Thirteen Things about Rebecca Mother's Day is Sunday...it's a holiday that I didn't have to really participate in until my daughter was born in 2002, but now I do! So, here are my 13 reasons that I love being a mom! 1. I have THE most beautiful little girl in the world, bar none! I realize that this is a biased opinion, but I think she is, and my view on the subject is really the only one that counts, right? 2. There is nothing in the world that is sweeter than my little girl waking me up at the "butt-crack" of dawn saying, "I love you, Mommy, and you're my best friend in the world". 3. Little hugs--'nuff said. 4. I have an automatic shopping buddy. She was more pain than pleasure up until recently and now I can't imagine going shopping without her! 5. Holidays are MUCH more fun through the eyes of a child! I enjoy playing Santa and Easter Bunny! 6. "Why?"--It's a fun question to answer. "Why is the grass green?", "Why is the sky blue?", "Why does my hair stick up when I rub a balloon on my head?" 7. She keeps me from being lonely. I used to get depressed when I was left alone too long. Now that my daughter is here, I'm NEVER ALONE!!!! EVER!!!! 8. She knows how to "fetch". I know it's mean, but when mommy is tired, it's nice to have someone to go get the phone for me! 9. I have an excuse to go see all the "kiddie" movies. How could I play off going to see Shrek the Third when it comes out if I didn't have a kid with me??? 10. She gets excited about EVERYTHING!! It puts a smile on my face when her face lights up at the sound of the ice cream truck. 11. It's like having a "Mini-Me". She doesn't LOOK like me, really, but she acts JUST like me! We need matching outfits! :) 12. I can live vicariously through her. I may or may not have screwed up various aspects of MY life, but, through her, I can relive those moments and watch her have things that I cheated myself out of. 13. How many people can honestly say that their BEST FRIEND in the world is four years old??? I'm blessed to say that I can! :) Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about REBECCA I was having a hard time coming up with a "Thursday Thirteen" to do this week, so I decided to fall back on a classic: 13 Of My Favorite Things 1. My daughter. Alyssa is my life force. She drives me crazy, but I can't imagine my life without her. 2. Floam. I have only recently discovered this stuff and it's just so freakin' fun to play with! 3. Karaoke. I used to be a much better singer than I probably am now, but I like it anyway. 4. Shopping. This is particularly true when I have money to spend and can find something I want. 5. Sleeping. LOVE sleeping! 'Nuff said! 6. My soaps. Guilty pleasure of mine. My daddy called them "trash", but I can't help but be hooked. 7. Being alone. I think I really like this one because I get it so seldom! 8. Cooking. Believe it or not, if I'm in the right mood, I actually enjoy creating something out of nothing! 9. Holidays when I get to shop for my daughter. Again, only true if I have LOTS of money to spend on her...otherwise, it's just depressing! 10. Cross stitching. It's my "thinking" time. 11. Mary Kay skincare products. I actually had a man come to my house and ask if my mom was home!! This stuff is GREAT!! 12. My hair straightener. I'd look like the Bride of Frankenstein without it!! 13. Blogging. It give me an opportunity to share my thoughts with a whole new batch of victims! Enjoy!! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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These Are My Obsessions

Thirteen Things about Rebecca Yesterday, I saw where my friend Loretta had been "tagged" and she listed 5 of her obsessions. I almost participated in that, then I realized that I could wait until today and take it a step further. So, this week, I'm listing 13 I obsess over. 1. Germs!! I hate germs! I hate when I'm not sick and someone who IS sick comes within a mile of me! I will follow that person around with a can of Lysol in one hand and a disinfecting wipe in the other. I realize I can't shield my daughter from every germ and virus there is, but it won't be for a lack of trying!! 2. Manners. I make sure my daughter knows to say "yes, ma'am" and "no ma'am" and "yes sir" and "no, sir", and "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me" and "I'm sorry". I can't stand rudeness. It takes so little effort to teach kids to be polite! 3. Laundry. I hate to do it, for sure, but once I get started, I want to wash EVERYTHING!!! Back when I lived alone, I would walk around naked while I washed everything, including the clothes I had on! 4. Skin care. I want to look young as long as I can, so I have to be careful about how I treat my skin. Only Mary Kay products for me! 5. Taking pictures. I want pictures of everything. My daughter will only be four years old for 365 days (and half of those are already gone). I want to capture as many of her "moments" as I can, no matter how ridiculous I look carrying a huge camera bag with me everywhere I go. 6. My soaps. I realize this is a sick obsession, but it makes me feel better to know that it could always be worse. 7. Shopping. Sometimes I want to go, even when I have no money or nothing to shop FOR. I just like going and looking. Naturally, I prefer to BUY, but anything to get out of the house sometimes. 8. My health. I probably would be classified as a hypochondriac. So far, I've "had" (not really, but I thought I did) cancer, tuberculosis, a yeast infection, a stomach virus, gallstones, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Luckily, as it turned out, I had none of these things (although the jury is still out on the stomach virus, cause I totally think that's what that was). 9. Clipping coupons. I buy Sunday papers just for the coupons...then regularly forget to use them. And, yet, I still continue to clip and forget! 10. Kool-aid. I can't get enough black cherry kool-aid! Periodically, I'll slip in a pitcher of tropical punch, but black cherry is my favorite! 11. Email. I check my email constantly!! So much, in fact, that people have accused me of staying on the computer 24/7. This is not true, actually. I'll be up doing other things, but every time I pass the computer, I HAVE to check to see if I got a new email!! 