Domestic Geek

This week Denise of Mental Excrement has presented a challenge to TT’ers for this weeks Edition:

“I would like to challenge all Thirteeners to come up with 13 things they like about themselves.

I feel like we, as women, spend so much time scrutinizing ourselves that we sometimes forget the good stuff.???

This one was really tough. A lot of my former "good" characteristics have gone to hell lately. It took a lot of thinking to get beyond my faults and acknowledge the good:

Thirteen Things I Like About Myself

1. I'm extremely curious.I have to know how and why things work. When something doesn't work, I want to know what was broken. If I see something cool on the Internet, I want to know how it was done.
2. I have pretty eyes. They've been a little puffy and have dark circles under them from the stress, but I still think they're pretty.
3. I have a keen sense of observation. If Marcus is searching for key or his hat, I can usually point him to where they are.
4. I love to learn. I love new information, new skills, new ways of thinking about things.
5. I have a strong work ethic. When I do have a job, even if I hate it, I show up and do that job to the best of my ability. I am being paid to work, not goof around.
6. I'm creative. Whether it's crafts, graphic design, finding a solution to a problem, I like making useful things.
7. I love animals. Especially dogs...they're the best.
8. I write well. Since I loved reading at an early age, I have always been exposed to proper grammar and sentence structure. I write well despite my public school education.
9. I'm intelligent. I've always been above average.
10. I like teaching what I know. It is a thrill to give someone a means of doing something easier or faster. I used to love the expression on my music students' faces when something would "click."
11. I have big breasts. I'm not shy about it.
12. I look younger than my age. Both of my parents looked younger than they were. Luckily, I inherited this trait. Most people would never guess I'm going to be 40 next monday.
13. I have the ability to love. I love Marcus. I love my dad. My heart breaks for the people in the world who can't/won't allow themselves to love and be loved.

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Thirteen Reasons I Look Forward to Fall

1. The leaves changing color. It doesn't happen often here in Metro Denver, but once in awhile we'll get a fall where the leaves will actually turn colors other than yellow and brown. I was in Missouri one fall and the leaves were absolutely gorgeous!
2. Walking in fallen leaves. I love the crunchy sound and the smell of dead leaves.
3. Cooler temperatures. I love snuggling in the blankets with Marcus when the air starts getting just a little chilly (I can't stand downright cold).
4. Kids are back in school. I can go to the park or a store during the day and not be surrounded by tons of kids. I can also get some peace and quiet in my house until about 3pm.
5. The smell of wood burning. Our neighbors have a wood-burning stove. Burning wood is my favorite smell in the whole world.
6. Sweaters. I don't like the pull-over kind, but I love snuggling up in a cardigan sweater.
7. The absence of bugs. Especially this year, I'm really looking forward to the mosquitos dying. Stupid bugs.
8. Hot Chocolate. I can only drink it when the weather is nippy. Yum!
9. Thanksgiving. I love making and eating pumpkin pie. I can only eat it around the holidays, though.
10. Daylight Savings ends. I hate the whole notion of screwing with our time, but at least we get that "extra hour" when we "fall back".
11. New Fall television shows. There are a few intriguing shows in the line-up this fall. I'm also getting itchy for some of my favorites to return.
12. Football. The only professional sport I've ever followed is Denver Broncos football. GO BRONCOS!!!
13. Our Anniversary. Even though Marcus and I aren't married, we celebrate our anniversary on October 28th. On that day in 1992, we offically decided to become a couple and it's the first time he said he loved me.

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Thirteen Craft Projects I Need to Finish

I have a horrible tendancy to lose interest in a project I've started before I get it completed. Here are several I found today that I would like to complete:

1. “Maggie the Messmaker” cross-stitch
   I got this kit because it is craft-related, looked challenging and I love Charles Wysoki's art. On March 19, 2003, I wrote about how I had lost the instructions for the kit. The company sent new ones right away. I've had this kid for 4 or 5 years, it's time to get going on it!
   
   
2. Wooden Lighted Pumpkins
   I got these great pumpkins from Michaels on clearance after halloween two or three years ago. They have holes drilled around the edges for mini lights. Last year I finally got tired of looking for orange bulbs to put in them and got glass paint to paint white lights. It looks great, but I've only finished one of the three that I have.
3. Craft Room Shelf
   Back in my craft room, I put up adjustable shelves. It was cheaper to buy a plan pressed wood shelf and paint/edge it with laminate than to buy the prefinished shelves. All these years, there was one shelf I never got around to painting. When I moved my Mac back there to make it a craft/computer room, I really need that shelf.
4. Lodge Quilt Wallhanging
   Back in 1994/95 when Marcus and I moved in with my parents for a year or so to get back on our feet, I did a lot of cross-stitching. I made a cute little woodsy sampler that I had intended on turning into a wall quilt. I have the material and the stitched piece, I just need to work out a quilt pattern for it.
5. Sunflower Garland
   I have a six-foot garland of silk sunflowers. I used to have it hanging along some shelves in our living room, but Marcus really hated them. I thought it would look neat to put a string of yellow lights in it and hang it up back here in the old craft room. I'm using the same paint for the pumpkins, only yellow, to paint the bulbs.
6. Craft Wreath
   I have a grapevine wreath that I got to make a wreath for my craft room door. I've already put the measuring tape ribbon bow on it and wrapped additional measuring tapes around the wreath. I have all of the craft supplies that I want to wire to it, but I just haven't done it yet.
7. “Angel of Cross Stitch”
   Wow, I didn't realize I had gotten this pattern that long ago, but in Jan '04 I got a magazine on eBay that had the much sought-after "Angel of Cross Stitch" pattern in it. I scanned the pattern and resold the magazine because I was poor.
   
