Thursday Thirteen #28 – Words to Describe Me

Another theme week for Thursday Thirteen

Choose a letter of the alphabet and write thirteen words that describe you that begin with that letter. Be creative and have fun!

I asked the kids to pick a letter (they didn’t know why I was asking) and ‘J’ is the letter they picked. Is there even thirteen adjectives that begin with ‘J’? I guess I’ll find out.

Thirteen words that begin with the letter ‘J’ that describe me. (Why couldn’t they have picked ‘S’ or ‘T”??)

1. Joyful – the kids said jolly and um.. no. I’m most definitely not jolly
2. Jumpy – I can be jumpy at times
3. Jittery – I could definitely be described as jittery on the days my blood sugar levels are too low.
4. Jaded – I’ve definitely felt jaded a time or two. I don’t know if it describes me, but I’ve felt it.
5. Jazzy – I like music. Not jazz so much, but music.. and jazzy is musicy. Yeah I know, it’s a stretch, but close enough.
6. Jubilant – Sure. That describes me. Sometimes. Sorta.
7. Jiggly – in places, sadly it’s true.
8. Jammin’ – Fo shizzle
9. Jovial – There sure are a lot of words to describe ‘happy’ that begin with ‘J’.
10. Jealous – I’ve been jealous a time or two in my lifetime, but I wouldn’t say that describes “me”.
11. Judicious – Hm. I try to be.
12. Jaunty – Sometimes!
13. Juxtapositional – this one is my favorites. Jack and I are definitely Juxtapositional.

That wasn’t too bad.

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Thursday Thirteen 27 – Places I've been to

This is my first ‘themed’ Thursday Thirteen and the theme is:

In order to get ready for vacation time, we asked you to write about thirteen places you’ve visited that you’d recommend.

I saw this theme and knew it was perfect since in just a week we’ll be having our first weekend getaway alone in almost a year! Yay!! But then I wondered… have we been to thirteen places worth mentioning? ACK. So.. here goes.

1. Hawaii – Number one on my list without a doubt. It was everything I thought it would be and more.
2. Seaside Oregon – This is where we honeymooned in 1999. It’s a busy little coastal town with lots of shops, arcades, and fun. It’s a great place to take the family.
3. Mt. Hood – Apparently Mt. Hood is famous for the awesome skiing and snowboarding all over the US? I met a guy who lived in Tennessee who knew about Mt. Hood and flew here often for snowboarding. I don’t ski. Or snowboard. But I love taking my kids to play in the snow and inner tube down the newbie areas! 🙂



4. Mount St. Helens – This isn’t a vacation spot (and the theme is just places you’ve visited and recommend). But if you’re ever in the Northwest you should visit this “history in the making”. It was an awesome and devastating event when it blew May 18, 1980 and still behaves like no other volcano.
5. San Francisco – I loved loved loved this city. Of course I may have loved it so much because I was just visiting and could go home. I don’t think I’d love living there. 😉 But the night life was awesome and we had a blast when we visited 2002. Although, I hated the driving. Taxis were evil. Everyone drove like maniacs. Then again, maybe that was part of the excitement.
6. Disneyland – Who wouldn’t recommend Disneyland?? I haven’t been since I was 11 years old but I vividly remember it.
7. Yellowstone – Years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Montana and on the way we stopped at Yellowstone and camped and went fishing. It was a breathtaking beautiful place that I would definitely recommend. I even got to see Old Faithful!
8. On the way to Montana, I got to spend a day at Craters of the Moon, Idaho This was an incredible place. It was a beautiful sunny day and looking out at the barren, desolate, and black land against the gorgeous blue sky was surreal. Well worth a visit.
9. Astoria, Oregon – When we are visiting the Oregon coast (usually Seaside or Cannon Beach) and have the time, we often take the long and scenic way home up the coastline and through Astoria. Astoria is a bittersweet place. At one time a prosperous town… so full of history. Now a bit run down and in need of some TLC. With the historical homes and museums there’s plenty to see and do and still very much worth a visit. You also must stop by the Astoria Column and see if you can climb all the way to the top. I have. Once. 🙂
10. Pearl Harbor – Yes I realize this is in Hawaii but it’s worth mentioning on its own. I think it’s obvious at this point that Jack and I are drawn to historical places. And if you’re anything like us, visiting Pearl Harbor is a MUST!
11. Kah-Nee-Tah – This can be a family trip or a couples get-away. We’ve done both and had equally as much fun. There’s a huge outdoor pool that is partially filled with natural hot springs, a water slide, horseback riding, rafting (we’ve done all of those), there’s also a casino for the grownups (where our addiction to Black Jack was born), a few nice restaurants, and places to just go for walks/hikes. Central Oregon is beautiful just about everywhere you go, though.
12. Wallowa Lake, Oregon – We traveled to Wallowa Lake September 2006 to take my step dad to his final resting place. His family owns a cabin there and it was his favorite place to vacation. Even though it was an emotional weekend, we found out exactly why it was his favorite place. The mountains are breathtaking and there’s tons of fun stuff to do for everyone. We even witnessed a wedding in the works while we were there.
13. Again, this isn’t a vacation spot but I’ve always loved the Oregon Zoo. I took it for granted growing up in Portland, Oregon and didn’t realize till I became an adult how awesome this zoo is. Apparently there’s not many that compare.

