thursday thirteen

I've done a TT on my favorite restaurants.  One on weird foods I've eaten.  This one will be my favorite foods.  Unfortunately, some of the foods I am about to list are foods that I have a sensitivity to and can't eat.  

1. Potatoes.  I love them mashed, fried, baked, scalloped, au gratined, hashbrowned, souped, you name it... just not raw.

2. Tomatoes.  A really good, tasty tomato.  Very hard to find anymore. Can't eat them anyway.

3. Watermelon.  Not cantaloup, not honeydew.  In fact watermelon is the only melon I like.  And I  like it a lot!  I will only eat it during the summer when it is in season.

4. Chocolate.  But weirdly, I don't like chocolate cake.  I would rather have another flavor of cake.  Can't eat chocolate now, though.

5. Bread.  I love it.  I love all kinds.  But I can't have yeast, so therefore, I can't have bread.

6. Pizza.  I love it will all the toppings.  Or with just pineapple and pepperoni.  Or with spinach and onions and mushrooms and a white sauce.  I had a pear and gorgonzola pizza that was very yummy.  But since I can't have tomatoes, or yeast, I can't have pizza.

7. Ice cream.  Chocolate would be my favorite flavor, but really, I like just about any flavor.  I am picky about where I get it, though.  Which brands.  Not all ice cream is good to me.

8. Pie.  I could eat pie all the time.  Every day.  All day.  But I don't.  I have it only a couple of times a year.  I like almost any fruit pie except blueberry.  I'm not a big fan of cream pies.  I do like key lime, though.  And lemon meringue.  But, I guess those are fruits, aren't they?

9. Honey.  On bread, on biscuits, on cornbread, in tea, on my fingers, in a spoon...

10. Stuffing or Dressing or Filling, you know the crumbled up bread stuff that goes with poultry.  I like bread stuffing.  Not rice or some weird thing like that.  Stove Top is fine.  But since I can't have yeast....  

11. Fish.  I have loved fish as long as I can remember.  I remember getting it at the buffet when I was quite young.  I have never tried a fish I don't like. I prefer the fish that tastes like fish, too.  

12. Cheese.  Cheese on bread, cheese on potatoes, cheese on chips, cheese on crackers, cheese on veggies, cheese by the chunk....

13. Pasta.  I like macaroni.  I sing about Penne Regatta  and Linguini.  I like all kinds of toppings on all kinds of pasta.

thursday thirteen

Thirteen things about fall.

1. Gold

aspens, grass, leaves, flowers

2. Crisp

air, apples, leaves

3. Brilliant

colors, sky

4. Cool

temperatures, and cool as in cool

5. Orange

leaves, pumpkins

6. Crunch

leaves, apples

7. Smoke

burning leaves, fireplaces

8. Clear

air, sound, sky

9. Pungent

rotting apples, moldering leaves

10. Sweater

for those cool temperatures

11. Red

leaves, apples, cheeks

12. Apples

fresh, crisp, sweet

13. Moon

harvest, hunter, amazing

thursday thirteen

Thirteen places I have never been, that I would like to visit.

*1. The entire UK

2. Greece

4. Israel

5. Morocco

6. British Colombia

7. Prince Edward Island

8. Glacier National Park

9. Alaska

10. Italy

11. France

12. Austria

13. Poland

*I edited this -- I had Ireland, Scotland, etc listed separately, but realized I had forgotten Greece, Israel and Morocco!

thursday thirteen

There are a lot of voices out there saying ridiculous things about the attacks on our country. I knew that this faction was out there. I didn't realize how vocal it is. Conspiracy theories are plastered all over. When I tried to find a photo for this, almost every site is spouting off anti-American drivel. I didn't see any sites dedicated to remembering the dead or honoring the heros. Not even any sites bashing the terrorists. Nope, just sites full of lies and hatred. Now, realize that I didn't look at every site on the web. But of those I did look at, this was the case.

Well, I for one will not forget what happened and why it happened.

Things I remember from seven years ago.

