TT # 24

Thirteen things I am noticing about the American Judicial system, as seen by a lowly Juror doing her civil 'duty'.

1. Court buildings are very old.
2. Court buildings are very cold. (see #1)
3. There can be lots of boring down time, until they call for you and then you rush in to the court room in an instant.
4. It can take 5.5 hours to pick 15 Jurors out of 85 potential people.
5. I can read a whole James Patterson book in the time it takes to pick a Jury.
6. Apparently I have a like-able appearance to be selected by both the Prosecutor and the Defendants Attorneys to sit on the Jury.
7. These Attorneys are real strong since they must bring in and out about 1,254 lbs of books, papers, pictures, files and posters each day to the court room.
8. I wonder if the attorneys get writers cramp from all the notes they take?
9. The attorneys must get tired of saying the same boring phrases over and over again, such as "I now add this exhibit into evidence", "Can you tell me if this picture depicts the scene correctly?", "The court's indulgence, Your Honor".
10. Without the extreme drama and hot actors, real court is just like what you see on TV, except MUCH longer.
11. The Judge taking notes on his laptop behind the bench surprises me.
12. The chairs that the Jury sit on are very uncomfortable.
13. And finally, being a Juror makes me realize that I am not nearly organized enough to ever consider a job change to be a Lawyer.
    

Thursday Thirteen #23

Thirteen things I want(ed) to be when I grow up.

1. Singer, backup mostly for a cool-front woman
2. Actress, that lasted all of 2 minutes when I realized I really suck at acting
3. Vet, until I saw needles and decided that wasn't for me
4. Dancer, I loved to dance as a kid but figured that would be too hard to break into
5. Teacher, but I suck at keeping control of kids after being a counselor at camp for many years
6. A child Psychologist, I did major in psychology in college but was discouraged at how many more years of school I would need to get anywhere in this field
7. An activist, that didn't go further than the interview where they explained I would be going door to door soliciting....no thanks
8. A business owner, not sure what business but I thought it would fun to be my own boss. But that's very costly and time consuming.
9. Working at a radio station, my fear of public speaking kept me from that one, I really just wanted to play with music all day
   
10. Work for a large credit card bank, wait...that's was real and it was awful. I am so glad I quit that job
11. A Model....hahahahaha...I am also too short
12. A Brain Chemist......not smart enough, but I did do well in those classes
    
13. And my final dream job for when I grow up would be professional Photographer. I need to really practice at that one if I even want to do it P/T.

Thursday Thirteen #22

Thirteen Things about teeth, in honor of my son's first loose tooth that is about to fall out any minute!

1. Children’s teeth begin forming before birth. As early as 4 months, the first primary (or baby) teeth to erupt through the gums are the lower central incisors, followed closely by the upper central incisors.
2. Teeth usually come in pairs. The bottom front two teeth typically show up first, followed by the top ones.
3. Not all doctors agree that symptoms of teething are diarrhea and a fever although most parents notice a tooth erupting after these symptoms are gone.
4. Although all 20 primary teeth usually appear by age 3, the pace and order of their eruption varies.
5. Permanent teeth begin appearing around age 5, starting with the first molars and lower central incisors. This process continues until approximately age 21.
6. When children are 6 or 7 years old, they begin to lose their baby teeth, and permanent teeth start to break through the gums.
7. The back molars fall out between 9-14 years of age.
8. Adults have 28 permanent teeth, or up to 32 including the third molars (or wisdom teeth).
9. Dentists say that the minimum time you should spend brushing your teeth is 2 minutes twice a day.
10. Eating sugar, as you probably already know, is a major cause of tooth decay. But it's not just how much sugar you eat - when and how you eat it can be just as important to keeping teeth healthy.
11. No one really knows what prompted parents to begin putting the tooth under a child's pillow or when the practice of leaving a gift became widespread. However, it probably began to be part of our American folklore sometime during the late 19th century.
12. A less-common variant is for the child to place the tooth in a glass of water beside the bed. Again, in the morning, the tooth is replaced with a coin.
13. You can have your child write to the tooth fairy here .