12. Surveys. I'm on myspace and every time someone posts a new bulletin that's one of those cheesy "what is your name?", "what did you eat for breakfast?" surveys, I feel compelled to do it...not sure why...it's a sickness! 13. Brushing my teeth. This is something that gets done AT LEAST twice a day and sometimes more often, if they're feeling a little "furry". I can not STAND for my teeth to feel nasty! And, whoever came up with the concept of "less intense Listerine" is full of crap!!!!!!! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about REBECCA This weekend (tomorrow, actually) would have been my mother's 50th birthday. She passed away from cancer in 1990 at the age of 32. I was only 10 years old when I lost my mother and I have a hard time believing that she SHOULD be 50! So, today's thirteen is going to be "Thirteen Memories I Actually HAVE of My Mother". 1. When my little sister was born in 1983, I was 4 years old and they wouldn't let me in to see my mother in her room because I was under 12. Well, I remember that this irked my mother to no end, because she loved me (naturally) and wanted to saee me. So, she walked all the way up a LONG hall, shortly after giving birth, to see me. 2. When we would go out to eat, my sister and I would often fight over who got to sit by Mommy. I imagine we hurt our father's feelings, but I'm glad now that we did that, because we wound up with an extra 6 years to fight over him after she was gone. 3. In the summer of 1989, my mother had a hysterectomy and was laid up in bed. She was an avid cross stitcher and used this opportunity to teach her older daughter (that'd be me) how to stitch. I still have the "Happy Birthday" panda bear she helped me stitch for my dad. 4. She dressed up as the Easter Bunny, Raggedy Ann, a witch among other things for my birthday parties and school parties when I was younger. 5. All of my birthday cakes were homemade and hand decorated. 6. When I was sick with the flu (or anything else), my mother would sit with me and read me as many books as I wanted to listen to and would do crossword puzzles with me. 7. Once, when I was 8 years old, I was doing my homework and smarted off to my mother about something and she slapped me across my face, which was totally out of character and later we found out that it was the cancer in her brain that made her act so odd. 8. My mother had a beautiful singing voice and shortly before her death sang "Amazing Grace" at our church, a cappella. We later sang that hymn at her memorial service. 9. My parents got into a fight one time and my mother threw pots and pans at my father's head (again, out of character and a result of the cancer) and then when he left, she had my sister and me pack up all of his things and put them outside our apartment. They DID make up when he got home and remained married until her death, after which my father was still completely in love and committed until his own death. 10. My parents and I took my sister to a birthday party when she was in kindergarten. The party was for a little girl who had recently lost her father to cancer and my mother told my dad that if anything ever happened to her, she wanted him to look up that girl's mother. He did, and they dated for over a year. She wound up being "super bitch", so that relationship, thankfully, didn't work out. 11. My mother had a degree in elementary education and taught for about 6 weeks when I was in the 5th grade. She taught 1st grade and hated it. She came home and cried every night until, finally, my dad told her to just quit. I never knew exactly WHY she hated it so much, but she did. 12. My mother did a lot of sewing and made me and my sister a lot of matching outfits. At the time, I found them annoying, but looking back, if I had two daughters, I would SO do the same thing!! 13. The last time I saw my mother alive was December 31, 1989. She was VERY sick and my dad was dropping my sister and me off at our grandparents' and taking her to the hospital. When they backed out of the driveway, I just waved to her. Only a wave. No hug. No kiss. No "I love you". I just waved. I had no idea it would be the last time I'd see her. It's a mistake I've had to live with ever since and one I repeated on November 3, 1995, which is the last time I saw my father. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about Rebecca I am SO glad that the "Thursday Thirteen" is going to continue! I really enjoy making up a list every week and then reading everyone else's. So, today I'm going to list 13 things that I NEED to get accomplished, at least within the next few days. These are in no particular order, although I am going to go with the 13 MOST crucial things, since there are WAY more than 13 things on my "To Do" list! 1. Get in touch with someone from the Montessori school so we can go check it out and possibly get Alyssa in for this fall. 2. Talk to someone at the dance studio and get her registered for dance this summer. My child has been wanting to take dance lessons since she was two! 3. Get my hair cut and highlighted. I really need this to be done before my high school reunion, whenever that is! 4. Finish this Christmas stocking I'm stitching. I have an April 1 deadline on this. I'm almost there, but I hate being stressed! 5. LAUNDRY, LAUNDRY, LAUNDRY!!!!! 'Nuff said! 6. Call my friend Kelly and get our kids together to play. Kelly has been wanting me to teach her how to cross stitch and she has recently learned to sew, so we could collaborate and teach each other, right?? 7. Call my friend Heather and get her daughter over here to play. Gracie is Alyssa's "best friend" and they haven't played together in ages, due to busy mommies. 8. Go through my pictures and get started on some scrapbooking. I bought the stuff years ago and haven't done a thing! 9. Go to the DMV and get my Louisiana license. I'm still sporting my one from Texas that I finally got after I lived there for almost 2 years! 10. Take Alyssa in to get some spring portraits done. I have the dress and everything...just have to get off my butt. 11. Go get a birthday present for Alyssa to take to Gracie's birthday party on the 10th. 12. Go through my email and read and delete. I have over 100 unread emails because I don't find the time to read all the forwards my grandpa sends me. 13. Bake cookies. I wanted to make a Valentine cake for Alyssa, but I didn't get around to that either. So, there you have it....wish me luck!!

