Thursday Thirteen

Wouldn't you know it? I've seen this cool link to be a part of Thursday Thirteen and today, the day when I decide I want to participate, I search in vain. And guaranteed once I post my Thursday Thirteen I will find the blog that has a link.

1. If you try to open a cellophane package with a pen, when it really needs scissors to do the job, you might end up with a 6 inch gash on your tender inside forearm instead. I'll spare you the picture.

2. More often than not when I read a passage of Scripture I get hung up on some obscure fact. At RCIA last night we read a passage that had the words alien residents in it and I wanted to know who they were. And how did one make them observe the Sabbath anyway?

3. We saw youngest son on his lunch break yesterday. His eyes looked sad and heavy hearted. I am sure he expected to get chewed out for his choices this week and he looked like he couldn't figure out just plain 'glad to see you' without an accompanying guilt trip/manipulation session.

4. He did come home to help dearest one unload a heavy package from the van after work. He came and hugged me tight three different times on his own. The first time I never heard him coming and he hugged me from behind. I was drying off a paring knife at the time. Scaring your mother when she has a knife in her hand is a dangerous thing. But when she hasn't hugged you in 6 days she'll forgive you anything. We are a very huggy family - hugs and kisses at least twice a day for everyone.

5. I bought bright orange computer paper yesterday. Did I mention it comes in the toughest cellophane paper I've ever encountered? I have the gash to prove it. Orange is my current favourite colour.

6. We bought our first new TV in 25 years yesterday. It's too big for the entertainment centre. Handy dearest one took the entertainment centre apart and adjusted it so that the TV fits. He thinks anyone can do this. I told him most people would either go buy a new entertainment centre or take the TV back and buy a smaller one that fit. He shrugged. Taking things apart and fixing them is just what he does. His father does wish he knew what dearest one did with the motor parts that never made it back in that motor in 1969 or so. Dearest one threw them in the bush when he couldn't figure out where they went. That was a one time experience. He's a quick learner!

7. My grandparents started off their day with having a cup of tea in bed. The sweetest days are when dearest one and I start our day the same way.

8. Decaf Earl Grey is my favourite tea. I have my grandma's tea pot that she received as a wedding present in 1929. My one idiosyncrasy about making tea is that you must pour boiling water onto the tea bag or leaves. Remembering how my grandma would swirl a little boiling water around in the bottom of the tea pot before filling it gives me the warm fuzzies.

9. I have bright pink tulips blooming in a vase in my livingroom. I once dreamed of having fresh cut flowers in my home all the time. Four months of the year they come from my garden and the other 8 months I could have them for just 10 bucks a month. Little pleasures in life don't have to cost a lot.

10. My younger sister inspires me. She is absolutely brilliant at stuff that she thinks is ordinary. Like speaking at a workshop for 100 people and making it seem like she is having a private conversation with her closest friend. She was born to be a teacher and she is still teaching me things. You go girl! I am so proud of you!

11. I have collapsible hands. I always wondered why my hand still fits in the pickle jar. Most jars I can fit my hand into to wash them out. I thought that was ordinary until the geneticist told me not everyone could do it.

12. I sit here and wonder if I am supposed to be writing about stuff that has happened since last Thursday. Who makes the rules? I can't remember back that far. Oh yes, I can. Last Thursday I saw Father Charlie for counseling (I cheated and looked on the calendar!) Last Friday I was so exhausted I had to go back to bed not long after I got up. The geneticist would tell me that is normal for someone with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome like me.

13. I have no wish to be thirteen ever again. Just about the worst of my growing up years. I swore like a sailor and punched anyone in my class who didn't do what I wanted. Boy was that an angry year. Today I would be expelled for being a bully.