And here's my son's tooth this morning, the loose one with the big tooth behind it. I wonder how much the tooth fairy will leave him??

Thursday Thirteen #20

Thirteen Facts about the Common Cold (since we are all sick at my house).

1. The greatest myth about the common cold is that susceptibility to colds requires a weakened immune system. Healthy people with normal immune systems are highly susceptible to cold virus infection once the virus enters the nose. In volunteers studies, approximately 95% of normal adults became infected when virus was dropped into the nose.
2. Another myth - central heating dries the mucus membranes of the nose and makes a person more susceptible to catching a cold.
3. Being cold or being sent out in the cold with no jacket/gloves/scarves do NOT lead to catching a cold.
4. Drinking milk while having a cold does not increase production of more mucus.
5. Feeding a cold and starving a fever is an old wives tale. There is no scientific proof that overeating while having a cold does anything, other than help you gain weight.
6. There is no cold vaccine due to the numerous amounts of different strains of viruses that cause the common cold it would be impossible to protect against all of them.
7. Studies suggest a person is most likely to transmit rhinoviruses in the second to fourth day of infection, when the amount of virus in nasal secretions is highest.
8. Researchers also have shown that using aspirin to treat colds increases the amount of virus shed in nasal secretions, possibly making the cold sufferer more of a hazard to others.
9. Handwashing is the simplest and most effective way to keep from getting rhinovirus colds. Not touching the nose or eyes is another.
10. Every time you cough or sneeze, you release tiny droplets of fluid into the air. Those tiny droplets can fly pretty far -- up to 3 feet.
11. Children have about six to ten colds a year. In families with children in school, the number of colds per child can be as high as 12 a year.
12. Adults average about two to four colds a year, although the range varies widely. Women, especially those aged 20 to 30 years, have more colds than men, possibly because of their closer contact with children.
13. Large doses of vitamin C have not been shown to prevent or shorten colds and may cause diarrhea.

So the moral of this story is you will get a cold, there is little to do to prevent it, except wash your hands until they are cracked and bleeding, don’t kiss your snotty kid and there is little you can take to make you feel better so just grin and bear it. Great…just great!

Thursday Thirteen #19

A recap of my 2007.

1. I started off 2007 5 months pregnant with our third child. We knew we were having a girl.
2. I was driving a new Honda Minivan that we succumbed to at the end of 2006 (see #1).
3. Our big family vacation was a trip to visit the Big Mouse and all of his friends and Princesses which was quite difficult for me (see #1).
4. I started a new position at my company in February. It was a huge move and I am still not sure I am fully getting it yet.
5. I took one class in the Spring 2007 semester that was my hardest yet for my MBA. I got an A and haven't been back since. I plan to continue in the Spring of 2007.
6. Miss V was born on May 18th at 1:39 am, weighing in at 7lbs 6 oz. Mommy was a week overdue and was sent to be induced after my regularly scheduled appointment.
   
7. I took three months off of work for maternity leave.
8. My oldest started Kindergarten this year.
   
9. I entered the world of Mac's in September with my new desktop. Its wonderful.
10. My new hobby became digital scrapbooking. I created many pages for the kids' albums and had them printed for their books.
11. The big hit at Hanukkah this year was the Wii that I managed to get in September. I am glad I persevered and watched the websites closely so that I could give it to my son. He loves me.
12. I started taking my photography more seriously. With all the wonderful photographers out there to inspire me, I spend many hours learning and practicing with my camera (and Photoshop) to attempt to have just a quarter of their talent.
13. The final thought as this year comes to a close is to list my goals for next year:
• Continue to spend as much time with my kids as I can. Go visit their schools and get involved in their lives.
  