1. My husband called to tell me a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I thought he meant a small plane and wondered why he was bothering me in the middle of trying to get my daughter off to school.

2. When he said the Pentagon was hit, too, then I knew it was deliberate. We were being attacked.

3. I gave my kids ice cream for breakfast.

4. I didn't even think to keep my daughter home from school. I was on auto-pilot, I guess.

5. I tried to organize a prayer group but only one lady showed up. We prayed for a while together that morning.

6. Empty blue skies. Gorgeous. No contrail, no planes. Just the sound of fighter planes patrolling the air beyond our view.

7. Concerns that one of the installations near us would be hit. We were in Colorado Springs.

8. Anxiety over what would happen next. How far would it go?

9. Shock when the buildings fell. I was stunned. It seemed so unreal.

10. Horrified at what the passengers on the plane and the people in the buildings must have felt in their last minutes.

10. We were still unpacking from a move and I found a broken piece of china. It was so trivial. I thought about how people in New York, even miles from "ground zero" had probably more damage than that. What's one plate?

11. Hope. I was so sure that there was a pocket of survivors under all the rubble. I held to that for days.

12. Walking around with my hand over my mouth. I remember noticing that.

13. We went out for lunch that day and I remember how quiet everyone was. People were speaking in hushed tones. Everyone had a strange expression on their face. We were all so stunned.

thursday thirteen

A double dipper today!  My cousin at To Know Me is to Love Me listed her favorite restaurants last week so I copied her idea!

The first list is places I used to like.  But we  have changed our way of eating so that we want food to be as natural as possible.  Less chemicals, less processing, etc.  We don't eat trans-fats and that eliminates a lot of places, although they are catching on.  I also have some food sensitivities that make it difficult to eat at some places.  I can't have pork for example, and Texas Roadhouse uses pork even on their baked potatoes.  We still like the place, it just isn't a favorite for me anymore because it is difficult.

Also, my tastes have changed and since I prefer to eat meat that has been raised on a vegetarian diet and has no hormones or antibiotics, it makes my throat feel kinda funny to think of eating a burger from some places these days.  So, I'm not bashing my "before" list.  They just aren't my favorite places anymore.  

You may  notice that trying to eat better also increases the cost!  We don't eat out as often!

1. Red Lobster

2. Taco Bell

3. Almost any Mexican food - can't have now because of sensitivities.  Still love it, though.

4. Black Eyed Pea

5. Country Buffet

6. Fazoli's

7. Texas Roadhouse

8. Mc Donald's

9. Burger King

10. Sonic

11. Popeye's

12. Mimi's

13. Red Robin

1. Macaroni Grill

2. Carrabba's

3. Cheesecake Factory

4. Chick- fil- A  - not natural meat, but they use good oil for frying, so it's the only fast food I do anymore.

5. Indochine - a local Thai/Vietnamese place

6. Good Indian places

7. Good Greek places

8. Jason's Deli

9. Warhorse - local place 

10. Pei Wei

11. P.F. Chang's

12. Elephant Bar

13. Ted's Montana

thursday thirteen

Thirteen of the best candies from my childhood.  Notice there is no chocolate.  Chocolate goes without saying and may have a TT of its own sometime.

Gobstoppers may have been my ultimate favorite.

I liked apple, watermelon and FireStix flavors the best!  And the stix were way better than the little chunky things.
Makes me pucker just to think of these.

I had a real love/hate relationship with these things.  The wax was so nasty and then the liquid was good and yet strong and I wasn't sure I really  liked it, but it WAS candy, after all.
Zotz were awesome.  They had something fizzy and sour in the middle.

Candy and Jewelry combined!  How could you go wrong?
My favorite was the root beer cap.
We could be so cool, at six.
I really only ate these when there wasn't any better choice.  I particularly associate them with garages.  We would take the car in for whatever, (how should I know) and they had those machines you could put a penny in and get a handful of candy.  Often, these were the only offering and so I would, of course, have some.  They are candy, after all.

What kid doesn't like Pixy Stix?

thursday thirteen

Truth is, I am having hormonal upheaval.  Sorry males -- deal with it.  Anyway, I feel actually rather mean.  I kinda feel like knocking people down and saying mean things to them as they hit the ground.  

The best thing really would be for me to go to a cabin in the mountains by a lovely stream all by myself for a few days - or weeks.  But you know...

So, my TT is about things that irritate me.

1. Word verification boxes on blogs.  If I don't comment often on your blog and you have one of those things... well...  Honestly, I have to do them an average of four times to get it right!  I realize that may be my own personal problem, but that doesn't diminish the  irritation factor.

2. The phrase "point taken."  I don't know why.  It just does.

3. My dirty house.  

4. People who move out to the boonies and then complain about the wildlife.

5. PC.  Political Correctness.  Super-sensitivity.  Hyper-offendedness.  Enough already.

6. Politics.

7. Aggressive drivers.

8. People talking on their cells All - The - Time.

9. When people are too busy.  No time for anything because they are soooo busy.

10. This guy at the deli one time was being crude about a pickle and grinning at me, like I was supposed to swoon.  And then he smacked his teenaged kid up side the head.  Man, that really irritated me!  So, I guess jerks.  Jerks irritate me.

11. My dog pooping in the house when I leave her alone... grrr.

12. Whining. I mostly mean the tone of voice.  It seems to be used a lot around here.  (I'm not whining, mind you.  I'm sharing my heart.)

13. Mean people.  Mean people really irritate me.

Ok, well, that didn't make me feel any better, but it was kinda fun!

Please, don't be afraid.  I am doing my best to be nice.  

During Ronald Reagan's funeral the priest talked about how sweet Mr. Reagan was even in the midst of that disease that had stolen his mind.  His comment was that the Fruit of the Spirit was so present in his life that it outweighed the negative affects of the Alzheimer's. 

That is always my prayer in times like this.   I feel as if my mind has been overtaken by raging hormones, but God is bigger.  I pray that His Spirit will be in control and shine through me.

thursday thirteen

Thirteen of my favorite praise songs.

1. God of Wonders - Chris Tomlin

2. Doxology 

3. Praise You in This Storm - Casting Crowns

4. Joyful Joyful (Ode to Joy) 

5. All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

6. Agnus Dei

7. How Great Thou Art

8. Indescribable - Chris Tomlin

9. All Creatures of Our God and King 

10. How Great is Our God - Chris Tomlin

11. Glory in the Highest - Chris Tomlin

12. Calling Out Your Name - Rich Mullens

13. Majesty

thursday thirteen

A couple of weeks ago I did my least favorites, so today I will do my favorites.

1. Favorite color - Red or green - it varies depending on my mood.

2. Favorite smell - pine after a rain.

3. Favorite sound - my kids laughing with each other, rather than at each other.

4. Favorite movie (that I've seen) - The Princess Bride.

5. Favorite TV show (that I've seen)- Monk

6. Favorite indoor chore - eww, well, maybe dusting - but I never do it.

7. Favorite outdoor chore - getting the mail.

8. Favorite song - today it is My Jesus by Todd Agnew

9. Favorite food - One single item would be cheese or potatoes.  But type of food would be Middle Eastern, Indian, or Greek

10. Favorite drink - AW Rootbeer

11. Favorite tactile feeling - velvet

12. Favorite emotion - nostalgia

13. Favorite place - on a mountain.

thursday thirteen

Thirteen cool places I have been or things I have seen!

1. The Fisherman's Memorial in Gloucester, Maine.

2. The Citadelle Laferriere in Haiti.  Haiti has a fascinating history.  Well worth looking into.  This fort was built to ensure their freedom from the French, but the ruler who built it used his countrymen as slaves to get the job done.  When the slaves would die, their blood was mixed into the mortar between the stones.

3. Teotihuacan in Mexico.  

4. The Liberty Bell

5. Labadee. They call it a private island, but what the tourists don't know is that it is actually Haiti.  I didn't go on a cruise ship, we drove and had the entire beach to ourselves when I was there on a college mission trip.

