Thursday Thirteen

1. The box of brownie mix began calling to me from the pantry yesterday around lunch time. "Come make me, come make me!" it begged. Finally, I could stand the pleas no longer, so I turned on the stove, prepared the mix, and popped the dish in the oven.

2. There was no other chocolate in the house, as I had banned it from the premises. The brownies (now in a plate on the counter) were the last of it.

3. Fortunately I don't have to eat all of the brownies. I have people I can send them too.

4. On the walls of my home office: a picture of doe nursing her fawn that I took several years ago, a "license to laugh" that "entitles the bearer to perform random acts of spontaneous laughter," and a card from a friend that bears this sentiment: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild & precious life?" - Mary Oliver.

5.  Sitting on my desk: a bottle of Chloraseptic sore throat spray, a bottle of Rescue Remedy, and Nasonex. I'm still battling a bad infection but seem to be getting better, finally. (The Rescue Remedy is always on my desk, though.)

6. Best thing I saw on Facebook this morning: "Me, I got a binder 47% full of big birds. Sheesh!" said by a friend who is a professor at a my Alma mater.

7. Alma mater means "nourishing mother" in Latin. In the US it is used to refer to an institution of higher learning from which you have graduated. I rather like the notion that Hollins University is my nourishing mother. It is certainly the place where I feel most at home and have done the most growing.

8. I have been trying to instill better work habits into my days, but being sick for several weeks has really put a dent in my efforts. It is hard to establish a routine when you have to go to bed when you're supposed to be doing something else.

9. My new career involves teaching, something with which I have little experience. Starting in November I will be an adjunct instructor at the local community college. I am eager to see if I like it and if I am good at it.

10. My words today are fretting me as I keep ending sentences with prepositions, and then I must edit said sentences. Usually it doesn't bother me to end a sentence with "at" but today it feels wrong.

11. The Internet is a strange place. I think it tends to bring out the worst in some people, but it has brought new people into my life. Earlier this week I had an inquiry about genealogy in Botetourt, and the woman turned out to be my husband's distant cousin. After looking at my blog, she sent me a photo of her father and he looks a lot like my fellow!

12. Also on my desk: 164 pages of a very bad novel that I wrote in the early 1980s. I have been trying to see if I can rewrite it. I am starting to think it is hopeless. I may need to keep the basic plot line and start all over.

13.  I hear the brownies calling to me from the kitchen now. I think this Thursday Thirteen is done!





Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 264th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.