Well that wasn’t near as hard as I thought. Granted most of the places I’ve visited in my life time are local to the Northwest but that’s one of the many great things about the Northwest. There’s so much to see and do!! I forget that sometimes. I needed to not worry. I could easily come up with 13 more. 🙂

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[tags]thursday,thirteen,thursday thirteen,tt13,places to visit,great northwest,northwest,Hawaii,Oregon Zoo,Oregon,San Francisco,Kah-Nee-Tah,Pearl Harbor,Yellowstone,Mount St. Helens,Mt. Hood[/tags]

Bullet Sunday #16

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Bullet Sunday and there’s so much random stuff going on I figured it was fitting to do one today.

• Last weekend the sun was shining, it was close to 80 degrees outside and we had a BBQ. This weekend we’re taking pictures of the snow that fell. SNOW. In April. This just isn’t right. It wasn’t a lot of snow and it’s gone now but still. Snow? In April? Unheard of around here.

  

• Today’s the day we get to go to JCPenney and to have them correct their mistake. I have to quote Jeff in the comments on that post because he gave an awesome suggestion for how to handle it:
  

  Jeff on April 20th, 2008 at 7:29 am

  (((RING))) (((RING))) (((RING)))

  Tracie: “Hello, Store Manager? Yes, I’d like you to send someone out to the house to finish the job that your sales clerk didn’t.”

  Store Manager: “Well, Ma’am, I don’t think I can do that.”

  Tracie: “I’ll come to you, then. I’ll be the one with the flock of kids running wild up & down your aisles of nice, light-colored, ladies springtime outfits with triple-scoop chocolate ice cream cones.”

  My kids are usually well-behaved in stores. (I say usually because sometimes when their dad is with them they are less well-behaved because he’s a big dopey kid himself who doesn’t see anything wrong with running up and down the aisles.) But in this case, I think Jeff’s idea is a good one. Don’t you?

• Today is also the day we will finally replace the stupid vertical blinds that plague our back patio door. I can’t stand them anymore. Though I do think I’ll be in for disappointment. I’m pretty sure the curtain I want will have to be ordered. *sigh* I also want to look at installing some motion sensor lights for our driveway. Our old house had them and I miss being able to turn off the porch light but still have those come on when we came home or when someone comes over.
• I haven’t updated on my health lately so here’s quickie: I’m doing OK with the Diabetes and my BG levels are pretty under control. I have a doc appointment coming up soon’ish and I’ll find out how my cholesterol levels are. I know he’s going to want to put me back on the Lovastatin and I’m not looking forward to that battle with him. Weight-wise I’m still stuck in the same rut (lost 50 pounds, gained back 10 and have plateaued).
• I changed up the site design here at spacytracie.com a bit. The basic template is the same but I’ve taken out the colors on the sidebars and changed up the fonts a bit. I also created a graphical logo for the header and a favicon. I think this is easier on the eyes and a bit less busy. What do you think?
• Who watched Battlestar Galactica? I don’t want to say much … but OMG! Just.. OMG! What a totally messed up episode. OMG! … lol

[tags]bullet sunday,diabetes,living with diabetes,cholesterol,battlestar galactica,vertical blinds,jcpenney,wordpress template,site design[/tags]

Nature! It's all over me! Get it off! TT26

Yep, just call Melman. If you don’t know who Melman is, you must not have young children. From Wikipedia:

Melman Mankiewicz III is a fictional anthropomorphic giraffe, who appears in the 2005 DreamWorks film, Madagascar. He is somewhat of a hypochondriac, having doses of medicine for meals and doctor’s appointments frequently.

