The annual Summertime Thursday Thirteen

As I do every year, I'm going to post my goals to summer. Sometimes I get to them. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I find other things to become goals I didn't even know about when I wrote this. I will post in late August/early September about how we did on meeting the goals.

1. Write. Oh yeah, deadline of July 1st. Gotta get that manuscript turned in. I'm aiming for June 28th.

2. Go to the library. My girls have signed up for the summer reading challenge and I'd really like them to make and meet summer reading goals. I'd love to spend a lot of time at Twin Hickory. I love our library :) I think I'll set a reading goal too...and I've signed up for the adult summer reading programs.

3. Go to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens a lot. They have an exhibit, Butterflies Live that I'm chomping at the bit to go see. They also have water play on warm days and as I'm sure gymnastics practice will be in the heat of the afternoons and Lewis Ginter is close by....

4. Go to Busch Gardens. The youngest wants to grow 2 inches by the end of summer to ride all the coasters. I'd like to go there 3 or 4 times this summer.

5. Spend time at pools. Yes, we'd like to sit poolside. Although, considering my oldest's burn rate already, indoor pools maybe better for us.

6. Go on vacation with the family. We'd like to go to Hershey *Grins*.

7. Travel to Washington DC to attend the Passionate Ink Nationals Luncheon. I'm excited about this. Little nervous about the travel (Northern VA...ughhh) but hope I make this one.

8. Write some fun stuff. I've been working my butt off on submissions. After Blood Lines is done, I'd like to do a few fun writing things.

9. Spend time with my mother in law and with my sisters. Have been missing them.

10. Walk the dog daily. All the rain and the schedule has left her wanting in the walk department. I'd like to institute a family walk daily.

11. Volunteer at the local SPCA.

12. Just hang out. Not have anywhere to be. Chill at the house with no plan. (I say that now...but after a few days, the kidlets will be fighting I bet and I'll wonder why nothing is going on LOL).

13. Find fireworks on the 4th.

We'll see what I do and don't do.

Mechele

Thursday Thirteen

13 Christmas songs I love

Oh how I could list them LOL.

1. Song for a Winter’s Night by Sarah Mclaclan: oh her voice!

2. Breath of Heaven (Mary’s song) by Amy Grant

3. Snoopy’s Christmas (Snoopy vs the Red Baron) by t which I have YET to hear this season *sigh*

4. Mary’s Boy Child by Boney M.

5. Father Christmas by various artists

6. The Christmas Song by Dave Matthews

7. Oi to the World by No Doubt

8. Children Go where I send you by Natalie Merchant

9. Santa Baby by Everclear

10. Bunches of parodies by Bob Rivers

11. Sleigh Ride

12. The Christmas Song

13. Silver Bells

14. Oh Holy Night

I know that’s more than 13….I can’t help it! LOL.

I blogged at Melany about 13 things on my tree that I love.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Christmas specials I love

1. The Muppets Family Christmas: so many carols and songs! All the muppets plus the Sesame Street gang plus the Fraggle Rock gang plus Jim Henson at the end. Haul out the holly!

2. A Charlie Brown Christmas. Well duh! From the music to the story, it has a lot to say. It needs me. Linus's speech at the end makes me tear up everytime.

3. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The only things I don't like is a *cough* little bit sexist comment near the end. But I love Herme, Yukon, the whole gang. Land ho! No kidding.

4. How the Grinch stole Christmas. Boris Karloff. Love the voice. You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
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5. A Chipmunk Christmas. Me, I want a hula hoop.

6. Santa Claus is coming to Town. Burgermeister Meisterburger. I'll call you, Topper. *G*.

7. Tiny Tree. They don't show this one anymore nor is it available on DVD *sigh*. Love Buddy Epson's voice.

8. A Claymation Christmas. The California Raisins doing Rudolph. The Carol of the Bells. LOL Herb and Rex.

9. Nestory the Long eared donkey. Get out your tissues. This one chokes me up everytime. Love Roger Miller's voice.

10. Arthur's Perfect Christmas. We only watched this one once or twice but I like a lot of the messages. We want to have this picture perfect holiday. That never works out. But if you go with the flow, you'll have fun.

11. The bear who slept through Christmas. Edward. T. Bear.

12. The year without a Santa Claus. I'm Mr. Heat Miser... I'm Mr. Cold Miser...

13. Frosty the Snowman. Happy Birthday!

Okay, I can't just name 13. LOL

Bonus: Twas the Night Before Christmas. Even a miracle needs a hand!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Comedians I enjoy

1. Bill Cosby--the king. Chocolate Cake and the Dentist are two faves.

2. Larry Miller--the 5 stages of Drinking

3. George Lopez

4. Bill Engvall

5. Jeff Foxworthy

6. Larry the Cable Guy

7. Jeff Dunhan (with his puppets)

8. Gabriel Iglesias

9. Kate Clinton

10. Bill Harley

11. Mary Ellen Hooper

12. John Pinette

13. Bob Newhart

PS I blogged at Book Worm Bags with more advice on the great agent search

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen books in my TBR pile or that I recently read



1. Big Stone Gap Adriana Trigiani--Just read

2. I'm Watching you by Mary Burton--reading

3. Heartsick by Chelsea Cain-Read

4. Dark Hunger by Sara Reinke--TBR (what on earth am I waiting for? *blinks*)

5. Snow Blind by Lori G. Armstrong--TBR (ditto what I said above)

6. Storm Front by Jim Butcher--Read

7. Death Angel by Linda Howard--Read

8. Blue Smoke and Murder by Elizabeth Lowell--Read (and highly recommend!)

9. The Secret Sister by Elizabeth Lowell--Read (pretty good)

10. Family Business, With This Ring, Reality Check, Striking a Chord, Never Wink at a Worried Woman, She's Turning Into One of Them!, Teaching... is a Learning Experience, Senior's Discount, Home Sweat Home by Lynn Johnston--Read (the For Better or For Worse collection is nearly caught up *Grins*)

11. Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon--TBR (OMG what am I waiting for?)

12. Die for Me by Karen Rose--TBR

13. Dangerous Games by Lora Leigh--TBR

Thursday Thirteen

13 Halloween decorations I've put up

1. inflatable snoopy! He’s dressed up for Halloween with Woodstock.

2. the skeleton coming out of the ground. He’s creepy. He glows.

3. the Halloween snoopy collection. They are stuffed.

4. ghosts and skeletons that go up in the windows. I’ve had them since…my first year at college *blinks*. That was more years ago than I care to think about.

5. couple of window decorations I got from my Mom’s collection

6. A Halloween tree with little ornaments (the ornaments are from that first year of college, the tree is new. The old one fell apart.)

7. Halloween magnets that go on the fridge door (from that first year of college)

8. pumpkin lights

9. a plastic witch that looks like it ran into my front door

10. several pumpkins. Some are plastic and one is a ceramic Jack-O-Lantern. LOL I turn them around to the non face side for Thanksgiving. We also have the jack'o'lanterns out. My snoopy dancing one especially.

11. Halloween candles. Never stick candles in a dormer. However, it did give extra creepy to the haunted house, the way it melted

12. spiderwebbing

13. LOL the creepy gravestones that my hubby made. Did you know that certain kinds of spray paint melt Styrofoam? LOL. We do now.

Thursday Thirteen

The TV line up this year

I’m into a few shows. LOL the hubby said I'd never come up with thirteen. I really don't watch a lot of TV.

1. Dexter-it so rocks!

2. Heroes—so far it hasn’t rocked this season. I like Hiro and Ando and oddly enough, Sylar. Like Parkman and Daphne. But am not impressed with the storylines of anyone else. *sigh*

3. My name is Earl—last season, it lost momentum. This season, it’s gotten it back. It has been so funny, yet so caring at the same time. I’ve been enjoying it a lot.

4. Dirty Jobs—Just when you think Mike Rowe would run out of jobs…you get sheep wrangler and *uggh* biting off sheep testicles to castrate them. *blinks*

5. Iditarod—I keep falling asleep during it, but how fascinating. They call it the toughest race on the planet.

6. Deadliest Catch—I’m waiting! I wonder what’s going to happen with Capt. Phil.

7. Torchwood—waiting for more. Can’t wait to see what they do.

8. Dr. Who--see above

9. My name is Chuck—the hubby really enjoys this show, and I must admit, it’s growing on me. Chuck is just so darn goofy yet debonair.

