Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things that get me going in the morning.

1. The bark of a yappy little dog, we like to call J.J. (OK I call him other things) He's my sister's dog, but until she's recovered from her accident, he's living with us. ARGH!



2. 99.3 WPKL, that blasted Pickle station. OK, strange story though. The last few mornings the radio in my bedroom has been picking up another station. 99.3 The Laurel Highlands Rock Station, in ALTOONA! Pickle and this station battle it out and the Altoona station has been winning. This makes no sense to me, as I'm pretty sure the tower for Pickle is located near the station which is less than 20 minutes away. (Right behind Cal U's football stadium) Altoona is several hours away. WTF! Explain that one Fishy!

(The Mistress of the Dark would like to add, that she wishes she woke up to Fish, but alas, she wakes up at 5:30 and doesn't usually listen to the first 2 hours of The Real Dill Pickle Morning show....Don't tell Fish)

3. Utz Sweet Potato Chips: The Mistress Of The Dark is not a breakfast person. I am however a chip person. Without a chip, particularly the sweet potato variety, I'm a miserable human in the morning.



4. My cat Oogie. I chase him up and down the stairs at least 5 times each morning before I leave for work. He doesn't like the idea that he should stay in one room, when people are coming and going in the house. He's still too curious to be out in the entire house. We don't want him sneaking outside.

5. My dog Purrbee. He makes sure I get out of bed, so that he can steal the covers and sleep the morning away, while I'm stuck at work. There's something very unfair about that.

6. My computer: If I don't have at least 30 minutes of computer time before work, with my winamp on, I get off to a very bad start. I usually blog in the morning, as well as read my dailies and check email.

7. Coca-Cola: I'm not a coffee drinker, never was, never will be.

8. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: If I don't read the comics and check out the Magazine section my day is thrown out of wack. If I miss the Weekender on Thursday, I'm really cranky.

9. Listerine or the Equate equivilant. Damn, that stuff is strong and my mouth tingles for hours afterwards. I'm not sure if that's a good thing. I think my mouth is usually more awake than the rest of me.

10. Water: If a good splash of water to the face doesn't wake me up, I don't know what will, and if it doesn't, I'm not likely to be awake most of the day.

11. My nephew Michael: He's the 14 year old one. Actually I think I get him going in the morning, because he's so fun to agitate. But then again, we agitate each other, so he counts!

12. Cold weather. I hate it. But when I go out in it, I get moving a whole lot faster. Usually to someplace warm.

13. My mum and dad. They are both out of bed a full 20 minutes before my lazy butt is. Never fear. With them around, I will never sleep in on a workday.