I can totally relate to Melman right now. Every day it’s something new. New pain, new tone to my cough, even a new spot! Just like Melman. Today it’s my back. It’s toast. All the coughing has apparently pulled a muscle or something.

Thirteen things that are annoying and/or disgusting about being sick:

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1. Snot.
2. Coughing.
3. Phlegm.
4. The whining. (I hate whining. And I’m constantly whining! I’m a hypochondriac AND a hypocrite. It’s really not fair.)
5. Getting others sick. The codeman and sissa are coming down with it.
6. Blood glucose levels. They are all over the place.
7. Germs. This is where it all starts, right? Germy bastards.
8. Energy, and the lack of it. I really need my energy back!
9. Sleeping. Who can sleep when they can’t breathe out of their nose and are coughing every 1.6 seconds? Not I.
10. Pillows. I feel like I need to throw them away after being sick… cause I DROOLED on them. SIIIICK!
11. Headaches. (I think I’ve popped a few blood vessels in my head from all the coughing.
12. Food. Food doesn’t taste good when you’re sick.
13. What about phlegm? Did I mention phlegm? And snot? Both are just beyond gross. Seriously.

So yeah. Melman is my new name.

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Thursday Thirteen #25 – SPRING!

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Since today is the first day of Spring, here is thirteen things I love and hate about Spring:

1. Love: Flowers. Who doesn’t love flowers?
2. Hate: Flowers. I’d like to know who came up with the idea that flowers should make you sneeze? I ache for poor Jack this time of year.
3. Love: The grass growing again. There’s nothing like a fresh green lawn.
4. Hate: Damn grass grows too fast and has to be mowed once a week. And again, who’s bright idea was it to make grass give people hay fever??
5. Love: Cherry blossoms blooming. What’s not to love about pretty pink trees?
6. Hate: Damn cherry blossom flower petals get everywhere!
7. Love: The kids can play outside again! Sometimes without a coat.
8. Hate: Yard work
9. Love: I can exercise outside! Go for walks, etc. Bahahaha. Like I get exercise?? If only I had that elliptical I’ve been wanting. (Only if Jack miraculously finds room in the garage…)
10. Love: Spring cleaning! I love my house to be sparkly and shiny.
11. Hate: Spring cleaning. I’m a clean freak in a lazy person’s body.
12. Love: Portland Saturday Market opens – I vow to get there more often this year.
13. Hate: The dog hair *everywhere* that my dogs shed. UGH! I should save it and knit a sweater. Seriously.

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[tags]thursday,thirteen,thursday thirteen,t13,love and hate about spring,spring,I love spring[/tags]

Thursday Thirteen #24 – Annoyed

I haven’t done a TT13 in a while so I figured it was time to do one. I wish it could be more positive, but alas, I’ve had a rough couple weeks and I just need to get a few things off my chest. Here’s thirteen things that really annoy me:

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1. Laundry. That always puts me in a foul mood. A friend said the other day, “why can’t clothing be disposable?” For real. Why can’t it?
2. Liars. There are many people who lie and think nothing of it. I have zero tolerance for dishonesty.
3. Judgmental people drive me insane and I’ve had my fill of them lately. Especially the ones who base their judgments on information they *think* they have but really have no clue about. Anyone who’s ever hosted a blog knows all about these types of people.
4. People who don’t listen or do a good job in the workplace, but will go above your head to try to get others in trouble to make themselves look better lose all respect from me. There’s a word for people like this: brown-noser. Or: ass-kisser.
5. News flash for the condescending people out there: you make yourself look like a jerk and no one looks up to you.
6. Self-righteousness, it takes a strong person to admit their faults and learn from their mistakes. It drives me nuts when people can’t.
7. Screaming fighting children. It’s a BOX boys.. a BOX. Is it really worth screaming at each other over?? (Yes they were fighting over a cardboard box!)
8. Passive-aggressive behavior makes me twitch and blink. At the same time. I don’t look good when I twitch and blink at the same time. So please just say what you gotta say.
9. Speaking of looking good, vain people annoy me.
10. Speaking of looking good and vain people, hypocrites annoy me.
11. Self-pitying Whiners. If you want something in life you have to go for it. You can’t sit around and wait for others to make life happen for you. John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” It’s so true!
12. Losing weight. I seem to take two steps forward, then one step back. I actually researched diet pills the other day after a friend online said she started on Alli. If you know me, you know that’s totally out of character, and being a diabetic, it’s just a no-no…
13. Did I already mention hypocrites? Just checkin’.

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[tags]thursday,thirteen,thursday thirteen,tt13,annoying people,annoying things[/tags]

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas – Thursday Thirteen #23

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13 Gift Ideas for Valentine’s Day:

1. The standards of course – candy, jewelry, balloons, teddy bears, perfume, cologne, and flowers
2. Comfy and Sexy Lingerie – I’m not talking about teddies and heels. I’m thinking more like silk night shirts, or a pretty low cut chemise.
3. Personalized blanket – I love getting snuggly on the couch under a warm blanket, and a blanket from my sweetie would just feel that much warmer.
4. Clothing – this can be anything from a sexy sweater to one of these expensive jackets from volcom clothing
5. Sexy boxers for him – These can be a lot of fun 😉
6. Instead of a dozen roses, how about the rose bush (if you have the place to plant one)? Roses all the time would be awesome.
7. A CD with both of your favorite songs, songs played at your wedding, etc.
8. Food – Isn’t the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach? 😉 Bake something yummy he/she will love like a heart shaped cake or cookies, or cook his/her favorite meal. Maybe even breakfast in bed.
9. Gift Basket – you can do anything from a wine and chocolate basket, to a massage basket (complete with massage oils, a relaxing CD, candles, etc.)
10. A photo collage filled with pictures of the two of you together
11. A scrapbook or photo album with pictures of your favorite events spent together
12. An iPod. Nothing says I love you like the gift of music, and iPods are way cool. 🙂
13. My favorite Valentine’s Day gift is: Time together – I would much rather spend an evening out alone with my sweetheart than receive anything material. You can give this gift in the form of gift certificates but don’t give just one. Get a bunch to your favorite restaurants, movie theaters, etc. with a promise to go out alone once a month.

Whew. I was trying to come up with unique ideas and it was harder than I thought.

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[tags]Valentine’s Day,valentine gifts,valentine gift ideas,thursday thirteen,TT12,thursday 12[/tags]

Tips for Diabetics – Thursday Thirteen #22

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13 Tips for Diabetics:

1. Take one day at a time. Don’t sweat the bad days (advice I need to learn myself) and praise yourself on the good days.
2. Check blood glucose levels often. Hm. Another one I need to learn. 🙂
3. Eat several smaller meals each day and never skip a meal. I’m getting a LOT better about this!
4. Exercise! It helps bring your BG levels down if they are too high, plus it’s just good for you, even if you’re not a diabetic.
5. Take care of your feet. I was told to wear socks all the time. I have a hard time with this in the summer.
6. See your doctor regularly. I’ve been told at least 4 times a year. I see mine 3-4 times per year. I should probably see him more.
7. Take care of your teeth and be sure to keep up on your dentist visits. Tell your dentist you have diabetes.
8. Get your eyes checked regularly and be sure your eye doctor knows you have diabetes.
9. Take your medications, if any, regularly without skipping doses. I’m pretty darn good about this one, tyvm.
10. Eat healthy food. When I’m being ‘good’, I prefer to eat low-carb and naturally non-fat foods.
11. Keep juice and fruit on hand at all times in case your blood sugar drops too low.
12. Don’t let your test strips expire. They are expensive. Use them up!
13. Treat yourself to a warm bath, a good book, or whatever it is that makes you happy. You deserve it!

Yay! Another Thursday Thirteen done early! I may not have time to post much the rest of the week. We’ll see how it goes. After work I’ve been catching up on the cleaning and the mountains of laundry in between calling around for auto insurance quotes. I’m still mad at my current car insurance company. But it’s hard to switch after being with them for over 10 years.