10. Good Eats—they made marshmallows on the last one I saw. Yeah, my youngest will want to watch and do.

11. Sponge Bob—not by choice. The girls are in love with this show right now. I hear it a lot *sigh*.

12. Stargate Atlantis—I hadn’t watched a whole lot of it but I find myself hooked when it's on

13. Jurassic Fight Club



PS. I blogged at Loose Ends today about how I like to be scared.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things I'm going to enjoy this Halloween


1. TJ Michaels Holiday Hotties http://www.tjmichaels.com/the-scoop/ (my prize: A Mechele Armstrong promo pack, including a tshirt)

2. Kate Hill’s Halloween page http://www.kate-hill.com/halloween/halloweenpage.php (a promo pack with some Halloween candy)

3. Romance Junkie’s Halloween contest http://www.romancejunkies.com/halloweennewsletter2/halloweenmainpage.html (a promo pack with Halloween candy)

4. My kid’s Costumes. My youngest is going as a cat. Except for her first Halloween where she went as a pumpkin and one year she went as the pink Power Ranger, she’s always been a cat. The oldest is going to be Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. She’s really excited about it. She usually goes as a witch LOL so it fits right in.

5. Pumpkins. We always have a good time both picking out pumpkins and then carving them.

6. My upcoming release! The Sixth Cursed Halloween was such a challenge to write. Deidre is as cantankerous as they come. http://www.loose-id.com/detail.aspx?ID=805

7. Seeing all the other Trick-Or-Treaters. I love viewing the costumes and seeing all the cute kids.

8. A Corn Maize. I’m going with my oldest and looking forward to it. I’ve never been to one.

9. Trunk or Treat. Unfortunately I won’t be going, but our car is the trunk for our class. My youngest is really excited and she’ll get to hang out with Dad.

10. Watching scary movies. I particularly like Lost Boys and Scream.

11. Halloween usually marks the turn for colder weather. I’m a big fall fan so I love that. Give me a clear, crisp morning any day.

12. The leaves changing. From now until November, I love watching the leaves change slowly over time. One minute they are green, the next they are vibrant red.

13. Did I mention my upcoming release, the Sixth Cursed Halloween? *Grins* http://www.loose-id.com/detail.aspx?ID=805

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Collections I have by Mechele

1. Stephen King books

2. For Better or For Worse books by Lynn Johnston, including 2 signed *swoon* and one signed print of a cartoon

3. Halloween, Christmas and Easter stuffed Snoopys

4. Julie Collins series books

5. Robin Schone books

6. postcards

7. Keychains

8. The hubby says I collect cups and mugs LOL

9. Shells

10. Reviews, comments, and all kinds of stuff on my books and writing career

11. Christmas stuff: ornaments, lights, inflatable Snoopy, polar bears, deer...

12. Christmas ornaments to commemorate the year and other things. Like have A Blues Clues and Arthur ornament from the year they were popular with the kids. Have ornaments for the current pets, except the newest one. One for when we moved into the house. One for when we got married.

13. Colds. I swear if I don't kick this one soon...

Thursday Thirteen

13 Banned books or authors I own or have read by Mechele 1. Harry Potter by JK Rowling. I’ve read them all. So has my nine year old. I own all 7. 2. Judy Blume. I read quite a bit by her when I was younger. I know I loved Are you there God, it’s me, Margaret?, Then again maybe I won’t, Tiger Eye, Blubber and Deenie, all of which have made a challenged list. I own Deenie. 3. Stephen King. I have quite a King library. And have read just about all his books. 4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, I’ve read it. It tops most people’s favorite book list. 5. The Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park, we own quite a few of them. The youngest has really gotten into reading them. She things Junie is funny. 6. The Bluest Eye and Beloved by Toni Morrison read them 7. The Color Purple by Alice Walker Own it. 8. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan read it. I loved Lois Duncan and read everything I could find. 9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson Own it. I’ve never read it but the oldest has. Incidentally, she wrote Jacob have I loved which was a favorite growing up. 10. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier. Own it. Most kids come away from a field trip with knickknacks. I came away from a trip to Williamsburg with a book LOL. 11. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak Read it and what on earth? It’s a picture book *scratches head* 12. Summer of My German Solider by Bette Green. Own it. I loved that book. I had to buy a copy recently because I’d like my kids to read it one day. 13. One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest by Ken Kesey, own it. It’s a powerful book. Bonuses that’s I’ve read : Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry by Mildred Taylor, A day no Pigs would die by Robert Newton Peck, Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck read it

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Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Local Things I love by Mechele 1. Ukrops. It’s a supermarket and an institution here in Richmond. Things I love: Their selection. They have the best meats, veggies and fruits. Their philanthropy. They contribute to things across the city, from parades to churches. They provide all the food to the SPCA. One very cold day, a long time ago, I was going in to grocery shop. A local animal group was outside with animals for adoption. A Ukrops’ employee came out with hot chocolate and cups for the volunteers. I’ve seen that happen more than once. It really made me respect a store who would do that for people. 2. The Richmond SPCA. They have this fairly new facility that’s just awesome. They have moved to being a no kill shelter. They do low coast spay/’neuter for the community. They do a lot with feral cat colonies, doing trap, spay/neuter, release. I’m a new volunteer and being behind the scenes has made me have that much respect for them. Not to mention, Sheba, my angel dog and Diva kitty both came from there. *cough* and maybe more… 3. Bottom’s Up… Oh the yummy pizza, let me count how much I love you. State Fair. BBQ chicken. Their sauce. Yummmmmmm. 4. My library. Twin Hickory is the nearest library to me. They have a display up about Banned Books Week. How cool is THAT? I also love being able to go online and order books. With my daughter reading serieses, that has been helpful to do. 5. Henrico Humane Society. They sponsor the Pet Expo, which has all these booths and demonstrations about pets. And the Neurotic Dog was rescued by them and fostered by them while she was awaiting adoption. 6. Short Pump Mall. While I HATE driving there, I love walking around. It’s an outdoor mall with a town type feel. 7. The schools. I love the school system here. The local school the girls went to has rocked most of the time with excellent teachers. Our principal, who left last year, was a wonder. She could call the girls and me by name when we walked in the school building. 8. Maymont. It’s a park/farm/refuge for animals. A historical site. We don’t go as often as I’d like to but it’s a lot of fun to walk around. They have Japanese gardens and a children’s barn with farm animals. It also has carriage rides. 9. Meadow Farm Museum. There is a super park here, too. Meadow Farm is a 1800’s style farm. And they work it like they did in the 1800’s. There’s an old house, built in the 1800’s. 10. Busch Gardens. It’s close enough to be local and my favorite amusement park. It’s so beautiful. The landscaping and the feel of it beckons me. I also love the Loch Ness Monster. 11. My local chapter of RWA. I don’t get to go to meetings as often as I’d like (mainly because I’m a horrible overscheduler for the girls *sigh* but that’s another story). But they are wonderfully supportive and fun to be around. I love the seminars they give. 12. My pediatrician and my vet. I’m lumping them in together but I’m very fond of them. The doctors always take time to listen to me. My vet was very kind when Sheba was in her last day. 13. Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. We went there over the summer and loved it. Ended up joining. The kids love the Children’s Garden and walking around looking at all the plants. They do a lot of events and have a beautiful Christmas display of lights that I’m looking forward to going to this year.

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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! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen

13 women from History that intrigue me by Mechele In honor of Women’s History month 1. Mary Magdalene—in the Bible, she was fascinating. In other Apocryphal books, she may have had a bigger role in Jesus’s life, depending on what you believe. Regardless, she’s fascinated me since reading about her. The youngest’s middle name is Magdalene. 2. Virginia Dare—the first European baby born on American soil, yet we don’t know for sure what happened to her. A big mystery. 3. Madeleine L’Engle—she was an author who I loved to read. A wrinkle in Time is such a great story. And it inspired me. 4. Queen Elizabeth the first—such intrigue. Such power. Such a strong woman. Her life was quite fascinating. 5. Amelia Earhart—a pioneer of women’s piloting. Yet another mystery. What did happen to Earhart? 6. Anne Bonny—A woman pirate from Ireland. 7. Susan B. Anthony—she campaigned for women’s right to vote. 8. Harriet Tubman—what courage do you have to have to go back into slave territory and bring others out? When you are an escaped slave yourself? She made a dozen trips on the Underground Railroad to take other slaves to freedom. 9. Mary Queen of Scots—half sister to Elizabeth, her reign was tumultuous. She’s often called Bloody Mary. 10. Elizabeth Bathory—reportedly believed the blood of young girls could restore her youth. She’s called the Blood Countess 11. Emily Dickinson—a poet whose works are still studied today. Her poetry wasn’t found until after she’d died. Some of it is rather haunting. 12. Marie Curie—a chemist and scientist. She died because of her discoveries with radiation. 13. Rosa Parks—an elegant lady who didn’t want to get up and launched a firestorm over Civil Rights.

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! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants