13 things I did acomplish this 'weekend'
Topic: Thursday Thirteen

My 2 day weekend is Tuesday & Wednesday & I had many Plans but didn't do most of them

1 Took lost library book back to the library (Chrissie found it)
2 Weed whacked my front yard    
3 Made a 'decent' meal both nights
4 6 loads of laundry (not folded yet though)
5 Dishes, dishes & more dishes    
6 Swapped my winter clothes with my summer clothes
7 Blogged
8 got a bunch of memes to work with in the near future
9 Cut 10's hair finaly (& Chrissies & her daughter's too)
10 Closed all the storm windows on the first floor
11 Got gas & wrote out all my bills since I was able to check what my paycheck amount was online
12 Helped miss 10 & mr 7 do their homework
13 Read Halloween books we got at the library to them

13 Books I loved as a kid (10-14)
Topic: Thursday Thirteen

1 The Witch Family
2 Half Magic
3 Depend on Katie John
4 Anything Trixie Belden
5 A House for Jonnie O
6 Sooner or Later/Waiting Games (companion books)
7 Are you There God? it's me Margaret
8 Haunted Houses
9 The Keeping Days series
10 The House With a Clock in its Walls
11 The Swing in the Summer house & The Diamond in the Window (companion
books)
12 Dave's Song
13 The Little House on the prairie set

Thirteen things about my 7 year old in honor of his birthday July 14
Topic: Thursday Thirteen

1 He's bright & cheerful nearly all the time.
2 He's goofy like only a 6-7 year old boy can be.
3 He has a strong sense of humor.
4 When he was born my ex went on for about an hour about the size of his balls (not unusual in newborn boys I understand- it was just really funny at the time)
5 He was born less than 6 hours after I started having contractions & he hurt a LOT
6 He was really impressed with the garden last year
7 He loves to watch tv but will sit & listen when I read to him
8 He's quite smart. When his sister was learning to read & he was just 3 he would be guessing at the words she had trouble with
9 He started walking at 8 months & I don't mean cruising, holding onto things, flat out walking no holding on
10 He liked more foods at 1 than he does at 6 or 7
11 He is very much the man of the house, if something needs fixing he hitches his pants up & digs right in.
12 He's almost always dirty, I recently walked him to the bathroom insisting he needed a bath or shower, he commented, 'gee mom, can't I just run my head under the sink like I usually do?' (I was wondering what that smell was)
13 He can run very fast

13 Places I'd Like to visit & why (NOT in any particular order)
Topic: Thursday Thirteen

1 United Kingdom (all of it, Scotland, Ireland & Wales too)
2 California (the Winchester Mystery house is much higher on my list than Hollywood)
3 Arizona (My friend Jennie lives there & I'd love to have her show me around)
4 Mexico (sounds like fun & it's cheap right?)
5 Aruba (never been to any of the islands)
6 New York City (with money to do it right)
7 Marthas Vineyard (I'm from Mass but it's too pricey for me)
8 Oregon, (I wanna look for bigfoot!)

9 Alaska (I'm beginning to think that's where I should retire in order to maintain the space I like between myself & others- that's 1 reason I moved here but it's getting more crowded all the time)
10 Hawai (well, of course!)
11 France (I've read too much to not at least go see it!)
12 On top of Buffalo Mountain, I've been here for nearly 10 years straight & annother 4 years off & on & have yet to go to the top - or anywhere near it for that matter!)
13 New England (Not just our half assed, broke way we do every year, but a no holds barred, wherever we want to go, do anything we want sort of trip! Like in winter with a week skiing at Waterville Valley NH or Bedford VT!)

Thirteen Things about my 10 year old in honor of her birthday on June 11.
Topic: Thursday Thirteen

1 She could not sit still to be read to or even watch a tv show untill she
was about 6 or 7.
2 She does not see well due to a lazy eye & She does not like her glasses
3 When she was born The Stanley cup final playoff game was on (this was
1996 & it went into multiple sudden death overtimes) my ex watched this
while I walked around. when I said it was time to go to the hospital he
kept saying, 'ok, just wait annother minute, it's gotta end soon' finally
I said no, we have got to go NOW. she was born 10 minutes after we arrived
at the hospital & my ex saw the end of that game 5 years later on espn
classic.
4 If she could have seen better she would have beaten her brother's 8
months walking record. As it was she still walked at 10 months,
5 She is stubborn as the day is long
6 She suffers from middle child syndrome & will tell you so in so many words
7 She is going to be the one who gives me a run for the money during the
teenage years. as if she wasn't already a challenge
8 She is sweet as pie when all is going her way but don't do what she
wants or worse yet cross her & watch out!
9 She's going to be a beauty
10 She has 4 scars on her face, 2 seperate ones from the same dog (my ex
wasn't home the first time the dog knocked her down & scratched her & he
insisted the dog couldn't have done it- the next time she had to have 9
stitches in her temple & 1 in the corner of her lip. Dog did not stay
annother day in our house thank god.) she also has a lovely scar on her
lip from her sister throwing a vaseline jar at her (don't ask)
11 She always wants to be right in the middle of things, dosen't matter
what things they are, I can be online reading & she begs to sleep on the couch as if she was worried she might miss something.
12 She always want's to be helpful when I'm doing things she always comes
right over & pitches in. After a few minute if it's not her cup of tea
she'll just say flat out: I'm done with this, see ya.
13 She likes to read a lot so far.

