Warning Sign

Don't worry about the attack donkeys...

Howdy mommies!

(current and pending)

or anyone shopping for one...

Win a Free Organic Embroidered Ergo Baby Carrier Hands Free System from Along for the Ride

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T13 #7: Thirteen Things I'd Want for Christmas...

if we hadn't agreed to "no presents for each other."

1. yoga mat and bag (would be nice to not have to use the community ones, not knowing how often they get cleaned)
2. iTunes gift card (would like to pick up some more "old" singles so I don't have to chase the cds down)
3. subscription to Bookmarks (have been wanting this for a while, I categorize it as "professional development")
4. 10th Kingdom DVD (been on my amazon list too long, really want it before used copies get outrageous!expensive!)
5. sheepskin slippers (my cheap fuzzy slippers got trashed quickly, hoping these would last a lot longer)
6. rose diamond ring fixed (been years since I've worn it, used to be my favorite ring. Band is broken.)
7. pearl necklace restrung (ex-nephew broke it, didn't lose any pearls. Ex-SIL never offered to have it fixed, has sat for years)
8. 2 pairs button-fly 501 jeans (high school nostalgia, don't even know if these are made anymore)
9. bag Ghirardelli chocolate carmels (probably the only thing I'll get--as a stocking stuffer)
10. 3 Desert Rose place settings (I really like this pattern, it's frustrating to have only one setting)
11. fingerless long gloves, black (I'm fixing to make myself a red pair from a dismantled sweater, but would love a neutral)
12. bottle Messina Hof port (it's good shtuff)
13. garter belt (for my v. long warm socks, my legs are still too fat to keep them where they belong)






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T13 #6: Thirteen Things in My Purse

Thirteen Things about Marina's purse Yes, as a matter of fact, I am not feeling all that creative, but at least I posted over here, since I have a book-related post for the other blog. 1. wallet: black, with metal studs. 2. cell phone: a Motorola StarTac, inherited from my husband in 2001. Glad it's still alive. 3. pen: green, found in library parking lot several years ago. 4. mirror/compact: celtic knot design, a gift from one of my son's goddessmammas. 5. camera: Fuji Quiksnap, I'm supposed to take a picture of the Governor's Mansion and send it to the next person in line. 6. tissues: blue, w/roses. Very sturdy, like a paper towel, but without the texture. 7. candy/gum: sour apple gum, icebreakers sour berry, and orange tic-tacs from having seen Juno at Alamo South Lamar. 8. Christmas money: mine and Anthony's, I need to buy a belt with his. 9. padlock and key: for a locker at the YMCA. I want to find time to go more than once/week. Maybe when Morgann is old enough for the childcare room... 10. 2 fabric shopping bags: black and red, self-containable. No excuses for taking plastic home, although I can still use them for lining garbage cans and containing diapers when we travel. 11. reading glasses: black, thin frames, 125 strength. Was surprised I needed them already. getting old... *sigh* 12. iPod: I always bring it along to listen to audiobooks. I make a lot of progress that way. 13. house keys: Technically not inside, but attached to the purse with a d-ring. I lose track of them a lot

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Wow, talk about a long break...

Been a little busy, hope to post a little more often over here. I'm doing NaBloPoMo on my other blog.

Morgann Rose is almost 3 months old now. Life with 2 has been a heckuva challenge, and I'm not sure if it would be any easier if Anthony wasn't a special needs kiddo. I'm struggling, but still upright, at least.

Friday's Feast (#189)

Appetizer: What was your favorite cartoon when you were a child?

Unfortunately, I'll have to cheat and pick more than one... Underdog, Kimba, and Speed Racer.

Soup: Pretend you are about to get a new pet. Which animal would you pick, and what would you name it?

For my next pet, I have my heart set on a corgi. It will probably take a few more years before the house is really ready for one. I've liked the name "Aurora" for a dog, but I'm not sure I'd be able to pull it off with who I bring home.

Salad: On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy getting all dressed up for a special occasion?

Well, if everything fits, my hair cooperates, I achieve color-coordination, and the jewelry matches, I'd say an 8. Unfortunately, I usually can't get more than 2 of those things to align at the same time, so "dressing up" (a comparative term out here on the farm anyway--unholed jeans and a v-neck tee counts as decent off-property wear) is mostly a huge pain in the butt.

Main Course: What kind of music do you listen to while you drive?