6. Old Faithful

7. Old Ironsides - The USS Constitution.  I love history.  We only were able to go on the deck and not below, but it was really neat.  I loved everything about Boston.

8. National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.  I've been here a few times.  I loved Washington DC and would love to go back with the kids sometime.  Of course, I saw a lot of things there, but chose this because I love art and its where I went on my first trip to DC.

9. Benjamin Franklin's toilet.

10. Appomattox Courthouse.  Where General Lee signed the surrender to General Grant ending the Civil War.  On my birthday.  But several years earlier.

11. Statue of Liberty.  We only saw this from a ferry, but it was still really cool to see.

12. Arlington National Cemetery.  I enjoy exploring cemeteries.  This is one big cemetery with many interesting things to see.

13. The top of Pikes Peak.  

 

thursday thirteen

Here are 13 favorite moody songs from my youth.  These were some of my "blues".  They were great to listen to when I was in a moody teen angsty state.

Whos Gonna Drive You Home - The Cars

Against All Odds - Phil Collins

At This Moment - Billy Vera

Time After Time - Cindy Lauper

Here Comes the Rain Again - Eurythmics

Teacher - George Michael

Vincent (Starry Starry Night) - Don Mclean

Rise - Herb Alpert

Take it to the Limit - The Eagles

She's Like the Wind -  Patrick Swayze

The Best of Times - Styx

Separate Ways - Journey

The Winner Takes it All - ABBA

thursday thirteen

Thirteen of my least favorite things.  Well, maybe not my least, least.  Its hard to do that without getting gross and I'm not going to get gross.

1. Least favorite color - Putty or Gray.

2. Least favorite smell - Asphalt.

3. Least favorite sound - Teeth scraping on a fork.

4. Least favorite movie (that I've seen) - New version of The Longest Yard.

5. Least favorite TV show (that I've seen)- The Bachelor

6. Least favorite indoor chore - Cleaning Toilets.

7. Least favorite outdoor chore - Weeding.

8. Least favorite song - Achy Breaky Heart

9. Least favorite food - Liver

10. Least favorite drink - Beer

11. Least favorite tactile feeling - Pinch

12. Least favorite emotion - Irritable

13. Least favorite place - In a cellar.

thursday thirteen

Thirteen things you are likely to see on the forty minute drive from here to Colorado Springs.

thursday thirteen

Thirteen of my favorite groups from the eighties.

Journey

Air Supply

Huey Lewis and the News

Styx

Chicago

The Little River Band

Foreigner

The Cars

REO Speedwagon

Culture Club

Hall and Oates

The Commodores

Eurythmics

thursday thirteen

Thirteen TV quotes:

""the couples that are truly right for each other wade through the same crap as everybody else but the big difference is they don't let it take 'em down"" 
     -- Perry Cox - Scrubs

""Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason."" 
     -- Jerry Seinfeld - Seinfeld

"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" 

     -- Adam Savage - Myth Busters

""Whenever I'm about to do something, I think 'would an idiot do that?'' and if they would, I do NOT do that thing"" 
     -- Dwight Schrute - The Office

"I wish I could....but I don't want to" 
     -- Phoebe Buffay  - Friends

"I'm not so good with the advice... Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?" 
     -- Chandler Bing - Friends

"Unless I'm wrong, which, you know, I'm not..." 
     -- Adrian Monk - Monk

That's enough to make me LOL...out loud" 
     -- Adrian Monk - Monk

"Wait, wait, Shawn don't do this, ... SHAWN don't you, don't you DARE learn a wrong lesson when I'm trying to teach you a RIGHT lesson! … Shawn? Stop stop stop stop! Stop trying to figure it out! Stop jumping!!! … shawn? Shawn!" 
     -- Henry Spencer (Shawn's father) - Psych

""This is not the Indian restaurant, this is a residential number and you are speaking to the lady of the house on a white slimline telephone with last number re-dial facility."" 
     -- Hyacinth - Keeping Up Appearances

"No, a moo point. Like a cow's opinion, doesn't matter. It's moo ..." 
     -- Joey Tribbiani - Friends

"Mind the pedestrian."