Thirteen things I got done during my days off
Topic: Thursday Thirteen

1 I wrote in my blog a couple of times.
2 I did about 4 loads of laundry. (I did not, however, fold them)
3 I got 4 rows of sets & seeds planted in my garden.
4 I slept in & got some rest.
5 I changed my filter for my well water. (it really needed it)
6 I made bread, brownies & chocolate chip brownies.
7 I made a pretty good (if I do say so myself) chicken divan.
8 I got the house smelling a little better by airing it out (4 kids, multiple friends in & out, 2 adults, 1 dog, 2 cats & 1 kid is a bedwetter. you take a whiff!)
9 I cleaned the house up a little, you can't tell, see above about the way the house smells & you'll know why it looks as bad as it did when I started.
10 I built a media rack for my videos, dvds & cds.
11 I went on not 1 but 2 drives in the country just sight seeing & talking both with kids & without
12 I had a meaningful discussion with miss 16 (ok, that was Monday night, but I was through with work so it still counts.
13 I got my shower done, this thursday thirteen written & still have time tonight to watch the news & maybe even watch something else!

Thirteen Random Questions
Topic: Thursday Thirteen

1. If you got to pick celebrity parents to raise you, who would they be?
maybe Demi Moore & Ashton Kuscher?

2. If you never had to worry about money, how would you live your life
differently? I would not work, I'd have a governess for my kids so they'd
be around all the time so we could go out & do things anytime, We'd build
a house just the way we wanted it & have horses, We'd go on cruises & tour
the UK & Africa etc. I'd have body guards to keep my ex away.

3. Would you rather be a man or a woman if you came back? Men get all the
fame, money etc. but women get all the emotions. Probably a woman

4. If you were trapped at one age for the rest of your life, would you
rather be 15 or 75? 15, when else can you be so certain you're right even
if you're dead wrong?

5. What do you think would be the worst job for you to have? Anything in
the medical profession, I'm not very empathetic.

6. If time machines really existed, when would you want to travel to?
either the 14-1500's or the 1700's,

7. What two things would you change about your body/appearance? two? well
my weight of course, & probably get a reduction for my chest.

8. What two things would you change about your partner's body/appearance?
I have no partner.

9. What is a disgusting habit that you have? As if I'd say on here! (according to some people It's discusting that I show up 20 minutes early for any apointment I have - Anal I believe was the exact wording)

10. Do you pick your nose in the car? Never gave it much thought.

11. What is your least favorite aspect of adulthood? Having to get up & go
to work every day I'm scheduled.

12. If you were to be born into another race or culture, what would you
pick? I don't know, but I can think of a few I would not pick...lol...

13. Name one event that changed your life? Probably my Ex moving out & leaving I was hurt at the time but it's been really great since I recovered from the initial shock.

13 things I hope to do on vacation this year
Topic: Thursday Thirteen

^Miss 9 on 'vacation' last year- (we stayed home)

1 Go to the Salem Witch Museum
2 Go to Hampton Beach NH
3 See Ann & Tom & family
4 Take a trip to Boston for Shopping & sight seeing (at least once in the trip, maybe twice)
5 Go to Maine, See the places I spent a lot of time visiting as a teenager.
6 Go to Union Maine With Ann
7 Go to the Vermont Country Store
8 See all my Cousins ('Cept Kris)
9 Bore the kids by driving them past every hangout, house & place I ever spent time as a kid
10 Go to the graveyard
11 NOT Spend a fortune in gas (not likely)
12 Go to Hull, Ft Revere Etc.
13 Not Lose my patientice with the kids (too much)

