Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen silly little things.

1. My first job was a babysitter, but I lived on a farm so I also collected chicken eggs, helped my father with the haying, and had many other chores. I worked as a secretary/file clerk for my father's office in the summer. My first "real job" was at a machine shop, where I sold parts for things like Coates tire changers.

2. My dream job was to be a writer, though. I had always wanted to write, but my mother and father were not supportive of the idea. My mother was constantly saying, "That's fine, but you better take secretarial courses so you can support yourself." Fortunately I was able to write for the local newspaper for 30 years. It wasn't the best-paying work, but I loved it.

3. I like to wear sneakers. I dislike sandals of any kind and do not like going barefoot. I also like mocassins if they are soft-soled (as in, no sole and leather on the bottom).

4. My favorite food is not a food. I'm a chocoholic. I confess. I would eat chocolate every day if I could get away with it. From the looks of me you'd think I do that anyway, but I don't.

5. When I was about 12 years old, I stopped eating ice cream because I realized it made me wheeze. My favorite ice cream dish was a hot fudge sundae from High's Ice Cream. That was the local ice cream chain when I was growing up and it was magical to go in there and order up a sundae. Eating a hot fudge sundae is actually an item on my bucket list.

6. My house is silent but not really. We run two air purifiers constantly to clean the air, so there is always a whir. Why do we do this? Because we live a few miles as the crow flies from the cement plant, which is one of the worst polluters in the county. They have cleaned up their waste in the last 15 years and it's not as bad as it used to be, but their smoke stacks still belch out black stuff every now and then.

7. My favorite movie, to no one's surprise, is the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But I also like these movies: Dirty Dancing, Under the Tuscan Sun, Star Wars, ET, Mamma Mia!, Secretariat, The Blind Side, and many others.

8. My current favorite TV show is Supergirl, which comes on the CW. It is flawed but I favor strong heroines in my shows. It is also packed with commercials. If it didn't have so many commercials it would probably run about 35 minutes. But Supergirl is a lovely moral character who believes in the goodness of people, even if she does have to kick butt sometimes.

9. My favorite flower is a purple iris.

10. I am not much on cooking. My brother loves to cook and finds it theraputic but I am not a fan. I like to bake okay, and I also enjoy making fudge or candies during this time of the year (there is a pile of fudge-making items on the kitchen counter right now), but putting together a meal is not my favorite activity.

11. My favorite color is blue, and it always has been, as far as I know. I do like purple, though. Sometimes.

12. I like to eat vegetables but not all vegetables. Brussel sprouts are okay but not my choice. I like peas and green beans the best, though I need to eat more spinich so I can be strong like Popeye. (How many people remember Popeye?)

13. I wear glasses, and can't see much without them. Over the past year, my eyesight has worsened. I can tell because I cannot read the dial on the clock in the bedroom anymore without my specs. Fortunately, now I can simply ask Alexa what time it is and decide if I want to go back to sleep or not.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 582nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.