Yet Another Stolen Meme- From Lizza

Readers: Here's an interesting twist on the age-old meme. It's a ready made list of things you just copy into your post. Highlight/bold those things you've actually done and post.

Here are mine:

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse of the moon.
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign (Does watching-from-afar count??!)
46. Backpacked in Europe (No, but I want to do the Amazing Race)
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking 103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

I think I counted 53 things.

Another Stolen Meme- From Lizza

Three Things That Scare Me:

Pictures of me (no visual for this one)
Heights- just thinking of heights makes the soles of my feet hurt
Violence- just can't handle it

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:

B- we can just sit and giggle about the most inane things
Skeezix the Cat- Does it have to be a person?
My hairdresser (at least I didn't say my bartender!)

Three Things I Love:

Books!
Sailing
Motoring fast around corners in my MINI Cooper

Three Things I Hate:

Brussel Sprouts- taste like cooked farts
Working
The myth of celebrity

Three Things I Don't Understand:

Electricity- still don't get it

Television- same issue
CD's, DVD's etc- Huh?

Three Thing On My Desk:

My cat LOKi
Some form of food
Water- to knock over onto my computer

Three Things I'm Doing Right Now:

This
Thinking about food
Watching the sun on the snow outside

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

Live in the Netherlands for at least a couple years (I'm so easy to statisfy!)
Pay off the mortgage
Drive across the US
One extra- be a history detective

Three Things I Can Do:

Waste time
Start a huge fire
Amuse cats

Three Things I Can't Do:

Tie up the boat correctly; B immediately unties everything I've done and does it "correctly"
Drive an automatic
Get tile grout clean

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To:

Wind
Silence
Water pounding on a boat hull

Three Things You Should Never Listen To:

The current US government
Shouting
Some else's cell phone conversation

Three Things I'd Like To Learn:

How to dress
How to magically lose weight and keep it off
How to rid the world of migraine headaches

Three Favorite Foods:

Nasi Goreng- Indonesian Fried Rice
Olie Bollen- Dutch apple fritter things
Dutch Chocolate- is there any other kind?

Three Beverages I Drink Regularly:

Water
Organic Milk
White Tea

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid:

None- we didn't have a TV

Logging Trucks

A little over a year ago, a good friend of my father's was killed in an accident with a logging truck. He was driving behind the over-loaded logging truck when the logs became loose, and crashed into the car. He and the passenger didn't stand a chance- the logs went straight into the windshield. Further investigation found that the truck had not passed the mandatory safety inspection, and was legally not supposed to be on the road.

Logging is big business here, and logging trucks are everywhere. I get the creeps just being around them, and not just because I am driving a MINI Cooper. All I see is the truck falling apart and the logs rolling off onto me.

Last Friday, I was watching the local news, and there were some recent developments involving the accident. Apparently, the driver, Garland Massingham, is still driving logging trucks. He has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, but he has not been convicted yet (that's assuming he will be convicted.) The law says that until he is convicted, he is still qualified to drive personal and commercial vehicles, and that he can keep his job at JB Leonard.

Well, it seems that two weeks ago our little killer was driving another load of logs, and he turned a corner too sharply, and lost another load. He was also under the influence of meth. Thank goodness no one was hurt, although I wish that Massingham had sustained some life-altering injuries.

I'm fuming. I just love the legal system here.

I am not telling my father about this.

On a good note, Wal-Mart stock has dropped for the first time in a decade.

Blankies

I got a new down comforter last weekend, the first blanket/comforter I have ever paid for. (P.S. This is not my bedroom- that would be just too embarrassing.)

I have had the same two wool blankets my whole life, along with rather anemic comforter I got for Christmas aeons ago. The blankets are from Holland (big surprise.) Lately, I just can't seem to stay very warm at night because the comforter has become anorexic and wasn't doing the job. I was talking to my mother about the old blankets. I thought they were inexpensive blankets my parents had gotten whenthey got married.

My mother told me those two wool blankets had kept my great-grandparents warm during the Hunger Winter during WWII. Wow. That sort of made me sit down (chances are I was already sitting down.) I had no idea! One of the blankets is a very thick wool blanket with a velvet edge around it, and the other is made of red and off-white wool. I have had the red one since I was in my cradle.

Immediately, I made plans to retire the wool blankets and get me a certified huge down comforter. And I did. The wool blankets are now in a safe place, where they will retain a place of honor in my house.

And I slept warmly ever after.

A Sort-Of-Non Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday- and this is a day that I usually don't really look forward to. I'm three years older than B, and all he keeps saying is "I'll never be as old as you!" Ha-ha-ha-ha. This coming from the same man who asks me if I've lost weight; my head looks smaller. Ha-ha-ha-ha.
Anyway, we invited a couple friends over (she has the same birthday as me- my birthday buddy) and ordered some Thai food. After they left, B said he was having trouble breathing, and that he might have had contact with peanuts, which he is allergic to. He had to go to the hospital, getting a bunch of medicine and throwing up, and so we ended up sleeping through my whole birthday.
So, I am older, and a bit well-rested, but unfortunately not any wiser.

Friday Fourteen- # 2

Thirteen Ways I Like to Waste Time (No Particular Order)

• Watch TV
• Rearrange pictures and doo-dads
• Surf the net
• Imagine what could be if I won the lottery
• Enjoy the couch
• Sit and stare at whatever
• Drive nowhere
• Light lots of candles and sit with them
• Wonder what it would be like to be skinny
• Dream of cool shoes
• Hug any cat that's near me
• Think of getting up
• Think of writing long-overdue letters
• Do nothing, as opposed to doing anything
  
  

"Oopsie"

My younger sister had to put her cat to sleep yesterday. This, of course, was devastating for her. J had had Oopsie (so named because she fell out of a window when she was a kitten, effectively changing her name) for over half her life. Oopsie was, get this, 23 years old. In the end, Oopsie had lung cancer, which I have never heard of a cat getting. No, J doesn't smoke, and never has.
Oopsie's personality was probably what helped her live to such a ripe age. One word- BITCH. That cat didn't love, nor even like anyone but J. In fact, Oopsie once chased my 6' brother around the house. Us bitches are the ones that will live forever, whether we like it or not.
R.I.P., Oopsie. J will miss you something fierce.

Silence

Friday Fourteen- # 1

Fourteen Stupid Things I Have Done

1. One morning, I looked down and discovered that I had been wearing two different shoes for several hours.

2. Wore some really unflattering and uncomfortable clothes to the "Nutcracker" and spent the whole time sqirming, taking my shoes off while weeping and trying to keep my skirt from riding up to my crotch. Lovely.

3. Locked my keys in my car at the gas station when there were cars lined up waiting for the pump. A pattern maybe?

4. Dreamt that I hadn't brought enough underwear on a trip.

5. Overestimated my skiing abilty (or was it someone who talked me into the intermediate run) and basically sat myself down to the bottom.

6. While delivering a sailboat at night, I completely erased all the waypoints on the GPS, and they needed to be re-configured (that was a doozy.)

7. When B and I were hanging a bathroom cabinet, I was holding it up and told him when it was perfect and he could screw it in. It was perfect, for a 5'2" person. In the mirror, B was cut off at the neck

8. Appeared in public in a bathing suit.

9. Cooked some really awful food and made B eat it.

10. Had my purse stolen twice in 6 months, EXACTLY the same way. Didn't learn anything the first time.

11. When getting my driver's lisence replaced for said thefts, wore the exact same shirt three times.

12. Home-permed my hair and thought it looked really good.

13. Took four rolls of pictures- with the film not loaded in the camera.

14. My friend and I thought it would be fun to bathe topless in a park, and wouldn't you know it, a father and son appeared out of nowhere, and god- forbid, saw us. Probably wanted to poke out their minds-eyes after that.

Post Halloween

Yup, I'm finally back. This pictures how sloppy I was for Halloween this year. Obviously didn't have very good spray paint coverage.I'm going to blame it on the fumes.

This picture shows that we got prematurely excited and carved the poor squash too soon. We'll hopefully remember this gaff next year and not repeat history.


Here we see that I can't organize a display. I threw everything everywhere, BUT... we were the best (and almost only) decorated house in the neightborhood. For once we were the unattainable Joneses. Lots of Trick-or-Treaters too, but not enough to keep me from looking for the Tootsie Rolls in between doorbell rings. MMM, MMM GOOD!