Thursday Thirteen, Recovery Edition

So I've just spent the last week and a half or more dragging around and moaning about a little cold. Actually, it was a big cold. It knocked me flat for almost a week. I've kept posting to the blog, but it's all been derivative. Now I need to start back with original content. What better way to do that than with a World of Good post and a Thursday Thirteen?

This week's Thursday Thirteen is thirteen things I plan to do now that I don't have any more excuses for laying around feeling sorry for myself.

1. Go through my mail. I get self-indulgent when things go south in my life. I've paid all the bills that came in, but I've got a table groaning under the weight of less important mail. Time to sort through it and see if Ed McMahon has sent me a million bucks.

2. Does he still do that?

3. Is he still alive?

4. I think I just dated myself.

5. Which would be the first date I've had in a long time.

6. I digress.

7. Listen to phone messages and repsond to them. I told you I was self-indulgent. When I don't feel good, I listen to the voice and save the ones that I think can wait. Time to go back and respond to them.

8. Get some exercise. Anything. Laying around watching Tivo'd football games is not exercise. It's watching others exercise. That doesn't count.

9. Weed my garden. I put down some weed blocker cloth in my front yard and covered it with gravel. The weeds just laughed and proceeded to penetrate the cloth from above and below. It was a bloody waste of time putting down that cloth.

10. Visit the blogs of other members of the Feline Theocracy and post about my favorite posts of theirs. What's the point of achieving true feline enlightenment if you don't get some props from the Maximum Leader?

11. Hang out and read with Jacob the Syrian Hamster. I've been falling asleep at 8PM lately due to the cold. That's not good for socializing with your nocturnal pets. The poor devil's been cooped up in his cage all this time.

12. Go rockhounding with the San Diego Gem and Mineral Society. Over Thanksgiving they went to Wiley Wells for a long rockhounding expedition. I had intended to drive out there and hang with them for a day, but I was too sick to go. I've never done it with experts and was really looking forward to learning from them. Now that I'm over my bout with The Cold I can do it.

13. This is totally unrelated, but I wanted to share a tiny victory with you. I encourage my kids to read. They have a certain amount of time every day they need to read. I don't have time to go to the library and keep their shelves stocked and then make sure the books get returned on time. Yesterday I visited a used book store and spent $17 to buy 10 books for them. It was totally worth it. The books will last my older son for a month or two. My younger daughter will blast through hers more quickly, but I don't mind replenishing them. When we're done with them, I'll give them to friends and maybe get some in return. I love it!