old apartment building filled with mold like my crazy old neighbor claimed and was it making me sick? I have to say that I’ve had a reduction in headaches since I moved into the house. Though before I moved into the apartment, I suffered from chronic migraines for 20+ years. However, the fibromyalgia did become a problem while I was in the apartment and it’s been better too. Granted, I’ve been eating my strict pseudo-vegetarian diet and doing aquatic physical therapy. It’s hard to tell. But the mildew problem on my furniture and in my kitchen is gone now that I’m in the house. (The allergist said I wasn’t allergic.)
10. If my mom isn’t coming for my gall bladder surgery, who is going to drive me to and from and take care of me and is it wrong to be annoyed at my grandmother for taking up my mother’s time? My grandmother isn’t actually physically ill, but she is bipolar. She has to be watched because she won’t take her meds or eat like she should because she’s decided she doesn’t want to and she didn’t like the nursing home she was in. She demanded that my parents take her with them from Ohio to New Mexico for a visit after Thanksgiving and she shows no signs of wanting to go home. My dad shows no signs of wanting to take care of his own mother so it falls on my mom. So, now that I have surgery scheduled in February, I don’t have my mommy to take care of me and I’m a little disappointed. Does that sound too selfish?
11. Has TNT been showing a 3rd season of The Closer and I’ve missed it? I think I missed this season of Monk too. They don’t seem to be showing them regularly. When will there be a new season of Eureka? There are simply too many shows I like now. It’s too much to keep up with and they’re all on at odd times and their seasons are all weird and even the DVR is getting confused.
12. Has anyone else noticed that Amazon’s Prime shipping is not worth the price anymore? Very few things are covered as “free shipping” and very few things are included in their “expedited” 2-day shipping either. I almost always am paying added shipping costs even on some books and for standard shipping, some things aren’t shipping for weeks, even two of the books I ordered (that I don’t have time to read). Since I usually buy $100-worth of stuff at a time, I don’t understand why I never qualify for free anything. Why am I paying for this extra service?
13. Do people only come here to read the Thursday Thirteen? My uncle told me that one of those news channels said that most blogs have only one reader. Am I posting to myself the rest of the week?

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, blog meme, meme, bloghopping, WAL-Mart, Target, the puppy, South Park, underwear, The Closer, Monk, Eureka, T.V., Amazon.com, mold, mildew, fibromyalgia, migraines

Thursday Thirteen Favorite Christmas Decorations (#17)

(I apologize if some of the pictures are a little dark. I tried to use natural light because the flash washed them out. I’m much better at taking landscape photographs.)

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

#1 & #2:
Tigger and The School House Rock “I’m Just A Bill” ornaments.
(It even plays part of the song!)

#3 & #4:
Scooby Doo (entangled in lights) and Spiderman (delivering presents) ornaments.

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Tags: Thursday Thirteen, bloghopping, blog meme, Christmas, decorations, ornaments

Thursday Thirteen Things That Have Gone Wrong Today (#16)

Today is a Murphy’s Thursday Thirteen.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. I overslept.
2. I forgot to take my morning medicines.
3. I was out of both fruit and granola when I went to make breakfast.
4. When I got in the car to drive to work, I realized I was out of gas.
5. When I got to the gas station, I realized I had no purse.
6. When I got home to get the purse, I sideswiped my side view mirror on my garage.
7. I picked up regular instead of Diet Pepsi at the gas station.
8. When I finally got near work, traffic was backed up 1½ blocks in front of my parking garage.
9. My stomach is very upset.
10. I’m trying to not get a migraine.
11. My fibromyalgia pain is up today.
12. I was going to write a TT about things I actually don’t mind having in common with my family but my website was down.
13. And I couldn’t think of thirteen things I have in common with my family.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, blog meme, bloghopping

Life Meme

Got this from the Laughing Muse:

1. What time is it? Nap time?
2. What is your full name? Fnord.
3. What are you most afraid of? Dying alone and no one finding my body for weeks.
4. What is the most recent movie that you have seen in a theater? Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
5. Have you ever seen a ghost? Yes. Several.
6. Where were you born? Columbus, OH.
7. Ever been to Alaska? Nope.
8. Ever been toilet papering? Nope.
9. Loved someone so much it made you cry? Yes.
10. Been in a serious car accident? Serious enough to end up on crutches for a week once and sprained my back last year, but never so serious that anyone ended up in the hospital or worse.
11. Do you plan to have any more children? No.
12. Favorite day of the week? Any day I can sleep late.
13. Favorite Restaurant? I don’t currently have a favorite, but I used to love Little Tokyo II in Metairie, LA.
14. Favorite Flower? Marigolds.
15. Favorite color? rust orange
16. Favorite sport to watch? baseball, but only live and in person
17. Favorite Drink? Coffee.
18. Favorite Ice Cream? Eddy’s Light Pumpkin.
19. Favorite fast food restaurant? Taco Bell, I’m sorry to say.
20. What color is your bedroom carpet? I’ve got Berber. It looks white-ish, I guess.
21. How many times did you fail your driver’s test? Twice.
22. What do you do when you are bored? I watch HGtv or TLC.
23. What time is your bedtime? 10 or 11pm.
24. Favorite TV shows? CSI (Vegas only), Criminal Minds, The Closer, Monk, Roseanne, M*A*S*H
25. What are you most grateful for? My family.
26. What are you listening to right now? NPR
27. How many pets do you have? I am the caretaker of two cats and one Pug.
28. Which came first: the chicken or the egg? Seriously. This only makes my head hurt.
29. What would you like to accomplish before you die? Get everything unpacked and put away.