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about REBECCA I was thinking, on my way home from town, about writing a blog that listed my pet peeves. Then, when I got home, I remembered that it was Thursday and I thought, hey, what a great "Thursday Thirteen" idea. So, listed here, in NO particular order, are 13 of my greatest pet peeves!! 1. Red lights that turn red when there is absolutely NO ONE to go in the other direction. Make sense? I got stopped at a red light and there was no one coming on the other direction of the intersection. So, I had to sit there and wait on the light for NAUGHT! NOTHING! NO GOOD REASON! It annoyed me!! 2. People who stand behind you in line and want to invade your "personal space". This actually happened to me today, too. There was a lady behind me in line at the post office and I, literally, could NOT breathe for her being crammed up into my back. I couldn't turn around and every time she would move, she would hit me in the arm with her purse. If I took a tiny step forward to try to get away from her, she was right behind me, taking a step forward. I've never been THAT glad to get out of the post office...and I hate the post office!! 3. Gum smacking. This is the reason I hate for my daughter to have gum. I don't want her to turn into one of those kids who makes people's flesh crawl when they come around with a wad of gum in their mouth as big as their head! 4. When people call your house and then call right back if you don't answer. Nine times out of ten, I'm screening my calls. Reason being, I sometimes don't feel like talking. Plenty understandable, right? Then, inevitably, SOMEONE is going to decide they're too important to be ignored and call back incessantly. What they don't realize is that, after they've done that, I just get pissed off and don't answer out of spite! 5. Whiny children. This goes for mine, as well as anyone else's. At least if it's mine, I can TELL her she's driving me nuts and shut the heck up! I think it's MORE annoying when it's someone else's kid, because you're stuck having to listen to them and can't say anything. 6. People who come to work sick. This is particularly true for cashiers and restaurant workers. I do NOT want someone who has just sniffled and wiped her nose with her hand giving me my receipt, much less bringing me my dinner!! I realize that people need money, but isn't that what the concept of "sick days" is all about?? Maybe my peeve should be more with the management that won't let the person off work when they're sick? 7. When people stab you in the back or otherwise betray you and then, when you don't talk to them, for lack of something to say to the sleazeballs, they have the nerve to act shocked. Like, "Are you mad at me? What did I do?" What are they thinking?? Were they not around when their mouths started blabbing everything they knew??? 8. When my washer, for whatever reason, doesn't get my clothes rinsed out. Not sure why that happens, but it goes hand-in-hand with when my dryer doesn't get my clothes dry the first time. Small thing, yes, but aggravating, nonetheless. 9. Voice mail messages that lead you to believe that the person answered the phone. I realize that some people think they're cute, but I absolutely hate when I call someone to have an intelligent conversation, or in the event of an emergency and I hear "Hello? Hello? OHHH, I'm not here!" Or my personal "favorite", "Hey! What's up.....Oh yeah?......I don't know....well, that's cool.....oh, by the way, this isn't me, it's my voice mail"....WHATEVER!! 10. Clothing stores and manufacturers who apparently think that EVERYONE is either 15 or 60. From what I can gather, most stores have two sections, juniors and old ladies. There's NOTHING for people like me, in their late 20s who don't want to look like we're trying to get back into highschool, but don't want to appear to be headed for a retirement residence either. What gives?? We're all not either a size 2 or 20, either. There ARE in-between people! 11. Toys with battery compartments that you need a screwdriver to get into. This isn't all that bad, but my daughter got a Barbie doll that dances when she has a AAA battery in each leg. Problem is, the screw is SO tiny, it took FOREVER for me to find a screwdriver that would allow me to open the compartment to get the battery in! 12. Wal-Mart ('nuff said?) and the fact that they remodeled their stores to add WAY more checkout lines, but they still have the same number of cashiers, so what was the point? I'm still having to wait in an astronomically long line, only now, I'm being taunted by the unmanned register next to me. 13. ANY noise while I'm trying to sleep. This includes talking, coughing, snoring, the TV, radio, the cat meowing, dogs barking, etc. I'm a very light sleeper and noises wake me up and usually prevent me from going back to sleep, which pretty much assures that I will be one cranky "biznitch" the next day!!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants