Thursday Thirteen, back from the dead…
(Photo by Steve Rawley)
Nan wrote a Thursday Thirteen about all the things buzzing around in her head, so I will, too. (I didn’t know Thursday Thirteen was still around :) Happy about this!)
If you write one, too, leave me a note so I can go visit. This one is kind of serious, sorry. It just came out that way.
love,
wm
1) My husband took that picture. He takes all of the incredible pictures you see on my blog. I just write. Ha!
2) Looking forward to a four-day weekend! The schools here (Washington Co., Oregon) dealt with budget issues by declaring “furlough days.” Next school year, we’re looking at massive teacher lay-offs. Bad, bad, bad. But we live in a country that likes to spend money on bombs and fighter jets instead of kids, food and health care. We also live in a state where people don’t think they should have to pay property taxes, so there you go. I personally would opt for the kids, food and medical, but what do I know? I’m just a woman who doesn’t believe in war and hunger. Anyway, the district figured out the schedule very nicely. Since we have Monday off for Memorial Day, they gave us Friday off, too.
3) Whenever I start writing anything nowadays, I always tell myself, Keep it cheerful. Fact is, that’s difficult most days. This is the world we live in — where people who speak out against war are seen as freaks; where drug/alcohol abuse are the norm; where it’s OK that kids can’t afford to go to college, and are terrified to take out loans to pay for it. What is wrong with this picture?
4) OK. I planted a bunch of flowers in the yard — they look nice. We had some gorgeous, sunny weather, then a lot of rain, so the new plantings are soaking it all up and thriving.
5) Every day at around this time, I can hear the hawks shrieking as they fly overhead. It is a gift. Thanks, Mother Nature. My son was telling me on the way home from the library, Look at all we have out here! Bunnies, snakes, frogs, coyotes, hawks, ducks… wow!
6) My kids see every day as a gift. This is a good way of looking at life.
7) We checked out a ton of movies and a couple of books from the library: Hepburn & Tracy, “Cinema Paradiso,” “The Ides of March.” I finally re-started reading “Life of Pi,” by Yann Martel. It’s awfully good. Next up: more Dickens.
8) Recipes? OK. Here is an oldie but goodie. Crepes… mmmmmm… crepes…
9) The windows are open — I can hear the neighbor kids hollering. It’s almost summer… summer break… my birthday (48, damn! Two years from 50, woo-hoo ;)… our garden is already flourishing — herbs, potatoes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries all coming on, along with the peas that we planted too late but are doing wonderfully, in spite of our negligence. Radishes… green onions… and tomato and pepper starts waiting to be planted. I love the Pacific Northwest for a lot of reasons, and gardening is always at the top of the list.
10) My daughter just finished up her spring session of art classes. She made some beautiful work this semester. She, like her Dad, is quite the photographer. Our house has turned into a showcase for their work.
11) My novel is trucking along. I’m hoping we wrap up my Grandma’s cookbook/memoir soon, and a friend is going to put together some illustrations for the children’s book I wrote. All good.
12) I am psyched for all the TV season/series finales that have been on. (No spoilers! I promise.) I have never watched so much TV in my life, not even when I was a kid. “Desperate Housewives” is over and done. Not everyone liked the series finale, but I thought it worked, especially the last ten minutes. “Revenge” had a great run — looking forward to seeing where they go with it next season. “American Idol” and the Stanley Cup hockey play-offs are both stressing me out in different ways. It’s only a game! (Music and sports having more than a few similarites.) (So why am I on the couch, holding my breath?)
13) If you’d like to read any of the other Thursday Thirteens I’ve written, head over to the sidebar — they have their own category, and apparently this is the 89th entry! Whoa.
Happy Thursday, everyone!
, 
.
Happy T13!! I had to scour the internet to find them and I even linked back. I had THE most productive day yesterday, code-wize. Sorted out my ‘Articles’ page which has been empty.
War is so depressing. Oldest boy has been snapped up by the RAF cadets, and just passed his flight exam, and can go flying with an instructor soon. He is so blissfully happy. I keep reminding him that we haven’t signed any piece of paper that says he has to kill people. He says, ‘But they will let me do my engineering degree, and they will pay for it!’ He has no idea. How do you explain war to a 14-year-old?
May 25th, 2012 | #
With you on the way the tax money is spent. Not sure why the country seems to dislike helping one another – what a selfish society we have become. What is more important than food, education, etc.? Not much.
May 25th, 2012 | #
you wrote a book…how envious. I should start writing a book too, not just short stories.
thank you for stopping by
May 25th, 2012 | #
CountryDew, Yes. Thanks for stopping by.
Novroz, it’s worth it. “To Kill a Mockingbird” started out as a version that was more like short stories strung together. True! Just saw a bio on Harper Lee — editors and Ms. Lee took their time and crafted it into the gem that it is. Thanks for visiting my blog.
Nan, They’re teens; they think they’re immortal. I wish they were. Good news, though, if the RAF will actually pay for the degree — here, they promise everything and deliver nothing. Medical care, schooling, additional trainings. Soldiers who are working as electricians, for example, come home and aren’t licensed/certified to do the same work in civilian life. Then aren’t offered $$$ for schooling.
Kids who should be in college are terrified of accumulating too much student debt and not being able to cover it (this is an understandable fear), so the military sounds good. But if you come home from Afghanistan shell-shocked, PTSD, or suicidal, how are you going to make it through school, then? I’m so discouraged, i can’t even imagine how they must be feeling.
Oh, yeah — if a soldier ends up having mental health issues, the U.S. Military says, Oh, that was a pre-existing condition! and cuts off their medical coverage.
Then they can’t find work, health care, nada. I have heard story after story after story. Bleak.
May 25th, 2012 | #