I tend to stick with one radio station (bobFM), but if I'm desperate to finish an audiobook (or if it's a long trip, say to Oma's), I'll connect my iPod.

Dessert: When was the last time you bought a clock? And in which room did you put it?

I had to actually walk around the house, looking for a real clock. My last clock purchase was my alarm/radio/disc player, sometime in the past 7 or 8 years. It is (naturally) in my bedroom. The last thing I bought that has a clock integrated, is our phone/intercom system that I found at the warehouse-type store that rhymes with bosco.

Rescued another baby tonight

[yes, I'm too lazy to type it all in again, and upload pictures, etc.]

click the link for story and pics

Fireplace eggs, and real rain

Last night's cold front (which stretched from Oklahoma to south central Texas) brought us some real rain (just over .5") between 10:30 and 1 last night. Luckily, I'd brought home a new rain gauge (the donkeys destroyed the other one) from the local big-name farm supply store, so I could actually report the good news. My son and I were there to pick up an incubator and an auto-turner that was being held for us; we also bought the gauge and a bag of scratch grains for the chickens since they were handy. We've been out of the scratch for at least a week, but not for lack of effort to obtain it. DH had done a feed run last week, and did not realize until he unloaded everything that the scratch hadn't been included. We weren't able to go back to the feed store in a timely manner, so we had to eat the loss. I really hate to not support the local businesses, but this is not the first time they've held back goods or given us the wrong item.

Anyway, we are now incubating 2 dozen eggs in our fireplace (it really is the safest and most convenient place in the house, with 3 cats and a toddler to worry about), and we'll find out if we'll have chicks in at least a week and a half (if not sooner). Part of me is hoping that we don't get the full two dozen out of this venture, as we really don't have the room (in the henhouse) to triple our flock.

This is where I'd be posting a picture of the strawberry I just picked from one of the two plants in our garden (as I was out looking for the rain gauge), but none of our digital camera battery packs are charged (I think they are losing their ability to charge fully), and I could not find the cord for the dc adaptor. So, I had to settle for taking a picture with my Fuji dinosaur, and I'll post it after I've found 10 more shots to snap, and have the film developed/digitized. Anyway, it was a good breakfast *wink*

Thursday Thirteen #6: 13 Places You Can Find Me Online

Thirteen Things about Marina



1. Marina’s Den
Unless you’re a friend, you won’t see much but memes and news items that catch my attention.

2. Momma Writes About Books
Mostly reviews, some memes, challenges and goal-setting, and other extra-special news that may explain why I have large time spans between entries.

3. Tales of a Texas Farmwife
Adventures in the Texas hill country, with animals we weren’t ready for, and land that isn’t manageable given our stage in life.

4. where I blog about my son
For the most part, this is locked to friends and family, so if you’re a friend that I haven’t invited yet, let me know.

5. My very-bare myspace page
I signed on mostly to keep up better with a few people, and perhaps to find a few high school buddies. Not much content, but who knows when that may change?

6. I’m MarinaWolf on twitter
I think I have only one real follower, but I don’t know who else of my friends may have an account. Let me know if you are! You’ll hear a lot more from me.

7. 43 Things
This is where I track my personal goals.

8. All Consuming
Book and movie consumption, not complete, but working on it. I crosspost reviews here when I’m diligent.

9. Book Crossing
Have scaled back on my activity here, but I try to keep the basket full at Panera, and my goal is to have all owed books out of my house before my daughter’s birth.

10. del.icio.us
Interesting websites and articles I come across.

11. Amazon wishlist
You can get an idea of what I like to read here, also.

12. care2
Joined this environmental site a long time ago, and used to be fairly active with signing petitions and submitting the occasional news item.

13. Photos
My flickr profile. Since most of these are of my son, I keep them available to friends and family. Let me know if you’re a friend I haven’t invited yet!





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Friday's Feast (#185)

Appetizer: What does the color dark green make you think of?

Clear Lake, in California. Our family lived in a triple-wide right next to it for 3 years (2nd through 4th grades). This was during a bad drought, where we had water coming up over the lakewall the year before we moved into the “house proper” (we spent my 1st-grade year in the office building in front), and we were able to step off the pier into sludge by the time we moved away. One corner of our (rental) property actually had to be boarded off, as the ground gave away after the water had receded. Anyway, Clear Lake was a very dark green when viewed up close, apparently due to algae.