Tags: blog meme

Thursday Thirteen Inalienable Truths I’ve Accepted (#6)

Accept certain inalienable truths.

Prices will rise, Politicians will philander, you too will get old.

And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young,
prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

[…]

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia; dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than its worth.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. A nap is always a good use of time. This I’ve learned mostly from my cats, but my puppy seems to subscribe to this philosophy too.
2. Use a pencil when writing in your life’s planner. I never in a million years would have thought I’d be living in Maine 3 years ago and now I’ve been hear 2 1/2 years. In fact, I was packed to move to Alabama the month before I moved to Maine…so make sure that pencil has a large eraser.
3. Doing what’s healthy for yourself may feel somewhat selfish and awkward, but in the long run, you’ll be better for it. If you’re a people pleaser, it’s not always easy to put yourself first and do the thing that protects you or fills your needs, but practice makes perfect.
4. Parents don’t always realize they aren’t being supportive. Oh, many think they are; they really do. They think they’re looking out for you, trying to help, etc. They’re critical words probably aren’t meant to be critical but guiding, etc. First try talking it out and if that doesn’t work, ignore and let go. They’re being supportive “in they’re own way.” Take it for what it is.
5. I am never going to look like those models in the magazines. ‘Nuf said.
6. Draw a crazy picture,
   Write a nutty poem,
   Sing a mumble-gumble song,
   Whistle through your comb.
   Do a loony-goony dance,
   ’Cross the kitchen floor,
   Put something silly in the world
   That ain’t been there before.
   -”Put Something In”, Shel Silverstein
7. It was easier to make new friends at five than thirty-five. Maybe trading PB&J and playing Barbies had something to do with it. Or it could just be that everyone seems to be in such a hurry these days to get from one place to another so we can all rush home to our families, televisions and internet-connected commputers, myself included.
8. Politics is the new racism. Not that the old racism has disappeared, but there does seem to be a lot of hatred these days directed between the politically-minded, most of which are just shouting insults and rhetoric at each other without discussing anything of any real import anything worth listening to anyway. It makes me wonder how long it’ll be before we have separate water fountains for liberals and conservatives. Wouldn’t want their spit to mix.
9. There is no magic pill. Apparently there’s no magic pill that will make me skinny, healthy, or happy. These are all things I have to work at. Apparently, the journey is worth it.
10. You do not need six spatulas. So sayth the personal organizer. She let me keep my favorite two. Honestly? I haven’t missed the other four in the last six months, so I guess she’s right.
11. Sometimes you just have to dance in the rain. Embrace nature, enjoy her. She feeds you, gives you life, heals you. It’s good to be reminded every now and then that we came from nature instead of rushing from our cars to our homes afraid to let ourselves get touched by a single raindrop as if it might ruin us or melt us.
12. Sit in silence every now and then. This is another trick I learned from my wise if somewhat neurotic cats. In this day and age, it’s hard to get away from the static — there almost always seems to be some sort of something blasting it’s way into our minds these days between the televisions, the satellite and regular radios, CDs, DVDs, podcasts, iPods, and on and on. Sometimes it’s good just to sit in silence and soak it in. It’s a strange kind of noise really, very relaxing. It helps if you stare at a blank spot on the wall.
13. The past was never as good or as bad as you remember it. We all rewrite the past just a little “bigger” than it was. Take some comfort that the tragedies weren’t nearly as tragic as you think they were and ignore the fact that your glories weren’t nearly as glorious as you think, but keep in mind that some of your glories may been someone else’s tragedies…and vice versa.

Feel free to add you own truths to the comments section or comment on mine.

