Thursday Thirteen

Random 13 today.

1. Yesterday I met Lenora at A Journal of Days. This very striking and handsome woman introduced herself to me in the library after overhearing my conversation with the staff genealogist. I was looking for information about a small diary that came into my possession this week and she had read my blog entry about it and guessed my identity. I was thrilled to meet her. Her blog is a fun and thought-provoking read. There is now only one other person on my Botetourt bloggers' list whom I have yet to meet.

2. Whitening strips make my teeth ache. I bought a box to try and daresay I wasted my money. I couldn't stand them on for more than 10 minutes. Apparently I have very sensitive teeth.

3. Last night was the first night for running the heat in the house; the temperature dropped below 40. I was hoping to go to October 15 before turning it on; I missed it by one day.

4. I am offering a course on "The Business of Freelancing" through the county Parks & Rec Department on October 24. It is at the Fincastle Library from 9 - 12:30 and costs $50. I already have about 20 pages of handouts and am working on more. I want to be sure participants get their money's worth.

5. I love my husband so much it hurts sometimes.

6. No fiction reading for me since September 10. I am hoping that if I empty my brain of other people's stories, my own story will find its way in and I will begin writing it. I don't know how much longer I can hold out on not reading a story, though. Not reading is hard work when you're an avid reader.

7. Nonfiction books on tape in the car and reading magazines and other nonfiction instead of fiction are now filling this strange period of my life. Maybe it will make me smarter.

8. I have struggled with exercise in recent weeks.

9. My blood pressure has become an issue again. Nobody told me blood pressure meds could work for a while and then ... not.

10. My car will be in the repair shop for several days next week, thanks to my October 4 accident wherein I backed into my husband's motorcycle. The damage estimates for both vehicles came to over $1,500. The motorcycle has yet to be fixed. What a lot of money to pay out for one careless mistake.

11. Good news on the work front; I picked up a new client yesterday.

12. I despise MS Office 2007. I have spent much of my time since July trying to learn this new interface. MS Office 2003 worked fine; why does Microsoft have to keep changing things? (Answer: so you'll have to spend money to buy the new product, that's why.) Not only have I found it difficult and less than intuitive, the changes I make to the normal template, particularly in paragraph spacing, simply will not hold. I have to change this every frickin time I open a new document. It is really irritating. Who designated a space between every paragraph and after every hard return should be the default, anyway?

13. Photo editing software that I actually like is hard to find. I've downloaded several of the free ones; so far I like Picasso the best of those but it has its limitations. I bought The Print Shop Deluxe a few weeks ago because it was on sale for next to nothing but it seems unwieldy to use.


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here. This is number 111!