Soup: How many cousins do you have?

Assuming this means first cousins only, not cousins of parents nor children of cousins, I have 9: 2 girls and a boy (all older) via my mom’s sister, 2 boys (one older, the other younger) via my dad’s younger brother, and 3 girls and a boy (2 older, 2 younger) via my dad’s older brother. My father has two half-sisters, but I don’t know how many (if any) children they have.

Salad: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how honest are you?

Close to a 7. There are some things that I absolutely have to take to my grave unspoken (dishonesty by omission). Other utterances I may be tempted to make do not need to be shared for the sake of politeness. There are also things that I may not mention because I truly believe that no one gives a rat’s patata about them.

Main Course: Name something that is truly free.

Oxygen/air. For now, thank goodness.

Dessert: Using the letters in the word SPRING, write a sentence.

Start playing regularly in night garden.

Anthony's garden

Daddy helped him plant these:




The beans will be climbing up poles arranged teepee-style.

Hey Texans!

I think there are still a few of you who drop by...

Have you heard that we can Vote for TX general issue license plates?

There's two votes per household, and yes, you can vote for what we currently have.

From what I understand, one reason for the redesign is the need for another digit on the plate (my, aren't we growing?).

In other news, I haven't been posting much because my new pregnancy has really knocked me on my butt. I'll see what I can do to be more entertaining as soon as I'm not running amok horking.

Thursday Thirteen #5 (ed. 118)--Thirteen Farm Chores

13 Farm Chores we do at Browncoat Acres...

1. Groom donkeys (currying and hoof cleaning)

2. weed garden (well, what's left of it)

3. clear cedar (where cedar grows, grass doesn't)

4. collect and scrub eggs (the hens are on sabbatical, so haven't actually done this in a while)

5. shear sheep (this is only twice a year, and we're down to 3 from the original 8)

6. relocate rocks for landscaping/soil control (we're pulling most from the back of the property so we can establish the bigger garden/orchard there)

7. trim back rosemary bushes (we have 3, and they encroach pretty quickly. We'll have plenty for wreaths this year)

8. fetch grain and hay for animals (we have a choice between 3 feed stores, and I want to find a cheaper source for hay)

9. vaccinations (for 3 donkeys, 3 sheep, one dog, and 4 cats)

10. clean guns (DH does deer hunting in season, and we also have them around for the "varmints")

11. fence maintenance/repair (not done often, but crucial when necessary)

12. feed and water animals (we still don't have a great system, but it will be pretty moot in a little while)

13. clean out chicken coop/shred paper for nests (I think we're down to about 10 chickens now. The poop still builds up pretty fast, and we use paper instead of expensive hay)

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Halloween night at the farm, or not...

Out here in South Henly, the farms are pretty spread out, and it can be hard to meet the neighbors (or it could be my social-idiot tendencies). It also makes it difficult, if not impossible, to do any trick-or-treating (locked gates, guard dogs, and so on). Most of the "big" churches (the one that burned down a few months ago has only 200 parishoners) have some sort of "Fall" or "Harvest" Festival (gotta take the night back from those pagans *eyeroll*), and a few of the local businesses had parties over the weekend (at least one of them was charging $5/ghoul). The occasional neighbor will throw a party, but out here, it's mostly for the grown-ups.

As with last year, I wanted our son to get a better idea of what the secular aspect of this holiday is about (well that, and the photo-op that the grandparents demand), so DH and I drove up to the north end of Austin to trick-or-treat with some friends of ours (actually, our birth-attenders, they were the first to see Anthony when he was tiny and slimy) who have two little girls (one each slightly older and younger than Anthony--both redheads--whom their own father has dubbed "heartbreakers"). They live on a long cul-de-sac, which turned out to be the perfect number of houses to visit for 3 3-and-unders. At one house near the end of our route, there was a skeleton by the front door, and as I was walking up with Anthony IT MOVED. Gah! Took a few years off me right there. It didn't faze him, though (either he's too young to be creeped out, or we've done a good job of showing him what's natural in the world, so to speak), and he looked at all the decorations that she pointed out, and waved "bye" like the polite little Texan he is (no laughing from those who know better!). Oh, he was a purple-caped bat this year. He wore that cape well, and knew it, too. That's my little Leo ;)

In other, miscellaneous news, we lost one of our ewes (the friendlier one, too) to a predator last week. I guess Sombrea was concentrating on protecting Firefly (not that I am complaining--he's the higher priority), and wasn't available to drive the canines off. Last Sunday, DH and I sheared the remaining sheep, but were not able to get a really good pelt from any of them. DH bagged some of what might still be salvageable for, I don't know exactly what, carding practice, maybe? Our hens are still on laying strike, and I've no idea when the eggs will come back. They seem to have recovered from their molt, and I changed out their nest bedding, but am still seeing nada.

My main focus this month will be on my other blog; I'm participating in NaBloPoMo, but I will make an effort to check in here more often, even if it is a lot of memeage and lists.

Thursday 13 #4--Things I found while cleaning out my closet

Yes, I know it's Friday, but I'm sick of being too busy to post these, and this blog needed a little something...



My mother's been here for nearly two weeks, helping us by watching Anthony and enabling us to have a few nights out, and to catch up on some of our chores. Yesterday, I decided to make a preliminary pass at one of the closets in my office--moving things to a more ideal placement, writing up a rough inventory, and throwing out two bags worth of garbage plus 7 or 8 redundant boxes for the burn pile. Near the end of my day, I'd emptied all 5 of the north shelves (I have 3 walls worth, sort of a "U" pattern), and I could start filling those with various homeless things that have been sleeping on the floor for the past few months. Here are 13 (of many) things that I found during this first purge:

1. Afro Celt Sound System cd (v.3:Further in Time)-- it had somehow become separated from its case, and was in one of those free AOL tins. I popped it into my MacBook and had me some good cleaning music. While it was in there, I also imported it to my iTunes.

2. 2 BookCrossing books-- Drawing Blood, and Sixteen Pleasures. Not that I'll be able to read them anytime soon, but it's good to have them where they belong.

3. Anthony's baby book-- Needless to say, that's another pending project, maybe I'll find time for it this winter.

4. Calculator-- Yes, I still use the one I had to buy for 8th grade pre-Algebra. The one on my Dashboard is nice, but sometimes you really need to have the numbers in sight at all times.

5. 3 pairs of sunglasses-- Don't ask me how they wound up in the closet! Well, now I can have a pair in each car, one in my purse, and one to use at home. Overkill? You betcha!

6. Thank You cards-- Bought these before Anthony was born, and didn't get around to witing them. This is still a running fight between me and DH, and one of the reasons Anthony will probably never celebrate another birthday while he lives here. I think I'll send them to my younger sister, who's having her boy in December.

7. Corner cutter-- Bought this a few years ago for my new scrapbooking hobby. Will put it to good use one of these days.

8. Pet hair remover (brush)-- With 3 cats, not a good thing to go missing. Need to add this "ToDo" to my chore list, to help me remember to keep up.

9. Sonic coupon-- It's still valid! DH can save his usual $4 and still have a good breakfast.

10. Birth certificate-- This needs to go into the firesafe, along with my great-grandmother's cookbook. It looks like the copy that my mother needed to register me for kindergarten.

11. Free meal certificate for Buffet Palace-- There's no expiration date, but I know it's at least 5 years old, so who knows if they'll still honor it? I don't like the restaurant itself as much as I did back when I got the certificate, but it will do if I'm desperate and in the neighborhood.

12. Christmas ornament-- My mom gave us this one a few years ago; has both our names engraved on it, so it needs to be on the tree.

13. Two screwdrivers and my hammer-- My toolbox is looking a lot better now, and yes, I have labeled my hammer.

I still have some shelves to fill, but I think that will have to wait until Sunday (at the earliest, who knows what kind of energy I will have left after spending Saturday at Maker Faire?). I also did some shelf-shifting, and I was able to get some more books off the floor. Save for the NE corner of my office, I can nearly make an unobstructed circuit around the workspace behemoth. I'm also working on clearing the mass next to the door so that I can close it when necessary. After all that, I'll start working on the action items in the closet (decide on giveaways, put some boxes in the attic, file paperwork, go through magazines). Finishing all of those should halve what's taking up space, and I might even be able to start stage 2: move more of the office supplies to the closet, swap out the big "desk" for something else, and start creating a homier space that might double as an occasional guest room. Ah, pipe dreams...

He's Here!

And I missed the whole thing... DH had been getting his things ready to leave for work and saw this:



Yep, that would be the ass of my sparkly white ass.

OK, he isn't sparkly (I did not grab the glitter on the way out the door)--yet--he's a mudball; we got about an inch and a third of rain yesterday, mostly last night.

Here's Sombrea and son:



He doesn't seem to have figured where to get his next meal, so I may need to intervene. Right now, I have to get my own kid fed and situated safely so I can get a better handle on the next step. Yes, DH still had to go to work; I could have used another pair of hands, but I was not swift enough upon waking this morning to beg for help.

Here's a better view:



More news and pictures as I can get them... my son is being recalcitrant about these last few spoonfuls of yogurt.

ETA: His future owner, my good friend Phelan, has a poll going on her site to choose his full name; he'll be Firefly [something] of Browncoat Acres. Go here to vote!

Hardware failure

I'm awaiting the arrival of a serviceman from the wastewater company we've a contract with for quarterly maintenance. According to DH, the compressor to our system has gone out. I'm not sure yet [update: about $250] how much thhis will set us back, but I think it's safe to say that it will be another month before I can replace my old dresser (which my son is using now); I'm sure that DH is looking forward to having the other half of his available again.

Update: The serviceman is here now with his son (looks to be about 5). He's rebuilding the compressor (glad that's an option--a brand new one would cost a lot more), and should be done in about a half hour. I gave the boy carrots to feed to the donkeys, and he's very excited about doing that. Assuming the sheep will stick close by (I did throw some hay out as motivation--do you think that will work?), he should also be able to get a good look at them.

Further update: The compressor is all fixed, and we're good to go! I'm glad we didn't have to wait very long to continue with our normal water-use... routine.

This post has nothing to do with the homestead...

except perhaps the audiobook (Stone Work, by John Jerome) I'd finished on the way to and from Castroville for my son's birthday celebration.

My boy turned 2 on Saturday! He isn't getting all that big, but he is definitely growing up. I have to look at old pictures to see my baby again. Just this morning, as I read through my email, I saw that BabyCenter sent my first Pre-schooler Bulletin. He may have a new label, but he's still in toddler mode in many ways: he still has to master language, toilet-training, mealtime manners, and the social dance. It's time for me to get with the program(s) so he can come out of this stage happy, healthy, and acceptable to others.

We spent most of Saturday preparing and packing for our trip, so of course everyone was stressed out and tired before we had to be "on" for the party. Right after we checked in to the Landmark Inn and settled the larger items of aforementioned package into our room, we drove over to Oma's for dinner (burgers and beans), cake (chocolate), and presents for Himself.

Grandparents S gave him two outfits and a signing activity book. Oma gave him a plush ABC caterpillar (with which DH helped Anthony show off a little bit--have I mentioned that he knows his letters, and is getting pretty good with numbers?), a clothing-fastener practice dog (a Dapper Dan knockoff), several board books, and more clothes. G-UncleD and G-AuntL gave him a riding toy (with cupholder and basket) and a Cheerful Chimp (anyone remember Zippy?). DH and I gave him 2 handpuppets (a pirate and a dragon), a Pirate PotatoHead, a pair of sandals (that are very similar to Daddy's, and yes, he noticed), and a box of crayons (of course they're washable, I'm not crazy). We also bought him a Lego baseplate which we'll attach to a free endtable I'd found, so he'll have a Lego table for tres cheap. My sister and BIL sent a pirate backpack, and my parents sent a check for a DYR storage unit.

I'll post pictures later, after I've had them developed and digitized. We don't have any video, as Daddy was too busy wrangling presents, and we don't have any of the candle-blowing, as Anthony still doesn't "get" blowing. Note to self: practice for next year, at least a few months out.

We spent Sunday celebrating St. Louis Day at Koenig Park and at Oma's. Because of sleep issues, all of us were wiped out by the time we got home that evening. I for one am glad that I'd planned on frozen dinners for everyone.

And that, my friends, was our long, very tiring, very full weekend. For the sake of my sanity [go ahead, laugh, you might as well], I am not even going to try to imagine what future birthday events are going to be like when they start involving his peer group.

Birthing Donkeys? Me?

[originally posted to The Modern Homestead]

There’s an impending birth here at Browncoat acres; it will be the farm’s first in 2 years (my son and the 2 surviving chickens were born, and hatched (respectively) in mid-August of 2005). Sombrea (a Standard donkey) came to us pregnant, but her previous owner couldn’t tell us when she’d been bred--we think this one hadn’t been planned or authorized--especially so soon after giving birth to Serenity. So, at this point, it’s a guessing game as to when we’ll be hearing the clippity-clop of a new set of hooves around here. This will be my first midwivery, and I am pretty nervous, but I have to get over that before I get near Big Momma--she'll smell that straight off.

According to Morris (Looking After a Donkey), there are a few signs that we should be looking for: udder swelling, teat swelling, and teat waxing. After all this, Sombrea will actually begin dripping milk; that is when we need to start monitoring her every two hours, day and night. If I’m brave enough, I can also squeeze the base of her tail gently (obviously, that is the danger zone after all) to test for softness. Soft=get your coffee brewing things ready.

Her next bodily preparation will be to eliminate everything from her lower g.i. tract. From here, she’ll start having contractions within a few hours, and we’re to be checking for those every half hour or so. I should make time in the next few days to call Sombrea’s former owner to ask about her foaling history--how many she’s had, if she’s had any complications in the past, and what her last labor (with Serenity) was like in duration. Hopefully, this one won't travel like a shot cannonball.

I’ll post part 2 of this article to TMH this week (and copy it here), before I leave for Kansas, which will discuss the theoretical labor process. Part 3 will be my writeup (and pictures, if we’re lucky) of the birth after it’s happened, hopefully not while I'm gone.

Thursday 13 #2--13 Things I Have Learned Since Moving to Texas

Thirteen Things about Marina After giving up on having a teaching career in California [as it turns out, I was off by only a few days, but that is another story], I packed a Ryder truck with the necessaries and my dog (my cat would be flown out later), and headed for Austin, a town that my therapist had recommended ("the Capitol Building has a great big goddess on top, how can you go wrong?"). I arrived just before Labor Day in 1996, and have not once regretted the move. Here are some things that I've managed to figure out in the past (nearly) 11 years (YMMV). 1. It's a good idea to "ma'am" or "sir" anyone in a position of authority, people in the service sector, and anyone older than yourself. Playing by their rules of politeness makes the exchange much more pleasant, and makes oneself less of a "rude Californian [in my case, obviously]. 2. During the "summer" (which extends well beyond mid-June to mid-September, in both directions) months: hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. As good as it is for your skin and hair, the humidity won't replenish your insides. 3. Unless you live in the Panhandle, cull any sweater collection you've brought to 3: one black, one cream, and one of your favorite/most flattering color. You might need to wear each one once in any particular winter. 4. You really can brand yourself with your seatbelt latch in the summertime. Attach an icepack to that dangerous metal part while out doing errands. 5. Chiggers are pure evil, followed closely by fire ants, West Nile-carrying mosquitoes, and scorpions. 6. Mexican-style food is very different from the kind I had back home, and it is absolutely necessary to tell the server "no jalapenos", even though the menu may not mention them as an ingredient in your dish. 7. In Chinese restaurants, if you ask for "tea," they'll serve it to you iced. If you want it hot, say so. 8. If you tell a UT (Longhorn) graduate that you're an Aggie, it is in your best interest of bodily safety to quickly qualify "Davis Aggie--from California--not BCS sweartogod." The Longhorn may ask for proof, so it's a good idea to wear your ring, or carry an alumni card. Avoid wearing maroon, especially during football season. Don't believe me? Let me show you this seatbelt branding... *wink* 9. Use "y'all" properly--as a plural. 10. If you didn't learn real dance steps in your earlier years, figure them out ASAP; that "freestyle" you've been using since junior high looks like a seizure, and will be treated accordingly. 11. You can visit whatever ecosystem you're in the mood for--forest, beach, desert, etc.--without leaving the state. 12. 2 proper pairs of boots (work and dress) are essential. Stetson hat and leather duster are optional, but an exceptionally nice bonus. 13. Time spent finding the perfect BBQ sauce is well worth the effort. Attend as many competitions as your waistline can handle. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Andi posts 13 cool pictures. 2. Gal tells us about her 3 cats. 3. Frigga goes interactive with movies. 4. Nicole's getting ready for the new school year. 5. Carolan shares some very cool Celtic websites. 6. Amy remembers her college days. 7. tommiea lists 13 things sh'es done to her home since her husband deployed. 8. gattina shares 13 things one should never say during sex. 9. Janet gives us 13 of her favorite things that begin with the letter "W." 10. Linda shares 13 things she's learned about the blogosphere.

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