• Get back on the weight loss/exercise band wagon <--- Slacker!
• Go back to school
  
• Work on my knowledge at my job. Learn more and contribute more
• Take a photography class and learn as much as I can about being better
  

Thursday Thirteen #18

Thirteen facts about Winter.

1. Astronomically, it starts with the winter solstice (around December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and June 21 in the Southern Hemisphere), and ends with the spring equinox (around March 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and September 21 in the Southern Hemisphere).
2. 17 Cars are needed to equal the weight of 1 loaded snowplow (50,000 lbs).
3. Believe it or not, snow is actually clear/transparent. Snow appears white because the crystals act as prisms, breaking up the light of the sun into the entire spectrum of color.
4. During the winter Orion dominates the sky.
5. Nighttime predominates the winter season, and in some regions it has the highest rate of precipitation as well as prolonged dampness due to permanent snow cover in such areas.
6. Hibernation is a state of reduced metabolic activity during the winter. These animals "sleep" during winter and only come out as warm weather returns. For example, gophers, bears, frogs, snakes and bats hibernate.
7. During the winter months in the northern hemisphere, a gloominess nicknamed "winter blues", "February blahs", "Holiday depression", or doldrums, is informally noted amongst people. The severest cases of this type of depression is diagnosed as seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
8. In the United States, January has the highest rate of suicide.
9. The highest seasonal total snowfall ever measured was at Mount Baker Ski Area, outside of Bellingham, Washington in the United States during the 1998–1999 season. Mount Baker received 1,140 inches (29 m) of snow.
10. The best time to build a snowman is usually in the next warmest afternoon directly following a snowfall with a sufficient amount of snow.
11. Skiing was originally a practical way of getting from one place to another in packed or crusted snow. In Norse Myth, skiing was invented by Skadi, the snowshoe goddess. The word "ski" entered the English language from Norwegian in 1890.
12. During the American Civil War, on January 29, 1863, the largest military snow exchange occurred in the Rappahannock Valley in Northern Virginia. What began as a few hundred men from Texas plotting a friendly fight against their Arkansas camp mates soon escalated into a brawl that involved 9,000 soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia.
13. Freezing rain is a type of precipitation that begins as snow at higher altitude, falling from a cloud towards earth, melts completely on its way down while passing through a layer of air above freezing temperature, and then encounters a layer below freezing at lower level to become supercooled. This water will then freeze upon impact of any object it then encounters.

Thursday Thirteen #17

Thirteen of my favorite 'things' we have in our house.

1. The TiVO and DirecTv DVR. We are TV junkies.
   
2. The new Keurig coffee machine. We recently upgraded from the Senseo, which we still love, but we wanted a K-cup machine.
   
3. Our big screen TV in the basement (spider/s and all).
4. Our sectional with 4 recliners. Need something to lounge on while using #1 and #3.
   
5. The iMac.
6. My DSLR camera.
7. Our Amish hand-made bedroom set that we waited 6 months for. It was totally worth it.
8. My craft desk that is also used for homework/online classes. I love having everything for scrap booking in its own place.
9. The hot tub. Its so nice to sit outside under the stars.
10. The pantry in the basement. It was an after thought when we finished the basement and had an extra space. It really comes in handy for those weekly trips to Costco.
11. The bookcase we built in our living room turned library. We have so many books that its nice to have a place for them all.
12. The Gladiator Freezerator and matching garage storage in our newly organized garage.
13. The kids playroom. Its so nice to have a place that I can leave messy and not have to look at the toys all over the floor.
    

Thursday Thirteen #16

Thirteen Phrases that I totally cannot stand.

Last week I did phrases that I think are interesting, this week I am doing phrases that people use in every day conversations that really peeve me.

1. "I will touch base with you later" - You hear this one at work often. You are going to touch what? Don't touch me - please. If you want to talk to me, say you will call me later.