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, blog meme, bloghopping

Thursday Thirteen Things I Like About Myself (#3)

Last week’s Official Thursday Thirteen post issued a challenge for this week: To list 13 Things I Like About Myself. I’ve been putting some thought to the challenge because as the challenger said, I do spend a lot of time scrutinizing myself and I do forget that there are good things. However, I’m glad I had a whole week to think about this one because it was a struggle for me since I tend to be very self negative. I think this was a good exercise.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. I am an intelligent, college-educated woman with a B.S. in Computer Science and double minors in Mathematics and English. I had to fight with the Univeristy of Alabama’s College of Engineering to have the official record show I had two minors because their departmental policy was that Computer Science majors could only have one minor. My mother was furious that it wasn’t mentioned as a first at graduation.
2. I am an independent thinker and form my own opinions. This one is very important to me because I’ve come to realize that so many of the people I grew up with just seem to repeat the opinions (political, racial, etc.) of their parents and don’t seem to be able to back them up with evidence or references or they just seem to repeat rhetoric from radio shows and similar. My parents, some of my religious, and some of my school teachers encouraged me to question everything from opinions to so-called facts and learn to research everything and make up my own mind.
3. I have an open mind. This allows me to be able to shape and change my opinions if need be. It’s enabled me to not only learn from so many different people and experiences but befriend so many people I might never have known had I simply shut myself off to their opinions and beliefs.
4. I am independent and am content to be single. I don’t need to be in a relationship to be happy and I’m not desperately thinking about shrinking ovaries.
5. I am compassionate and empathic. So few people are these days. I just don’t understand the “Me Me Me” mentality.
6. I like trying new things. This is probably why I have so many different kinds of hobby-type projects started around here. Hmmmm. It’s definitely why I like so many different ethnic foods.
7. I believe in God. While I have difficulties having faith in the institution of the Church or a church, I do have Faith in God.
8. I am a virgin.
9. I am somewhat eccentric…or is it that I’m just weird.
10. I actually do remain good friends with most of my ex-boyfriends. I still think of three of them as among my best friends and communicate with them very frequently though we now live scattered across the country.
11. I have a sense of humor. It’s not my fault if not everyone gets it.
12. I love cooking and love cooking for others.
13. I see that there’s a big picture. Not everyone does. So few people can see beyond their block of the world. I like that I get that if a butterfly flutters it’s wings in Central Park, something might be affected in Gaza.

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, blog meme, bloghopping

Thursday Thirteen Movies I Like Despite Myself

We all have these movies. You know what they are. You’re flipping through the channels or the tv guide and there it is. It’s not an Emmy winner. It wasn’t even that great the first (hundred) time(s) you saw it. But you can’t help yourself. You’re drawn to it. Your fingers automatically work the remote control and the next thing you know, you’re sitting mesmerized on the futon with a Big Gulp in one hand and another hand stuffed in a half empty bag of Baked Doritos and the credits are rolling and you can’t remember how you got there…

These are thirteen of mine…

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Tags: movies, Thursday Thirteen, blog meme, bloghopping

Thursday Thirteen I Wanna Be When I Growd Up

So…I saw this over at Danielle’s initially and I’m not entirely sure I “get” it (because I’m old and easily confused), but I’m going to try it out anyway…and I’m stealing her topic too.

Thirteen Things I Wanna Be When I Growd Up

1. Drummer in a band - I so wanted to be Melody from Josie and the Pussycats.
2. Book Store Owner - what better way to pass your time than having free access to every book you ever wanted to read?
3. Journalist - This is what I really wanted to be but my parents pressured me into going to college to study something that would “pay”.
4. Novelist - This was my second choice of a career. I still kind of hope I get around to it…one day.
5. Food Network Star - This is actually a fairly new dream career. I practice in my little apartment kitchen. My animals look at me like I’m crazy. I need a better audience.
6. Air Force Pilot - This was crushed by the fact that you need 20/20 vision and I was a four-eyed geek.
7. Space Shuttle Pilot - See #6.
8. CIA Agent - Hmmmm…could be my years of outspoken paranoia and conspiracy theories may have kept me from securing this position…or it could have been those questionable acquaintances I had in college. I’m still blaming the acquaintances.
9. Lawyer - Believe it or not, I seriously considered this twice in my life and I don’t mean for mere minutes. I agonized over the idea of going to law school at the end of college and again a few years ago, but as much as I’d like to go into environmental law or civil rights law, I know I don’t have the focus for three years of book studies. My brain would melt.
10. Paleontologist - Long before Steven Speilberg made it cool, I wanted to dig up dinosaur bones in the desert. O.K. Well, I wanted to study dinosaur bones in a climate-controlled fake desert. No, really, I spent a whole semester of junior high helping the science department at the local university clean a real dinosaur bone for my science project at school and I only got an “Honorable Mention.” Someone with pictures of clouds won.
11. Archeologist - To be honest, Indiana Jones might have had some influence on this one, but going from digging up dinosaur bones to human bones wasn’t that big of a stretch.
12. Radio Personality - Yes, I wanted my own radio talk show. How else am I going to spread my wild and crazy theories to the world — think Harley in Eight-Legged Freaks.
13. Lotto Winner - I suppose however that you have to play the Lotto to win and I never do because I can think of other things to do with that dollar like buy Twizzlers or Diet Pepsi. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, blog meme, bloghopping