Thursday 13

1. I am an excruciatingly slow eater. Most nights, everyone has left the table LONG before I'm done. This is very difficult whenever we're in a restaurant. Q's patient with me, but inevitably, one of the boys will whine: "Moooommm....when are you gonna be dooooone?" I'll be done when I'm done. I like to enjoy my my meals, not wolf them down.

2. We have a new nickname for Jango: the Siamese Alarm Clock. I'm beginning to think that this cat is part rooster.

3. I have been doing a lot of ranting about TV commercials lately. But there's a new one that's beyond cringe-worthy. It's the Degree deodorant commercial with the big, hairy guy who's using the "other" gel deodorant. There's that close-up shot of him drying his nasty, gooey, slimey, hairy armpit with the hair dryer. Ewww, ewww, EWWW, EWWW, EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

4. Music download of the week: Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. I love this song, and I'd heard it many times before. I just didn't know the title or artist. And I couldn't do a lyric search on Google because the words are in Spanish. I was happy to hear it on So You Think You Can Dance? a few weeks ago. A quick trip to the SYTYCD message board gave me the long awaited info I needed.

5. I have been on a bit of a cleaning kick lately. I've been organizing stuff, decluttering shelves, fluffing pillows, rearranging my dishes, and keeping flat surfaces wiped down. I think this has been caused by a steady diet of HGTV, DIY Network, and Realtor.com. Anyway, I love, Love, LOVE having a clean house.

6. I know everyone else enjoying the clean house, but they're also getting tired of my repeatedly telling them to put their shoes in the closet.

7. Best invention of the last 10 years? Tagless clothing. There's nothing worse than walking around, oblivious to the tag sticking up and out of your shirt collar. Digging down your back to scratch that tag-caused itch is no fun either.

8. I'm trying to lose a few pounds. Among other things, I am trying to cut back on soda pop. This is very difficult when I get headaches that are best cured by a caffeine boost. I can't decide whether I'd rather have pain or cellulite. Unfortunately, cellulite is winning.

9. I currently weigh more than my husband. That is just wrong.

10. Later this summer, we'll be ripping out our nasty, stained living room carpet and installing hardwood floors. We have never done this kind of home improvement project before, but Q is confident he can do the job himself. I'll help where I can, but I'm very afraid of power tools...especially saws.

11. I can't wait for school to start back up again.

12. The boys will throw a fit when and if they read #10.

13. Q has a doctor's appointment next week. We'll be anxious to see what his latest test results have to say. Specifically, we're wondering if his right adrenal gland has resumed cortisol production yet.