2. "Getting briefed (or debriefed)" - This is a fancy way of talking about a meeting. Say presentation or discussion, but briefing, I just don't get that one. Is there a briefcase involved? A large file with documents in them? Must be a military thing.

3. "Hang in there" - This is a blow off phrase. You are having a bad day, hang in there. Or better yet, deal with your own problems and leave me alone.

4. "Running with that" - Another way to pass the buck. I am not working on that project, Joe is running with that so don't bother me!

5. "Chuckle-Head" - what exactly is that? I hear that one often.

6. "Turn-key solution" - It never is. There is always something else you need to do/buy to make said equipment work.

7. "At the end of the day" - What is going to happen at this theoretical end of the day? At the end of the day, we will all get along better. Does the end of the day really ever come?

8. "SME (or Schmee)" - Subject Matter Expert. Ugh, this is so annoying. Usually these people know just as much as the rest of us.

9. "Been there, Done that" - OK, cocky. I don't care to hear your bragging.

10. "Low Hanging Fruit" - This one does not paint a mental picture of actual fruit on a tree, but someone grabbing one's self (or someone grabbing someone else - you choose). Of course its supposed to imply something easy to grab and take a hold of - again I don't see fruit.

11. "Boondoggle" - Meaning screwing off. Where did this one come from?

12. "The long and the short of it is" - Just say, conclusion or therefore. That is a really long phrase that really means, if you were listening to me, I don't need to recap but since you weren't here's the answer.

13. "Action Items" - C'mon, this is a fancy way to say to-do list. Who wants the action item to pick the low hanging fruit??

Thursday Thirteen #15

Thirteen popular catch phrases we use in today's conversations and their origins.

Do you ever wonder how some popular catch phrases came to be? I do all the time, so here's a list of 13 ones that I always wondered about.

1. Bought the farm - It comes from W.W.I. When a US soldier was killed in combat his family was given a "death benefit" that amounted to a enough money to buy a parcel of farm land in the mid west.

2. Close but no cigar - Carnival games of skill, particularly shooting games, once gave out cigars as a prize. A contestant that did not quite hit the target was close, but did not get a cigar.

3. Let the cat out of the bag - At medieval markets, unscrupulous traders would display a pig for sale. However, the pig was always given to the customer in a bag, with strict instructions not to open the bag until they were some way away. The trader would hand the customer a bag containing something that wriggled, and it was only later that the buyer would find he'd been conned when he opened the bag to reveal that it contained a cat, not a pig. Therefore, "letting the cat out of the bag" revealed the secret of the con trick.

4. Crocodile Tears - It was often thought that crocodiles shed tears that slid down into their mouths, moistening their food and making it easier for them to swallow. Hence the tears appear to be an expression of emotion but are in fact a means to make it easier to swallow (possibly the observer).

5. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth - Horses have gum lines that recede with age. Hence older horses have longer teeth than young horses. To "look a horse in the mouth" is to examine the horse's mouth closely to determine its age (and therefore its usefulness and/or worth). To immediately judge a gift based on its worth or usefulness rather than the "thought" behind it considered rude, and ungrateful (it is a gift after all, and didn't cost the receiver anything).

6. Pissing and moaning - Gonorrhea is common venereal disease that causes a burning sensation while urinating. There are plenty of stories and jokes about the "clap", as it is called, and moaning from the pain caused by the burn. (nice one, huh?)

7. Raining cats and dogs - When the bubonic plague was rampant in London, humans where apparently not the only victims of the plague. Cats and dogs were also afflicted, many died in the streets. After a particularly hard rain, street gutters could be awash in the bodies of cats and dogs. (another nice one)

8. Eating Crow - An article published in the Atlanta Constitution in 1888 claims that, towards the end of the war of 1812, an American went hunting and by accident crossed behind the British lines, where he shot a crow. He was caught by a British officer who, complimenting him on his fine shooting, persuaded him to hand over his gun. This officer then leveled his gun and said that as a punishment the American must take a bite of the crow. The American obeyed, but when the British officer returned his gun he took his revenge by making him eat the rest of the bird.

9. Flying by the seat of your pants - Before airplanes had sophisticated instruments and flight control systems, and even today, planes are piloted by feel. Pilots can feel the reactions of the plane in response to their actions at the controls. Being the largest point of contact between pilot and plane, most of the feel or feedback comes through the seat of the pants.

10. Pass the buck - Some card games use a marker called a buck. Players take turns acting as dealer with the buck marking the current dealer. When the buck is passed to the next player, the responsibility for dealing is passed. Spawned the phrase "The buck stops here" popularized by President Harry Truman.

11. Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey - In the 1700s cannon balls and black powder were carried by boys referred to as "powder monkeys". One explanation has it that the balls were stacked in the familiar pyramid configuration with a wooden triangle holding the bottom layer together. These wooden triangles (perhaps as an extension of powder monkey) were also referred to as "monkeys". The trouble with wooden monkeys was that they couldn't take much abuse before shattering under the impact of dropped cannon balls.

12. Bang for the buck - This phrase originates in Cold War deliberations concerning funding new weapons. For example, the US Air Force habitually claimed that ballistic missiles such as ICBM's could do more damage to an enemy country for a given expenditure than a Navy aircraft carrier could.

13. Kick the bucket - Pigs to be slaughtered are bled, that is the blood is drained from the body. One way this is accomplished is to hang the pig upside down from a bar (by one foot) that used to be known as a "buchet," a French word for it. The pig's throat was cut or opened with a sharp spike (See "bleed like a stuck pig"), and it would rapidly be bled. In its death throes, it would always, always kick the buchet.

Thursday Thirteen #14

Thirteen Pilgrim Facts

1. The Pilgrims arrived and found a place to settle, called Plymouth on Captain John Smith's map of 1614. The native Indians called the area Patuxet. The Patuxet tribe had been completely wiped out in a 1618 plague (probably smallpox), and so there was at the time no tribe inhabiting or claiming the land the Pilgrims settled. The only Patuxet survivor of the plague was Tisquantum, more commonly called "Squanto" (who had been in England at the time of the plague). Squanto was accepted into the Plymouth Colony and acted as interpreter and negotiator with Massasoit and the Wampanoag confederation of tribes--the Pilgrims nearest neighbors.

2. Children in 1600s New England had to work hard. Their chores included: fetching water from the brook or springs, gathering firewood, herding animals, gathering berries and other wild plants, and helping their parents cook, clean, preserve food, plant and harvest crops, and care for younger children.

3. Even though Pilgrim children worked very hard, they still had time to play. They probably played marbles, ball games, board games and running games.

4. Children were expected to show courtesy to adults, including their parents, by bowing and curtsying to them.

5. Both boys and girls in 1600s England and New England wore gowns (dresses) until they were about seven years old.

6. The Pilgrims did not have buckles on their clothing, shoes, or hats. Buckles did not come into fashion until the late 1600s--more appropriate for the Salem Witchcraft trials time period than for the Pilgrims time period.

7. There was no school in the early years of New Plymouth. Parents who wanted their children to learn to read and write taught them themselves or had their children taught by neighbors.

8. Children often slept on mattresses that were laid on the floor at night. The mattresses were usually stuffed with straw. Some children slept in their parents' bed.

9. Children and adults probably only took baths a few times a year. They thought bathing was unhealthy.

10. The First Thanksgiving lasted for three days. According to Edward Winslow, a participant in the First Thanksgiving, the feast consisted of: Corn, Barley, Fowl including Wild Turkeys and Waterfowl & Venison.

11. 52 Pilgrims attended the 'First Thanksgiving' in 1621 and approximately 50 Native Americans attended the 'First Thanksgiving'.

12. Even before Mayflower anchored off the tip of Cape Cod, there was a near mutiny. The passengers had hired themselves out as indentured servants, promising to work for seven years to pay for their passage. Some of these passengers thought they could do as they pleased since they were outside the bounds of English law. So they threatened to take their freedom as soon as they got on land.

13. In their first ten months at Plymouth, just passed, they had erected seven dwellings, a Common Meeting house and three small store houses for food, clothing and other supplies. In spite of their numbers having been cut in half by sickness and death, they found reasons for thankfulness. They had gained their foot-hold on the edge of an inhospitable continent. They were well recovered in health and strength. They were making the best of a hard life in the wilderness. They had proved that they could sustain themselves in the new, free land. They were assured of the success of their purpose of establishing freedom. They had made firm friends with the Indians, who had been so kind to them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday Thirteen #13

Thirteen worst music artists of all time (according to blender.com). See if you agree with them.

1. Insane clown Posse
2. Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
3. Michael Bolton.
4. Kenny G
5. Starship.
6. Kansas.
7. Asia.
8. Vanilla Ice.
9. Lee Greenwood.
10. Air Supply.
11. Latoya Jackson.
12. Tin Machine.
13. Mick Jagger (solo).

OK so most of these on this list do/did suck but I admit, some of them I did listen to in the day.

Thursday Thirteen #12

Thirteen things keeping me from blogging lately.

1. Travel. Busy time at work right now.
2. Work - always gets in the way. :)
3. Spending time with my kids.
4. Sleep, even though I don't get enough as is.
5. Doing homework with my son.
6. Fitting in time to see my parents.
7. Making dinner (or getting take out). Its amazing how much deciding on dinner can take up so much time.
8. Working on digital scrapbooking.
9. Taking photos of my kids (and anything else that will sit still).
10. Reading (haha, like I have time for that).
11. Leaving time in the evenings to spend with Hubby in front of the Tivo.
12. Traffic and long commuting (could blog in the car during that time while hubby is driving but usually I am too tired, see #4).
13. Getting the kids ready for school/lunches/snacks/paperwork.

Thursday Thirteen #11

Thirteen things I want to remember about the Fall of 2007.

1. Mr. Z is no longer my little boy. He had grown up into a little man after only being in kindergarten for 2 months.
2. Miss E is a little Diva who loves her dress up and baby dolls.
3. Miss V just started sleeping through the night (knock wood loudly) at 5mo 2weeks.
4. Mr. Z is all about computer games, Webkinz (Tiger) and wants a Wii for Hanukkah.
5. Miss E is extremely smart. She speaks in full paragraphs and has very good pronunciation. She also has that 2-year-old independence and has to do everything herself.
6. Miss V just started (on 10/27) army crawling on her elbows, dragging her belly toward anything she wants to put in her mouth. She is a strong girl who is grabbing everything and anything she can reach. Her favorite toys are the Baby Einstein teether, her exersaucer, her Jolly Jumper and anything else she can get to her mouth.
7. Mr. Z loves to go camping and meeting new people on the playground. He is totally not shy and will go up to anyone and ask to be their friend.
8. Miss E loves having an older brother to play with and a younger sister to take care of. E refers to her sister as 'my baby'. She loves Little Einsteins, Dora, Leap Pad and cooking in her kitchen.
9. Miss V just started baby food. At 5mo 1week she was given some oatmeal which she seemed to love. This week, (5mo 3 weeks) we plan to start orange veggies (sweet potato). Her two bottom teeth can be seen just below the gum line and I expect them to break through any day now.
10. Mr Z is doing well with reading. He can read many words in his 1st stage books and is eager to learn how to read 'chapter books'. He also loves word games and word searches when we go out to dinners.
11. Miss E loves to sing and dance. Her favorite songs are Baa Baa Black Sheep, ABCs, twinkle twinkle and she loves to dance to any music her brother will play for her (mostly John Michael Montgomery) and her favorite CD Dog Train from Kohl's Cares for Kids.
12. Miss V is wearing mostly 3-6 or 6 month clothes. She is starting to make new babbles - Dadadadada and Mmmmmmm and Babababa and Brrrraaaaaa and she loves to screech when she is happy. She loves to giggle when you tickle her under her chin and on her thighs and when her brother is acting real silly. Her favorite time of the day is bath time with her siblings.
13. I mostly want to remember that while these times with three little ones is very hard, tiring and stressful, that they won't always be this little. I want to remember how smart, passionate, energetic and sensitive my Mr Z is. I want to remember how beautiful, smart, stubborn and independent my Miss E is. And I want to remember how cuddly, strong, vocal and giggly my Miss V is (now that she is feeling better from the acid reflux she had two months ago).