Thirteen Reasons to Stay Away from my EX
Topic: Thursday Thirteen
1 he's a liar
2 he's not writing or emailing to the kids regularly- out of sight out of mind
3 Shannon, Tracy, Teresa & all the others he was cheating on me with while telling me I was out of my mind to think he would ever cheat.
4 he's having problems with his current wife &, I've heard from her that he's cheated on her too
5 he tries to gather information on me & how I'm raising the kids in order to use it against me
6 he judges how I'm raising the kids because he thinks I should be sterner, meaner & have more control over them.
7 I've only met 1 person in my whole life who was a better chameleon than him.
8 He didn't pay a cent of child support for 4 years & still expects me to praise him now that the government is forcing him to do so by taking it away from him.
9. he's a bully.
10. he's an alcoholic.
11. he had a bad childhood & still uses it as an excuse at 32.
12. he knows he had a bad childhood & would rather use it to explain/excuse what he does wrong rather than rising above it & overcoming his knee jerk responses.
13. he has no conscience whatsoever.
And yet, There's not a thing I can do to keep him from coming here...

Thirteen things about my childhood
Topic: Thursday Thirteen


1. I have 2 cousins with in a year of my age who were my first friends, from birth forward, I'm friends still with 1 of them. the other is too annoying!
2. I grew up from age 2 forward in the same house with my parents & my mothers parents, My Grandparents had their own living room & bedroom suite.
3. I was homeschooled
4. before that I went to 2 free schools, 1 is now defunct, the other is still a model for free schools the world over called: Sudbury Valley School

5. I had only 1 sibling, my brother, he killed himself in 1989 at age 16
6. I was pretty spoiled as a young child & even when older, though I didn't think I was spoiled I know now my parents were pretty open handed & easy going (at least on rules & letting me do what I wanted- watching tv, staying up to 4 am reading or watching tv etv...)
7. though I was spoiled etc in some ways in others I was smothered & put down, I was naturally loud, exuberant etc. & though that sometimes pops through still. I smother myself with worry about being too loud, sounding too crazy, being too wild... all of which I know are tapes I heard every day as a kid from my mother...
8. I read a ton from a very early age (3) & at my height 10-15 years of age I could read a book (a thick one like a stephen king book in a day & a half.
9. I Loved history from an early age too...old things, knowing that someone was there before, the house I grew up in had been in my mothers' fathers' family since it was built & that had a lot to do with it.
10. I was very precocious too.
11. I took swimming lessons every year but didn't ever get my lifesaving because I finished at 13 & you had to be 15 to take the lifesaving test, by the time I was 15 I was off doing other things.(drinking, hanging out. You know, Important things!!)
12 we heated with wood in our kitchen & my brother & I helped cut & haul wood every fall...I thought this was fun then. In 1997 & 1998 my ex & I rented a house with only a wood stove for heat & I found there's not a damn fun thing about it at all (& it's so dirty too)
13. I kept a diary from age 11 onwards but my writing was so messy even I can't make out more than half of the words in any of them (I have like 20 of them)

Thirteen Favorite Rock Bands
Topic: Thursday Thirteen
13 Favorite Rock bands (not in order for sure)
1 Led Zeppelin
2 Guns n Roses
3 Rush
4 Audioslave
5 Alice in Chains
6 Soundgarden
7 The Beatles
8 Ozzy Osbourne
9 Smashing Pumpkins
10 Pink Floyd
11 Def Leppard
12 The Eagles
13 Godsmack

13 reasons I love my new house
Topic: Thursday Thirteen

1 It's far away from town
2 It's not in full view of any neighbors
3 It's mine!!!
4 Everyone has their own bedroom here
5 It's affordable
6 I have garden space & I know how to use it
7 I Have more room than I need (well almost- if I got it all organized there'd be plenty of room)
8 Now that I have a washer & dryer there are no unmet needs here.
9 theres room to make a deck off the back of the house
10 It's not on a main road with cars going by all the time
11 The creek at the botom of the hill & the hill which I can landscape someday if I have money & energy
12 A shed & a garage
13 I know it's killing my ex with jealosy!

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I link few & late - I apologize for that but Thursday is my second Monday of the week!:

Thirteen Scary things

Thirteen things in a purse

Thirteen Lotions/Creams

Thirteen Overlooked things

thirteen reasons why being older isn't so bad

Thursday Thaw

Thirteen Random things

Thirteen reasons I'm glad I don't live in my old Trailer Anymore
Topic: Thursday Thirteen

1 it was moldy
2 It was cold in winter & hot in summer
3 the neighbors were too close
4 the neighbors were too hateful, crazy, loud
5 the landlord was a jerk & kept raising the rent on the lot
6 the floors were falling through
7 the roof was falling in
8 the roof leaked
9 the kitchen window leaked
10 the tub was backed up most of the time
11 the kids were always fighting with the neighbor kids
12 the state troopers drove right by 2 or 3 times a day to get gas at the Vdot
13 my ex knew where we were & intended to use the place against me.