Thursday Thirteen Volume 5 -- December

Thirteen Things I like to do in December It's no secret that I don't like Winter very much. I have no tolerance for cold, none whatsoever. Still, this can be a fun month, so here are thirteen things that I do to make December less Dreadful. 1. Holiday shopping! I avoid the crowds at the mall by doing the majority of my shopping on-line and at craft fairs. I just love picking out perfect gifts for the people in my life. 2. Wrapping presents. I'm not very good at figuring out how much paper it takes to wrap something and then folding all of the edges nice and straight like my Dad is (someday I'm going to make him show me how he does it!), but I really enjoy coordinating paper, ribbons, bows and tags for a pretty presentation. 3. Going to the Fourth Avenue Street Fair. This art and craft festival happens twice a year, but I don't always go to the Spring one. They close down Fourth Avenue to car traffic for several blocks and fill the street with booths full of handmade goods. It's a juried show, so everything is high quality, and vendors come from all over the country. Plus the street itself is lined with cool galleries, thrift shops and other neat places. And it's this weekend! Woohoo! 4. Sleeping in until noon with my Topher-cat. I know the weather is getting cold when Topher snuggles up to me all night and through the morning. Now that we have the dogs, I don't get as much quality time with my big, fluffy beast, so it makes me so happy to wake up and find him curled up behind my knees or against my chest. 5. Reading on the couch with my puppies. Now that Daisy has calmed down a bit, both girls like to take turns lying next to me, with their head in my lap, while I read a good book. It's quality bonding time, and they're so nice and warm! 6. Drinking hot spiced apple cider. Whether I microwave a mug of the Trader Joe's pre-spiced cider, or ladel out some homemade that's simmering in a crockpot at a party, there's nothing quite like it to warm me up. 7. Drinking hot chocolate. Also good at warming me up, and it comes with marshmallows! 8. Listening to the twisted Lovecraftian holiday tunes from the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. Those annoying Christmas tunes at the grocery store are so much more bearable when I overlay the parody lyrics. 9. Beading Christmas ornaments. I don't know if I'll get around to doing any this year, since I'm taking a bit of a break from beading... but I just love matching beads to the beautiful colors of glass ornaments and coming up with a little netted cover. I might do one or two for special people this year. 10. Exchanging gifts with friends and family. It's better to give than receive, but it's best when you can do both! 11. Enjoying various treats that only come out for Christmas. Limited-edition flavors of Jones Soda (I like their Mele Kalimaka, which tastes like a pina colada), Mint Truffle Hershey's kisses, chocolate mint candy canes, and so much more. 12. Even better, partaking in homemade goodies like cookies and fudge. Come to think of it, maybe this year I should do a little bit of holiday baking of my own. 13. Kicking back with Chris and the pups and watching DVDs. Ok, I like to do this all the time, but it's even better when it's cold, and we're both wearing warm, fuzzy robes, and Daisy is totally sprawled out across both of our laps, and Maggie is curled up against my hip, and Topher might even be at the edge of the couch, looking vaguely disapproving. Now that's cozy!


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Thursday Thirteen Volume 4 - Jewelry Edition

Thirteen Things that I wish were in my jewelry box Ohh, look! I found the other headers on the Thursday Thirteen site, so I no longer inexplicably have a fly on all of my lists. Hooray! You might think that, being a jewelry maker and all, I already have more jewelry than I could ever want. This simply isn't true. One reason why I make jewelry is that I love jewelry, and I always want more, more, more! So this list will showcase 13 pieces that I love and wish I had. 1. It would dwarf my girly little wrist, but I love Nancy Dale's beautiful Plumage cuff. Before I got obsessed with green, black and purple were my favorite colors. 2. I saw Creative Mode's Secret Sentiment ring on the Etsy front page, and it looked like just the sort of thing I would wear. Nice price, too! 3. I like all of niele's butterfly jewelry, but the Graphium Butterfly necklace is especially eye-catching. 4. MoonLitCreations' Mother Tree with Opal really appeals to my love for dryads. 5. These Dueling Dragon earrings by Misty's Creations are so neat. Actually, I almost bought them for my Mom for the holidays. 6. Morning Glory Designs makes pieces that look like elegant vintage costume jewelry. And Moonlight Bay has kambaba jasper, a stone I like very much. 7. I really like Melissa J. Lee's Ferryman's Coin, and best of all, I could work it into an awesome beaded necklace. 8. Thyme2dream makes so many nice things that it would be easier to say what I don't want from them... but this Lothlorien Spring earcuff is so pretty and such a good price that I'm tempted to buy it right now. 9. Ling Glass makes such lovely pendants with nice, clean lines. I'd probably were this Serenity Teardrop all the time if I had it. 10. I've been wanting this Bearings necklace by The Justified Sinner for a long time, and even on clearance it's just too extravegant to buy on a whim. 11. I have the perfect jacket to wear TotusMel's Victorian Lace Cuffs with. She's another one who makes about a zillion things that I want... 12. Ok, it's a bead, not a completed piece of jewelry, but this is the best raven focal I've seen from KerriBeads yet: Raven Moon. 13. And now I cheat, and say that I really wish that my own Elvensoul necklace was in my jewelry box. Sometimes it's hard to give up the jewelry that I make!


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Thursday Thirteen, Volume Three -- Thanksgiving!

Thirteen Things That I Am Thankful For The other day I was in the post office, and the radio was on, and the DJs were talking about a study that was done recently which said that gratitude and giving thanks were good for your health. I can see the sense in that. If you're being grateful, then you're being positive, and if you're being positive, you're not stressing, and stress is bad for your health. So for me, I want this Thanksgiving to mark the start of being more thankful and showing more gratitude, every day. I want to look at this list frequently, and remind myself of all the things I should be thankful for. So in no particular order, here are thirteen things that I'm thankful for, today and every day. 1. My husband. I probably don't tell Chris enough how much I appreciate all that he does for me. He works hard to pay all the bills, never tells me "no" when I want more beads, or boots, or books, or whatever catches my eye. He puts up with my myriad flaws, supports me in all I do, and basically rocks. 2. My family, in-laws included. They're a pretty good bunch all-around. 3. My health. I've got a couple of small problems, but compared to some people, I am sitting easy. I don't live with chronic pain, I don't have to take any meds, and my health doesn't stand in the way of anything that I do. 4. My dogs. I knew that I wanted a dog (and somehow I ended up with two), but I had no idea how much Daisy and Maggie would add to my life. They're so much fun. 5. My cats. Sometimes they get lost in the shadow of the dogs, but there are still few things nicer than waking up in the morning to find Topher curled up next to me. He has the best little contented look when he sleeps. And Lira, well, she's a cranky old kitty who spends most of her time hiding, but I still love her. 6. My friends. They're funny, supportive, generous, fun to talk to, and awesome. 7. My gaming group, an off-shoot of my friends. Sure, I kvetch about the guys, but they're good guys. They're fun to play with, fun to talk with, come up with some unique characters, and they don't have most of the flaws that people associate with gamers. And they're all very good to my dogs! 8. My house. I'm already starting to take it for granted, and I shouldn't. Living here is such a step up from apartment life, and I'm so much more at ease here. I sleep better, I feel less cluttered and less frazzled, and it's so much easier to have friends over now. 9. Dancing! I don't do it enough, but when I do, it's such a transcendant experience. 10. Writing. Another thing that I don't do enough, but I like having the ability to put words to virtual paper and have it be something that people enjoy reading -- even if sometimes, the only person who reads it is whoever's running the game with the character who I'm writing the story for. 11. Beads. Without them, what else would I be addicted to? 12. The internet. I've connected to so many people here, including Chris and most of my friends. It's more than a tool now, it's a community, and one I'm glad to be thankful for. 13. Books. After too long of not reading regularly, I'm rediscovering the joy of getting lost in a story, whether it's a novel or a short story. There are many more things I could be thankful for, but this is T13, not Twholelots, and I have to go finish getting things ready for my family to come over for dinner. So to all my readers, a happy Thanksgiving, and may you find things to be grateful for, no matter the day.


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Thursday Thirteen, Volume 2

Thirteen Things about AJ This week, it's Thirteen Things I Need or Want To Do Before I Host Thanksgiving For The First Time. 1. Actually finalize plans with my family, as to when they'll come over and who is making and providing what. 2. Buy the things that we are providing. 3. Seriously clean the house. While doing a basic cleaning yesterday, I noticed a lot of oft-ignored jobs that need doing. 4. Wash all the fancy plates. Some people have China. I have heavy pottery dishes with brown and glowing turquoise glaze. 5. Wash the new silverware. We got the style with bamboo-shaped handles. 6. Decide if I want any fancy platters or bowls to hold things in, and if so, purchase them. 7. Come up with an attractive way to cover the hole that one of the dogs chewed in the couch last night. Seriously dogs, we were gone for 15 minutes. What is up with destroying the couch? 8. Design and bead a new necklace to wear, because I haven't made anything for myself for a while! Maybe something involving one of the adorable vintage faerie buttons that arrived in yesterday's mail (goodness, I love Etsy), or a green rivoli. Or both! 9. Make sure that all holiday presents already procured for the family are safely hidden away in the guest room closet. 10. Give the dogs a bath, because no one is ever thankful for stinky, dusty dogs. 11. Figure out where we are going to put all of that food, and more importantly, how to keep the cats out of it. 12. Go buy more olives, because no matter how many we have, it's never enough for my husband and my brother, who will nosh on them constantly while the rest of the meal is cooking, and yet somehow still have room for a gigantic dinner. 13. Pre-write next week's T13 post, because I know I won't have time to blog!


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Thursday Thirteen Volume 1

So, I keep seeing this meme over at A Rose By Name's blog, and I thought I'd give it a little try. I am a sucker for internet memes.

Thirteen Things about AJ Reardon To start off, we'll do Thirteen Random Things About Me, for people who are new to my blog (I'll try to throw in some interesting things so my regular readers aren't bored), and in future weeks I'll try to come up with some fun gimmick lists. 1. I've been going by my initials since I was 11. I'm getting kind of bored with it, but I still don't like my actual name, and getting everyone to call me by a different name all over again is too much work. 2. I am happily childfree and intend to stay that way. 3. I do not call my cats and dogs my kids or babies, I am not their mother, and actually, I kind of hate it when people call me "Mom" when referring to their pets. 4. I'm not quite as cranky as this list makes me sound, so let's try to be positive, shall we? 5. I like gourmet flavored teas, and in fact have an entire cupboard in my kitchen dedicated to tea and tea-brewing paraphernalia. Last night I found a whole stash of yummy tea that had accidentally been pushed to the back of the cupboard. Woohoo! 6. I am an amateur belly dancer and I love to dance to Collide, Dead Can Dance, Stellamara, and whatever else sounds good at the moment. 7. I love living in Tucson because our winters are mild and we have the biggest gem show in the WORLD. 8. Speaking of gem shows, I hire myself out to various vendors to work as booth help to earn extra bead money. Since I started 8 years ago, I've worked for a Czech glass seller, a silver and beading supplies seller, a resin bead seller, a lampworker, and a full-fledged bead store whose booth is an entire room. It's an awesome job. 9. I collect mythology and folklore books. I especially enjoy going to the used bookstore and looking for old and unusual volumes. My collection includes a copy of "A Dictionary of Non-Classical Mythology" published right after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. I think it's technically my husband's book, but I sort of took possession of it... 10. Actually, I just really like books in general. I like to read them, I like to write them, I like to buy them, collect them, give them as gifts. In fact, the only thing I really don't like to do is pack and move them! They get heavy fast. 11. I am really enjoying being a homeowner. My husband and I bought our first house this year and we're so happy here. 12. I'm a big ol' nerd who is into fantasy, sci-fi, roleplaying gaming, comic books and web comics, steampunk, the occasional video game, and hanging out with other nerds. I really get tired of jokes that suggest that all nerds are socially inept, can't get a date, and live in their parents' basement. And don't even get me started on the assumption that they're all boys. Girl geeks rock! 13. I can be a little opinionated, I like to rant, and I stand up for what's important to me. Sarcasm is my favored weapon.


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!

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