Thursday Thirteen #10

Thirteen Halloween and Monster Fun Facts:

1. Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with darkness and death

2. Jack o’ lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday.

3. In 1962, the Count Dracula Society was founded.

4. Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors Pamona, the goddess of fruit trees.

5. Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States. (and most of this stash is currently residing in my garage taunting me!)

6. Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.

7. If you see a spider on Halloween, it is the spirit of a loved on watching over you.

8. 'Halloween" was made in only 21 days in 1978 on a very limited budget.

9. Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Holloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago.

10. Signs of a werewolf are a unibrow, hair palms, tattoos, and a long middle finger. (Hmmm, I may know a few!)

11. There really are so-called vampire bats, but they're not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on the blood of cattle, horses and birds.

12. Halloween was brought to North America by immigrants from Europe who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance and tell fortunes.

13. Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first.

Thursday Thirteen #9

Thirteen Things still left on our To-Do list of home improvements (when we win the lottery), now that our garage redo is complete - in no particular order.

1. Build a cabinet for our collection of shot glasses (we collect them but have no place to put them).

2. Redo our deck with Trex and build around the hot tub.

3. Put rail-road ties around the play area and re-mulch.

4. Take out the window in our sitting room and replace with a door.

5. (goes with #4) Build a 'widow-walk' outside the sitting room door, which connects to our bedroom, and build stairs to connect to our deck for hot tub access and to let the dogs out.

6. Designate some of our 3 acres for wild flowers and butterfly garden.

7. Fix the ceiling in our bedroom where water seeped through.

8. Clean and organize the detached garage and give away or sell old toys that we have been storing.

9. Get firewood.

10. Create a pad/spot to permanently park the camper.

11. Rip up carpet in the living room and dining room and put down hardwood (and if it doesn't match the foyer hardwood, rip that up too).

12. Figure out a way to make the kids bathroom bigger to hold a double sink.

13. And finally, the biggie, tear down the wall behind the kitchen and add on a two story addition to create a sun room for the kitchen table, make the kitchen bigger and re-do the upstairs to make the hall bath bigger.

Thirsday Thirteen #8

Top Thirteen all time best Advertising Campaigns
I thought these were very interesting:

1. Volkswagen, "Think Small", Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1959
2. Coca-Cola, "The pause that refreshes", D'Arcy Co., 1929
3. Marlboro, The Marlboro Man, Leo Burnett Co., 1955
4. Nike, "Just do it", Wieden & Kennedy, 1988
5. McDonald's, "You deserve a break today", Needham, Harper & Steers, 1971
6. DeBeers, "A diamond is forever", N.W. Ayer & Son, 1948
7. Absolut Vodka, The Absolut Bottle, TBWA, 1981
8.Miller Lite beer, "Tastes great, less filling", McCann-Erickson Worldwide, 1974
9.Clairol, Does she...or doesn't she?", Foote, Cone & Belding, 1957
10.Avis, "We try harder", Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1963
11.Federal Express, "Fast talker", Ally & Gargano, 1982
12. Apple Computer, "1984", Chiat/Day, 1984
13. Alka-Seltzer, Various ads, Jack Tinker & Partners; Doyle Dane Bernbach; Wells Rich, Greene, 1960s, 1970s

Thusday Thirteen #7

Thirteen Funny One Liners, as found on the Internet.

1. Isn't having a smoking section in a restaurantlike having a peeing section in a swimming pool?
2. Red meat is not bad for you Fuzzy green meat is bad for you.
3. Xerox and Wurlitzer will merge to produce reproductive organs.
4. Hard work never killed anyone, But why chance it?
5. MEETINGS: A practical alternative to work.
6. I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day.Tomorrow is not looking good either.
7. How come we have to choose from just 2 persons for president,and 50 for Miss America?
8. Corduroy pillows are making headlines!
9. I want to die while asleep like my grandfather,not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.
10. When things look dark,hold your head up high so it can rain up your nose.
11. Don't sweat the petty things. Don't pet the sweaty things.
12. Be nice to your kids. They'll choose your nursing home.
13. If at first you don't succeed, sky diving is not for you.

Thursday Thirteen #6

Thirteen "Do you ever's....?"

1. Do you ever wonder how you got here...married, three kids, mortgage and wonder where the time went?

2. Do you ever feel like you are not old enough to be a mom and a wife?

3. Do you ever feel like you are just pretending to 'play house' and tomorrow you will be 13 again?

4. Do you ever think that everyone else is a better mom/parent than you?

5. Do you ever want to totally change your career and do something you never thought you would like to do, like own a business or go back to medical/law or other school but assume its too late now?

6. Do you ever wonder why you have good and bad days and try to analyze why certain days were better than others when you did the exact same things?

7. Do you ever wish you were either more busy or less busy so time goes either slower or faster?

8. Do you ever think you would want to be famous or be a house-hold name but not necessarily and be actor or model?

9. Do you ever wonder if you should have accomplished more by this time in your life and what do you consider an accomplishment?

10. Do you ever which you didn't like sweets so much?

11. Do you ever want to change one thing about your body but didn't have the nerve?

12. Do you ever worry about your future and how your relationship will change with your kids as they get older?

13. Do you ever wonder if what you do today will affect who your children become as adults?

Thusday Thirteen #5

Thirteen Things that proove you are not getting enough sleep. 1. My one morning cup of coffee isn’t keeping me awake all the way till lunch time anymore at which time I can refuel on diet coke. 2. I forgot to bring my laptop to work one day last week. 3. I cannot remember large chunks of time: “What did we do last Saturday?” or “Did I eat dinner last night?” 4. My boss commented on just how awful I looked. 5. I call the kids by their wrong names. The dogs get called the kids names and the kids by the dogs’ names. And don’t even ask me to remember my hubby’s name. 6. I doze off on the ride home from work most days. Luckily most of those days my hubby is driving (we carpool often). 7. When we leave the house in the morning to go to work I cannot remember if I let the dogs out or back in and I worry about it all day. 8. The alarm clock is going off. I hit snooze on auto-pilot and cannot remember what day it is for hopes that everyday is Saturday. 9. We missed Back-to-School night for my kindergartner because we swear they never told us about this day on orientation (or in the newsletter that got sent home which we read but didn’t retain). 10. We rent movies that we have already seen. 11. Go to the store for 4 items and leave with 2,405 items and none of which were on your list and you still need to get Diapers/Formula/Eggs/Milk. 12. I order food for my kids just after my hubby ordered the exact same thing for them. 13. I forget large chunks of time: “Did I already do my blog entry today?”

Thursday Thirteen #4

Thirteen Pictures from my Rosh Hashanah Dinner

1. Jewish Apple Cake fresh from the oven.

2. Z With his coloring pages

3. Apple Cake on serving tray

4. Kids at the dinner table

5. Gefilte Fish

6. E Coloring

7. The Brother

8. Matzoh Ball Soup

9. Rainbow cake, Honey Cake and Apple Cake

10. The Hubby

11. Z with his Kippah
12. My mom cutting cake
13. My Dad with V

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 5768