Hyacinth - Keeping Up Appearances

"I have my own opinions. I'm not just some trophy wife." 
     -- Marie Barone 

thursday thirteen

Here are thirteen Christian books that I have read at least two times.  

1. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom - The true story of a family in Holland who hid Jews during the Holocaust.

2. A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliott - the biography of Amy Carmichael who was a missionary to India during the turn of the last century.

3. By Searching by Isobel Kuhn - Isobel's story from doubt to faith.  She went to China as a missionary in the 1920's.

4. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken - A beautiful autobiographical tale of deep, passionate, consuming love.

5. Run Baby Run by Nicky Cruz - the autobiographical story of Nicky Cruz, a gang member who finds God.

6. Christy by Catherine Marshall - A fictionalized account of a true story.  Christy goes into the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee to teach school at the age of 19. 

 

7. C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy.  Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength.  These are very imaginative.  You have to keep in mind that they were written in the 40's, so the thoughts he had about space travel are pretty cool.  There is a great spiritual thread running through the books, of course.  It IS C. S. Lewis.

8. Phantastes and Lilith by George MacDonald. Actually, several books by George MacDonald.  He is an old time writer.  His books have been edited so that we can understand them because they were originally written in  old Scottish dialect.  The style is still old, but I love his books.  These two I mentioned are fantasies and while I enjoy reading them for entertainment, I am pretty sure the deeper stuff goes over my head.

9. Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow -  A non-fiction book about contentment, worry, regret, forgiveness and more.  

10. Lord I Want to Know You by Kay Arthur - A wonderful book teaching about many of the different names of God.

11. The Path of Loneliness by Elisabeth Elliot - we've all had times of loneliness, but this book is full of wonderful encouragement and wisdom for any time.

12. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis - we all are pretty familiar with these books now.  If you haven't read them, though, DO.

13. The Bible by God - It's essential.

 

thursday thirteen

Thirteen things that amuse me.

1. Watching birds. Not "bird watching." Just watching them. Especially when they are fussing about something. That's funny.

2. Watching people, especially other couples, interact.

3. Watching a toddler try to be a "big boy/girl"

4. Telling myself funny stories

5. Watching people walk

6. Looking at noses and or ears. Very amusing.

7. Singing and making up new words to old songs.

8. Spending time with my children. They are quite interesting.

9. Dancing and/or acting weird.

10. Speaking with an accent.

11. Pretending I'm from another planet and trying to figure out what in the world in going on around here.

12. Responding to the voices in my head. Oh, come on. You know you have some, too.

13. Experimenting with facial expressions.

thursday thirteen

As writers I think we need to experience all that we can.  Of course those experiences should in no way dishonor God, so I'm not talking about psychotropic experiences or anything like that.

One easy way to broaden your experience is through food.  Some of you read my TT about weird foods I've eaten.  So I could write about a character eating Kangaroo and describe it accurately.  :)

Today's list is the different nationalities of foods I have had.

1. Italian - who hasn't?

2. Mexican - again...

3. French

4. Greek

5. Moroccan

6. Lebanese

7. Vietnamese

8. Russian

9. Ethiopian

10. Liberian

11. Haitian

12. Indian

13. Thai

thursday thirteen

Thirteen things I've done at my sister's house in 24 hours.

1. taken goofy pictures with my sis

2. been kissed by a Cockatoo

3. been kissed by a cat

4. ridden in a 62 Ford Falcon

5. played Sorry and tried not to get irritated with those mean people who kept putting me back at start

6. spun the spinner for the kids to play Twister

7. talked to the police

8. listened to Julie tell stories about when my kids were little

9. met my nephew's girlfriend

10. picked a strawberry

11. sang a couple of duets with my niece

12. whacked my head and forgot to cry about it

13. saw a firefly close up.  They aren't pretty unless they're lit.

thursday thirteen

Once I did a TT on my favorite actors and they were all from the old days.  Jan asked me who my favorite contemporary actors are, so here you go: