Thursday Thirteen - 13 things I've done this week, that make me proud!

Thirteen Things I did this week, that make me proud! Things are coming back. So I've got some things to be thankful for. Here's a list of things I've actually accomplished. They might seem small to you, but right now, being half asleep, they seem big to me! 1. Folded towels. 2. Washed all the dirty clothes in the house (almost---T's are left). 3. Kept the bathroom floor clear. 4. Gone to bed before 12am. 5. Washed nearly all of the dishes that were backlogged. 6. Gave the Circulation Manager at the Penny Saver an updated listing of what goes where, who does and doesn't want a paper, and what houses not to deliver to because they are vacant. He was really happy, thanked me several times. I mean, really, how many people do that? Not many. Too bad, I can't leave someone else with a loose end, not really knowing more about the route, ya know? They don't have anyone yet---and I'm NOT going back---even if they were to beg! 7. As a family, we've kept the car clean! 8. Paid 2 big bills today - cable and gas. 9. Vacuumed the floor. I still have to figure out what and where the clog is in the hose :-( 10. Collected a lot of garbage. 11. Made several dozen cookies, including some for the outreach that church is doing to a nearby prison. (I've got to start praying for just that soon!) 12. Made dinner just about every night. I know it should be done this way anyhow, but with how I've been feeling as of late---this is a good thing! Tonight is 15 bean soup with the recipe off of the back of the bag. 13. Got the car in to have the relay switch for the turning signal replaced. The only thing it really did was keep clicking for a bit after the signal was turned off, I hope it didn't effect the effectiveness of the turning signal itself. Now there's peace and quiet after we turn a corner.


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Thursday Thirteen #8 - Thirteen things I need to pick up off my floor

This will be my first TT from my email....even though I already have blogger open. Oh well, LOL!!!

Must get back into this.

1. Paper of various shapes and sizes - Some are small receipts (like the McDonald's one at my feet), some are oddly shaped because kids ripped them up.

2. Short and long pieces of yarn - Between finishing up Rosa's afghan and redoing the pillow, I've done a lot of clipping yarn. Some are long pieces from cutting off the ends after I weave them in, some are really small pieces in the salvaging of yarn from the pillow's first incarnation.

3. Envelopes - Because some of those pieces of paper are pieces of mail, so they have accompanying envelopes. Plus T got a few things off ebay recently.

4. Pens - Because I keep all my pens in this never-used-for-peanut-butter jar, and P likes to get into them.

5. Various Winter Items - Coats, mittens, hats, scarves, boots. It's the middle of winter. What do you expect, really?

6. Toys - Well, I have a 2 year old. What do you expect?

7. Various pieces of clothing - in our room, I don't have a basket in there right now. In the living room, there's 2 baskets of clothes I need to fold, and those are what needs folded in there.

8. Towels - for the same reason as above (though, there aren't any towels on my bedroom floor)

Things I'm happy not to have to pick up off my floor:

9. Food - At least not the dried on, rotted kind. I pick up most of what food hits the floor

10. Poo of any kind - If it drops out of a diaper (if you're a mom you'll understand that), it quickly gets picked up. But we don't have any animals, so I don't have to worry about them too.

11. Multiple utensils - I try to keep these off the floor too. If one lands there, it will get picked up quick.

12. Mold - I may not wash my floor every month day, but at least the mess isn't so bad that it grows this disgusting stuff.

Pretty soon:

13. Me - I'm tired. And I even slept in and went to bed early last night. I've really got to get myself to a doctor! :-S



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Thursday Thirteen - 7th edition - It's about time!

Thirteen Things I need to improve this year I'm not one to do resolutions, but I've figured since back when it was the fad cause everyone was doing it, that I'd note things I need to improve this year. Some I've already started---last year---some are new things. Oh, who am I kidding? It's all old! 1. Flylady - I need to clue myself back into this. It covers a lot of things---I have to start doing the WHB again, I have to update and start doing my Control Journal again---I could do a whole list JUST on this!!! :-| But I won't, because there's so much more. But if you really think about it, I do...it's all the same I suppose! 2. Be a better mommy. I've fallen behind on a few things. That's the whole point of the list. I have to say, I already think I am a good mommy, as I don't let my kids starve, etc, but there are a few things I could do better on, like give the kids more individual attention, and make sure some things I haven't taken care of are taken care of. :-| I've got to work up a chain, and pin it to the back of a little guy's jacket, with some mittens attached to that. I'd really like to knit some, maybe I'll look up the patterns I've saved up here and there and do that sometime today (too). 3. Be a better wife - again, I already think I'm pretty good at this, but there are some places I can improve on. And doing #1 will help a lot, because stuff won't be on my mind anymore. I've got all this time while he's asleep to do all of it, and I can include the kids in a lot of it. So that's what I'm going to work on today. And more. Oh goodness I hope I can keep up this good mood and high energy!!! 4. Eat better - I'm already going to Weight Watchers (though, truth be told, I didn't go this week :-| I'm picking it back up starting today. It'll work itself out in the wash). I've got to get back on program. And keep the site up in my browser again, so I can keep up my food. Maybe plan what I'm going to have ahead too. Why can some people do that? Maybe because they get enough sleep every night? Or they are just BOs (Born Organizers for those not Flylady savvy!)! 5. Read my bible - I started, and I've got it bookmarked, but I've stopped. So starting tonight, I'll do this. I'm hoping to do about what I did last night, in getting both the kids to bed asap at night---him about his regular bedtime, and she went to bed just after T left. Let's see if I can do that. And work on the next one... 6. Watch LESS tv - Oh, this is a big one. It's called the Boob Tube for a reason! I wonder what they're going to start calling the computer? It's almost as bad! But, if I can get it turned off about when T gets ready for work, then we'll be all set up to get D to bed quickly, and I'll have time after he leaves for me to read my bible and have some me time. I was doing pretty good before the holidays, I can do it again!!! 7. Spend less - This is a no brainer. We spend so much frivilously. Gotta get a good coffee pot, because Tim Horton's is a big one :-( 8. Write more - not just my pen pals, who I have to be better about writing to, but my writing. I haven't written in ages! 9. Get to bed earlier - I've now definitively proven to myself, and I've known for a while, that the best time for my bed time is roughly 11pm. It allows me roughly 8 hours of sleep, as long as I get to sleep by 11:30. Which I can do, with a bedtime of 11, without playing games on anyone's cell phone :-S 10. Deplete my yarn stash - oh hush! I need to move some of this stuff out so it makes me feel better to move more in! So I can make things like dishcloths. And socks with my new sock pattern book and needles (which I really didn't need because I have enough patterns and needles, but who cares, right?). 11. Spend less time on the computer and more with my family - Oh, but you all thought you were my family? Sure, my internet family. But the one here at home is more important. That's why I put more time with them twice (and soon it might be thrice!). 12. Keep up with all other writing and fb related stuff - I've been doing better with writing people, but every time I hit a crazy slump, you can forget it. Like now, which means I have to pull myself out of it again, and finish the letter I started, and write others. :-| And send the ones I've finished. 13. Keep down the clutter - part of #1, for sure, but it needs to be said. Don'tcha just love garbage bags?


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Thursday Thirteen - 6th edition - A Personal Look Back

Thirteen Things I'd Write in a Letter To Me Prompted in part by Brad Paisley's "Letter To Me" Definitive Age Ranges Included! 1. 11 - 18 - Forget about boys and study hard! "The one" will come, and SOON - none of the rest are really worth it! 2. 11 - 18 - Until Further Notice - Mom and Dad are ALWAYS RIGHT! 3. 11 - 18 (-Forever) - Always Brush your teeth! 4. 12 - Take Spanish, not French. You never use it like you think you will, and Spanish makes more sense---in all of the United States!! 5. 13 & 18 - Never lose your faith in God and Jesus. No Matter What ANYONE says! NO ONE! YOUR faith and true faith have NOTHING to do with other people's failures or fallacies. That's just between YOU and GOD! 6. 16 - Short and Sweet - January. Look DOWN when you walk. It will always be there otherwise! 7. 17 - Forget about Ju (our fave Taurus friend if you need more of a hint). You can talk to AJ again, but Ju has already proved herself untrustworthy (remember 8th grade and Sean?), but being friends again doesn't end well, trust me! I'll remind you again later. 8. 17 - Adam's NOT WORTH IT. Reference #1. 9. 20 - 23 - Only YOU define your LABEL. Maybe you can give others something to think about! 10. 20 - Forever - Again, BRUSH YOUR TEETH! 11. 20 - NEVER and I do mean NEVER take Depo Provera. This doesn't end well either. You can LEARN to remember to take a pill every day. Anyhow, baby #2 isn't *supposed* to come for 9 years! 12. 22/23 - Again, forget about Ju. It WON'T END WELL. Just say "hi, how ya doin'" and "Bye!" 13. 26 - For once mom's REALLY wrong. Think FRIDGE!


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Thursday Thirteen - 5th edition

Thirteen things I do instead of writing a story Note: There are other actions that could be substituted for "writing a story." Examples include #7, 8, 10 and 11. Also, read the bible, pray, and spend more time with my family. But those are just examples :-| 1. Sit at my computer and write in my blog. Let's face it, I love to write. And I guess a case can be made that I DO write QUITE a bit, considering how well I've been doing keeping up my blog (despite feeling really off more than I'd like lately). 2. Crochet. Anything. Whatever project is current. Currently, Rosa's afghan. In my defense, this and other hobbies COULD constitute STILL being creative. But it irks me that I do #12 and say "this works as being creative". This is probably what I do most of, not #1. 3. Knit. Same as #2. Current project - wrap for D. 4. Watch tv. I like to watch several different things, and certain things at different parts of the day. And when the things I want to watch aren't on, there's always the stuff we have recorded! 5. Play a computer game. I don't just sit on the computer and blog. If so, you would actually have seen MORE lately on here. And I would have gotten this out sooner. 6. Go to WalMart. It seems to be a second home for us. 7. Sleep. Okay, I don't do this as much or as often as I should, but it definitely fits! 8. Read other people's blogs. I'm not really as up on this as I should be, and maybe I should (gulp) do this a bit more, but then there's a lot of things I should do a bit more that will show up on this list. 9. Eat. Oh, now here's something I do WAY too much of. Way way too much. Especially over the Christmas season! 10. Clean. Another thing I should do more. But to my defense, I've been doing better at this than I have in a while. 11. Read books. Okay, another thing I should do way MORE of. But it's something that would and does replace writing. 12. Make excuses. And I can get really creative with these, too. Like, this whole list. I had originally put this down in my "list of ideas" for the Thursday Thirteen as something of a joke, but it's becoming something of a reality. 13. Worry. I read a quote recently (and let me know if you know where it's from)---If you worry, you haven't prayed. And if you pray, you don't worry. Paraphrased, probably misquoted, but it's pertinent!


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Thursday Thirteen - THANKS!

I wanted to thank everyone for their GREAT comments last week! It made me feel good to see how people looked at my relationship with my hubby, I love my life with him, and thank God every day I have him. I know how truly lucky I am to have such a great guy (most of the time!). It's not picture perfect, but it's not hell on earth either :-) I thought my parents had THE GREATEST love story when I was growing up, now I've got one almost as nice! (if you're not a steady reader, they've been together 33 years!) I hope my sister (who has now been married 2 years) and both our kids are able to be just as lucky in their love lives! And also, thank you for reading. Your comments are what make doing this REALLY FUN!!!!! Do you get the same thrill I do???

I want to impart a bit of an explanation that one of the responses prompted.

My ex-best friends (I have 2 friends who are now my ex-friends, both for different reasons) used to complain about their guys ALL THE TIME. So I know how downright horrible some women can be, even if their relationships are actually pretty dang good. It was with both of them---and, frankly, kinks we had to work out in our own relationship....if I had a nickel for every time T told me "I'm not so and so's husband" in the first 5 years we were married, I wouldn't need the candle biz to pay off certain bills!---and how hard they complained and crabbed about their guys but still stayed with them, plus a little bit of my mom pointing out how hard he works for us and how he's stayed here even
though he probably wants to be back out in Colorado by HIS family, that cemented in me the resolve to look for mostly the great things about my guy. There are things I don't like about him (I won't go into it now, but I'm sure I've complained a time or two before), or that aggravate me to no end, but overall I know how wonderful he is, and how much I love him, and how very very lucky I am to be Mrs. L and his *Dear*. :-) His arms have ALWAYS been that one place where nothing else exists, just me and him (and maybe the kids from time to time :-D). It's one place that, seriously, my mind is calm, and peaceful, and I can relax. I can't describe it any better than that. And I mean JUST when hugging the guy :-D (if anyone else had another idea---get your MIND out of the GUTTER!).

Thursday Thirteen - 3rd Edition - Things about my husband!

Thirteen Things about or I love about my husband, T Thirteen things about or that I love about my husband 1. He makes no excuses about who he is. WYSIWYG 2. He's my one and only. I knew not long after we met that he was THE ONE. I know now that he's the one God made for me. I'm not interested in looking anywhere else, and even being attracted to a movie or rock star who I know I'll never get makes me uncomfortable. I've really had to go out of the comfort zone I was in while being single (which only lasted until I was 19), and I'm only now getting used to it. 3. He takes me as I am. I don't HAVE to change for him, he loves me for me. This is another comfort zone I need to work myself out of, as at my size certain intimacies are very uncomfortable for me---not physically necessarily, but mentally 4. He loves us like crazy. He'll do anything for us. He's said a million times that he's happiest when he sees us happy. . 5. He's only 5 days older than me. How is it that I had to go 1000+ miles (total---because I had to go down to Basic at Fort Jackson first, then up to Maryland) to meet the perfect guy for me, who came into the world at almost the same time? "Our movie" (okay, it's something I picked) is What Dreams May Come (it's why it's my favorite)---after watching it for the first time, I turned to him and told him I'm not waiting 19 years the next time around. He picked our song---"Keeper of the Stars" by Tracy Byrd....definitely fits :-) (3 facts in 1) 6. He does origami and he's taught our daughter too. :-) 7. He's worked at the same place since the day after our daughter was born. He's been in the union since 1999. I'm proud to wear the t-shirt we got from the union a while back. 8. He loves to take pictures. These will be a feature of a later TT. He has a pretty good eye, too, and we had wanted to enter a few into local contests, but haven't yet. We're going to hopefully try the fair next year---both of us, as I want to enter a crocheted item in as well. 9. He's a great cook. It would be nice if he would go to school for it. There are a lot of things he could go to school for, he's just not confident enough in his intelligence to go to school. Yet. Because he will one day... But come on, wouldn't you love a guy who could make this for you any time you wanted?: 10. He's our tech guy in this house. Every time we have a problem with the computer, he's the one who takes care of it. I do the html (though, ya know, he does too), but he does all the hard stuff with the computer stuffings and software, and how they interact. 11. He wrote me a poem once. Here's the link (it's the first one, the rest are mine): http://www.geocities.com/redheaded_angels_home/poem1.html 12. He's 6'4". A full head taller than me, but I like it, I like taller guys :-D 13. He's good looking. He might not be exactly what other ladies like, but each day and time I look at him (and our babies), he (and they) take my heart away :-D


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Thursday Thirteen - my 2nd Edition: Thirteen things I love about the candle biz

Thirteen things I love about the candle biz 1. They're candles. Who doesn't love candles? I mean, really, need I say more?? 2. They make GREAT Christmas presents. Reference #1. I'm using them for a few Christmas presents this year myself. And that's how Lizzie signed up :-) 3. Bella Buns. The look and smell just like real cinnamon buns. The scent permeates the whole house. 4. The 16 oz jar candles. OMG, there's not enough great things I can say about them. My favorite feature is something I learned from something bad...if you drop them and the jar cracks, because of the wrapper you can still burn it. The wrapper keeps the glass in place. 5. Bella Balm. It's great stuff. It's hand and foot cream, it's got a light lemon scent, not too lemony, and it's not GREASY! I don't know about you, but even though I'm not going to go drive NASCAR without any gloves after I put on hand cream, I don't think the greasy feel of some other hand creams is all that good. 6. We live just close enough that I can get anything I order within less than a week! 7. Free training. All you need is a good long distance calling plan, and you can get on training and opportunity calls most days of the week. One's even on the web! 8. The free training calls are often recorded and links are posted in the back office. So if I want to pull up ANY call, whether I got on it or not, then all I often have to do is find out if it was recorded and find that link! 9. There are over 100 scents! So just about anyone's tastes can be satisfied! 10. My sponsor, her sponsor, and everyone in the group, made up of my sponsor's sponsor's downline. They are a wealth of support and ideas! 11. The company. They are not (just) about making money, they are about helping you make a better life for yourself. The provide the free training I mentioned, and distributor sales aids! They provide help, support and a GREAT product. I was looking not just for a way to make money to help support my family, but also a product I LOVE. If I don't like it, there's no way I could sell it to someone else. And that's just what I found with this company! 12. The future. I know that there is a future in this, and that our lives will just explode at some point. I look forward to that. 13. The UPS guy. I love it when the UPS guy comes to the door, because I know that I am getting a GREAT product. And I'm always eager to see what the next scent smells like. And even if I don't like it, I learned something new---it goes into my knowledge of the product, and gives me another option that maybe someone else likes (like, my daughter likes December's scent more than I do, LOL!). Next week: 13 Things about and I love about my husband


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Thursday Thirteen - 1st edition!

Thirteen Things about Allison (aka AngelGal) 1. I'm 31...so is my husband, T, whose birthday is exactly 5 days before mine :-) 2. I'm a mom to 2 wonderful kids---D, 11, and P, 2. 3. I have roughly 8 hobbies (can increase with the seasons), and I often forget at least one while listing them, but I'll try to anyhow---I crochet (now and forever my #1 hobby---I can do wonders with a crochet hook and a bit of yarn or thread. I could crochet with something else, but haven't tried much of anything else yet. You can always check out one of my other blogs, either the one for my crochet projects, or the one for the crochet group I own, WNY_Crocheters.), knit, cross stitch, bead, sew, bake, cook (the hobby is in the experimentation, though I'm not as much into it as some people I've seen on the web----wowwie wow wow wow!), bead and swap fbs and write penpals. During the spring and summer it can increase to include gardening and camping, and maybe one day it will also include some of the wonderful outdoor activities that help with #6. 4. This is the first blog I've been good about keeping. Most of the other ones (okay, I've only ever had 2 other ones in my life, but still) have gone by the way side quickly. I like that Blogger is connected to Google, because my main email is a Gmail account. 5. I'm a born again Christian. I was brought up Lutheran. My parents married in the same church that I was brought up in, I was baptized in, my sister was baptized in, she got married in, we both got confirmed in, I had both my kids baptized in and we renewed our vows at 2 years ago. After having some personal disagreements with other members of the Christian faith (those problems still exist to some extent, as it does for my father and even my mother, but I have realized that my focus does not belong on just His family, but on my own walk in faith), I swerved off a path I had been on since I was about 12 (when I first said the prayer to accept Jesus, etc), and decided to look elsewhere. I always had church and God somewhere in my mind, but thought (as all who fall away) that I could do it on my own. Earlier this year it began to dawn on me that I can't. 6. I'm going to Weight Watchers. So far, since January, I've lost 52.4 pounds. This isn't the first time I've gone, but WW is definitely the only program I've ever tried. I never tried any of the other fad diets....WW is what works best for me, and I'm not going to try anything else. 7. I have a Penny Saver route. I walked in the office, which happens to be very close to my house, and asked if I could have the route surrounding the house and the Penny Saver office. I have it for 2 reasons, the first being losing weight, but there is another reason... 8. I have a candle business. I sell Mia Bella Candles, and the other fine products in the line. My favorite candles are the Bella Buns, which look and smell just like real cinnamon buns. I also like the hand and foot cream, Bella Balm, quite a bit. So far I have recruited 2 WONDERFUL ladies, both of which sorta fell into my lap. I didn't need to do barely any promoting or convincing at all. The first noticed the Biz Opp line on my business card. The other bought some things from my online store when I told the group we are in together that I finally had the online store added to the website. I personally signed up as an Associate first, to get my foot in the door and cement the fact in my own mind that I wanted to do it. Before I went Candle of the Month, where you get a 16 oz jar candle and 12 votives in that month's scent, plus a Bella Bar (soap!), I got myself a website but, at least at that time, they didn't include the storefront with the website. So I had to wait about a month and then I was able to go COTM and get the store. 9. I write. Sure, we all write. And I have to write to have penpals, right? But, no, I WRITE. Now, I'll give it to ya that I haven't written a lick of a story for MONTHS, but they are still back there. The character from a story from my first Creative Writing class is still bouncing around in the back of my head. She made an appearance about a week ago, and I made sure to write down the thoughts and points that came to mind surrounding her story, but I haven't written anything since, and nothing much before that either. 10. I'm a SAHM. I feel drawn to and that it is my calling to give just as much as I can into being D and P's mommy. That's not to say I don't have a career goal. I went to college, thus having that Creative Writing class I mentioned back in 9, to get my BA in English (which I completed December 04. OH wow, the realization that it's been 3 years since I got done hits pretty hard every time. Anyhow, I got my BA in English so that I could go on and get my Masters in Library Science. I plan on working on THAT when we move out to Colorado, which is where my husband is from. I also took an Internet Programming class when I was in college (and some basic computer programming while in high school, though that might be a bit trickier to do now), so that's how I have fun playing around with the blog :-D. 11. My favorite color is black. Sure, other colors are nice. I wear other colors. I don't have a problem with other colors, in fact I wouldn't want the world without the other colors. But my favorite color is black. It has been since I was in high school, and it continues to be so even now. 12. My favorite number is 2. It doesn't drive much of anything in my life---I mean, I have 2 kids, but we didn't stop there because of any arbitrary reason. Right now I don't want to have anymore, but we are not restricting ourselves to 2 for any good or bad reason. That's just how it is. And if #3 comes along, well, I'm getting my tubes tied. Plain and simple. 2 are bad enough (and I've already got 3 if you count my husband!). But I really don't mind the number 13 either! I'm not a superstitious gal! :-D (or else I'd call myself Superstitious Gal and not AngelGal) 13. I collect angels. That's part of why I call myself AngelGal. Also, in a few ways it's a shortening of other monikers I've taken on during my time on the internet. Those include RedheadedAngel, and simply RedAngel. Cause I have red hair :-)


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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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