   
8. Tidy-Tote
   I got this great little kit for a Tidy-Tote. It's basically a little bag with a magnetic strip for needles and a pincushion that you can put in the arm of the chair/couch and put thread scraps, etc. while you cross-stitch or sew. Once again, I have all the supplies, I just need to make it.
9. Wolf Latch Hook Rug
   I may have gotten this kit before Marcus. If not, I definitely had it when we lived with my parents in 94-95. Anyway, the thing is so old, I can't even find it on the Internet. The thing is huge and it's taking me forever to finish it. I lost the instructions for it at one point and had to write the manufacturer for a replacement one.
10. “Over the Edge Quilt Wallhanging”
    There's a great company called Block Party Studios that makes cool stuff for us crazy crafters/quilters. I got a great mug called "Over the Edge" that depicts a very cluttered craft/sewing room. It was pefect for me..there is quilting, sewing, cross-stitching, a computer, plants, etc. (all except for the cat). I also have the t-shirt (although it is too small for me to wear). I was at a quilt store somewhere that was going out of business and they had the Over the Edge quilt wallhanging kit at a really reduced price, so I got it. They have one now, I see, called I'm Creative. I might have to get that one in the future.
11. American Flag Afghan
    Actually, I have two different crocheted afghans in progress. I'd like to finish this one first, though.
12. “Kats by Kelly™” Cross Stitch
    I have at least five different Kats by Kelly™ cross stitch charts that I want to do. I'd be happy if I finished one of them.
    
    
13. Popcorn Garland
    I started making a gardland my my Christmas tree out of crochet cotton and red wooden beads. It really does look like a popcorn/cranberry string, but it will last a whole lot longer and not attract any hungry pets from the house. I found the project, but once again, I've misplaced the instructions. I believe I started this project at least 8 years ago. I remember working on it during breaks I had when I worked a split shit at a particular pizza place. Damn...where are those instructions?!
    
    EDIT 8/31/06: I found the instructions today!

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Thirteen Things I Hate About Looking for Work/Being Unemployed

1. Would it kill somebody to acknowledge that my resume and samples were received?
2. Why does it take over a month in this electronic age to get an unemployment check, especially when I applied online?
3. Employers want to pay $10/hr for a job that should get $40K or more.
4. Benefits? We don't offer no stinking benefits.
5. It's not my fault I only had 7mo. experience at my first related job—the company went out of business.
6. Seeing a job reposted that I was wholly qualified for—what was wrong with me? (see #1)
7. All putting a resume on monster.com does is bring out people looking for insurance salespeople and work-at-home scams.
8. I am bored.
9. I'm starting to feel worthless.
10. In all the jobs I've applied for, only two have been thoughtful enough to inform me that they went with another candidate.
11. Why put out a call for resumes for a job that isn't actually starting until months from now?
12. All the "cool" jobs are over an hour from my house (I can't afford to pay over $250/mo. for gas to get to work).
13. The placement lady at my school quit just when I needed her and they still haven't found a replacement.

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I've been wanting to join in this for awhile. I've finally got my act together, so here it is:

Thirteen Reasons I Love Marcus

1. He's a Live-In Systems Administrator. Do you have any idea how much headache it saves having his wealth of knowledge at my fingertips?
2. He's a kid at heart. One of the reasons I don't yet feel 40 is because he's around.
3. He doesn't play emotional mind games. He tells me what he thinks. I can take it or leave it.
4. He picks interesting pet names for me. For instance, I've been on a yellow/black craze since I got my Baja. It's yellow/gray/black, my bike is yellow/black, my new biking gloves are yellow/black...you get the picture. His new name for me is "Bumble D" (D is for Donna). Get it? Cute, huh?
5. He's tough on the outside, but a softie on the inside (you should've seen him with our baby bunnies!).
6. He doesn't mind doing laundry or the dishes.
7. He puts up with my horrific mood swings.
8. He has incredible patience when trying to teach or explain something to me that I want to learn.
9. We never run out of things to talk about. It's been 14 years and we can still talk for hours.
10. He's a dog person.
11. Our lives may suck at times, but it's never been boring.
12. He does his best to support me in whatever it is I want to do.
13. He loves me, too!

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