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[tags]tips for diabetics,diabetic tips,diabetes tips,thursday thirteen,TT12,thursday 12[/tags]

Our dentists love us – thursday thirteen #21

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It all started in November when our family dentist notified Jack that we were all overdue for our checkups and stuff:

1. December 3rd: Melissa had her checkup/cleaning appointment
2. December 10th: Kevin’s checkup/cleaning
3. December 10th: My checkup/cleaning where I found out I had cavities… the horror!
4. December 10th: Jack had an appointment for a cavity filling (separate from mine and Kevin’s appointment earlier in the day)
5. December 12: Casey’s checkup/cleanings
6. December 12: Cody’s checkup/cleaning
7. December 17: Melissa had a cavity filled
8. January 14th: Kevin had orthodontist appointment where he found out he’s still not quite done with the braces
9. January 23rd: Kevin got a cavity filled
10. January 23rd: I had a treatment for early stages of periodontal disease. (Yeah I didn’t want to mention that in my Bye Bye Perfect Teeth post. I was already ashamed enough!)
11. January 28: Kevin had another appointment to have the last cavity filled.
12. January 29: Kevin had an another orthodontist appointment where he found out he wouldn’t be getting his braces off. (Be happy you weren’t the one driving him home after that appointment.)
13. January 29: Jack had an appointment to get his last cavity filled (separate time than Kevin’s)
14. January 30: Melissa had an appointment to get a cavity filled
15. January 30: Casey had an appointment to get his first ever cavities (tiny ones) filled and sealants applied.
16. January 30: Cody had an appointment to get sealants put on his teeth. (No cavities)

Ok so that’s 16. Sixteen. Dentists. Appointments. In two months. Most of us are done now though.. Hallelujah! Oh wait. I said most. OK so everyone is done, except me. I still have the periodontal treatments and the cavities to deal with. Can you tell I’m overjoyed? At least I don’t go back till March. And Kevin should be getting his braces off in four weeks. (I’m not holding my breath.)

I think our family dentists have made enough money to book themselves and their staff Vegas rooms after the amount of money we’ve thrown at them this year…. heck, just in the last two months!

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! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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[tags]dentist appointments, periodontal disease, cavities, fillings, dentists, orthodontists[/tags]

Lastest Movies – Thursday Thirteen #20

This week’s ‘Thursday Thirteen’ is inspired by the few rare movie posters we have. That and the fact we watched the first four movies on this list just this week (we watch a lot of movies). Here are the last 13 movies I’ve watched:

1. An American Haunting – Jack and I watched this last night and neither of us can tell you much about this movie. We both kept falling asleep.
2. Disturbia – Watched two nights ago. I really wanted to like this movie. And it wasn’t horrible… just.. ‘eh’. I love Shia LaBeouf but fear he’s been typecast too much. This could have been a lot better.
3. 3:10 to Yuma – This looked really promising … but I found myself bored several times. Good story concept and good acting… but boring.
4. Rush Hour 3 – I was told this was better than Rush Hour 2. I disagree. I liked Rush Hour 3 but it didn’t quite hold up to the first two. Jackie Chan is looking tired.
5. Monster’s Inc. – I love this movie. We own it on DVD. Cody loves it too… now. He used to hate it and couldn’t get past the beginning with the scary monsters.
6. I Am Legend – While I really enjoyed this movie (and I adore Will Smith), I thought the ending stunk. It seemed there was a lot of the story that didn’t get told. Maybe I’ll check out the book.
7. Identity – I liked this movie. I thought it was fun and well done. It was certainly suspenseful.
8. The Manchurian Candidate – One word for this one: Disappointing. I lied, four more words: Neat concept, poor implementation.
9. Shrek the Third – They should have stopped at just Shrek. Shrek 2 was so-so and I fell asleep for Shrek 3. I loved the first one though!
10. Something’s Gotta Give – I kept waiting for this one to get good. It was constantly on the brink… but it was way way too long.
11. Ray – I was really interested in this story and would have loved to learn more about Ray Charles. And while I think I did learn more about him after watching this movie, I felt it could have been done better.
12. The Polar Express – A lot of people don’t like this movie. But I love it. So do my kids. It’s become a Christmas Tradition for us to watch this every year at Christmas time.
13. The Woodsman – This movie was awful. Simply awful. It’s not because of the subject matter, I could handle that. It was stupid and cheesy and given the subject matter, cheesy just doesn’t work.

After reading over this list, I sound picky, don’t I? I guess when you watch as many movies as we do that can happen. You want the WOW effect. I’m sure I missed a few but my brain is mush after a busy week. (Tomorrow’s Friday.. yay!)

What movies have you watched lately?

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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! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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[tags]Thursday Thirteen, Thursday 13, TT13, movies, movie buff, I am Legend, Monsters, Inc. Shrek 3, Netflix[/tags]