Time...

Okay, so here we are at the end of February (a sixth of the way through the year) already! Where did January and February go? Why is it that when you don’t have much going on or much planned and you think you have plenty of time to do stuff, that the time just passes you by? At the beginning of 2006 I thought of all the things I would want to accomplish around the house since the holidays were over and before our weekends were packed with BBQs, camping, parties, etc, however I’ve accomplished only a few things. I did manage to clean out and rearrange the kitchen cabinets and paint our bathroom. Not sure what I did the rest of the time. (I’ll blame it on American Idol for taking up all my spare time.) By now I should have also lost 10-15 pounds, if I would have started back on my diet and exercising like I was supposed too! (I’d diet about 2 days then go off for about 2-3 weeks! And back on again…)
On the flip side…why is it that when you are really looking forward to something (weekends, float trip, next vacation in Mexico, Tator’s arrival, etc.), time seems to go too frickin’ slow? Slowly but surely, time will pass and the things we were waiting for will finally be here, but then it will all come and go way too fast! I just don’t get it….

Only In America....

1. Only in America......can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
2. Only in America......are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.
3. Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
4. Only in America......do people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a diet Coke.
5. Only in America......do banks leave both doors to the vault open and then chain the pens to the counters.
6. Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
7. Only in America......do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.
8. Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
9. Only in America......do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.
10. Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

I thought this was kinda funny...and very true! We are somewhat a weird country sometimes.

Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras

(mär'dē grä) - last day before the fasting season of Lent. It is the French name for Shrove Tuesday. Literally translated, the term means “fat Tuesday” and was so called because it represented the last opportunity for merrymaking and excessive indulgence in food and drink before the solemn season of fasting. In the cities of some Roman Catholic countries the custom of holding carnivals for Mardi Gras has continued since the Middle Ages. The carnivals, with spectacular parades, masked balls, mock ceremonials, and street dancing, usually last for a week or more before Mardi Gras itself. Some of the most celebrated are held in New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, Nice, and Cologne.

Translation- Trudging around the streets of Soulad, sometimesines snow-slush filled streets, in the cold and/or pouring down rain, flashing for beads, consuming large quantities of beer and hurricanes, "borrowing" decorations from fences along the way back to the car, knocking on doors of total strangers (injuring oneself while running away), saving lives of very young drinkers that don't know when enough is enough, walking miles to the car AND (most important) having a frickin' BLAST!!!



This is the second year that we will not venture downtown for the festivities. We're going next year, PEOPLE! Unless of course we're in Mexico! (I think Mardi Gras 2007 is Feb. 17th)




Mardi Gras 2001









Mardi Gras 2004

This Date In History

February 22

1630 - OK, movie-goers, this one’s for you! Popcorn was introduced to English colonists when Quadequine, brother of Massasoit, brought a bag of the stuff over to dinner this day.

1860 - Organized baseball’s first game was played in San Francisco, CA.

1879 - We won’t try to nickel and dime you with this nugget, but it is a fact that Frank W. Woolworth opened his first 5 and 10-cent store. Woolworth’s opened in Utica, New York. Sales at the first store were disappointing ... until Mr. Woolworth moved his operation to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and later, to the entire U.S.A. Remember the lunch counter at F. W. Woolworth’s? You could get a burger and a real vanilla soda or a lime rickey there for about a buck. Those were the days.

1918--How tall is the tallest man? Most information collected before the 1900s can not be proven. In fact, exaggeration and dishonesty prevailed. Even medical papers were unreliable. Depending on the measurements of the time and the translation of such, even Goliath stood a mere 6 feet, 10 inches. However, there is irrefutable evidence that Robert Pershing Wadlow, born on this day in 1918 in Alton, Illinois, still holds the record for being the tallest recorded man. Oh yes, Robert was quite normal at birth, weighing in at 8.5 lbs. At the age of two, he had a double hernia operation and something changed. He started to grow, and grow and grow. By age 5 he was 5’4" tall and weighed 105 lbs. On his 8th birthday, Robert weighed in at 169 lbs. and topped the ruler at six feet. He grew another foot by the time he was thirteen and still another by his seventeenth year. On June 27, 1940, Mr. Wadlow was measured by Dr. Cyril MacBryde and Dr. C. M. Charles, Associate Professor of Anatomy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. They recorded Wadlow’s height at 8’ 11.1". A week later, Wadlow was fitted with a brace on his right leg. The brace fit poorly and inflamed his ankle, causing cellulitis. Robert Wadlow died from the infection on July 15, 1940. A coffin was made especially for him: 10’9" long, 32" wide, 30" deep. Had he not died, he would have continued to grow, according to the doctors. Wadlow, who faced constant public attention and often, ridicule, was always kind, patient and friendly, a demeanor that earned him the nickname ‘the gentle giant’. Fortunately he was a gentle giant. If he wasn’t, his harassers would have faced a 439 lb. man who wore shoes, size 37AA, a size-25 ring on hands that measured 12 3/4" from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger. His arm span was nine feet, five and three-quarter inches. (One of his shoes is on display at Fast Eddie's Bonair in Alton).

1949 - Gorgeous George and Ernie Dusek ushered in a brand new era in professional wrestling, with the debut of “flying leaps, sequins and schmaltz,” according to the sports scribes covering the event.

1956 - Elvis Presley entered the music charts for the first time. Heartbreak Hotel began its climb to the number one spot on the pop listing, reaching the top on April 11, 1956. It stayed at the top for eight weeks.

1975- Drew Barrymore is born.

1980 - A pivotal moment for ice hockey in the United States came on this day. The 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ U.S. victory over Russia was a dramatic, come-from-behind, 4-3, victory. The U.S. went on to defeat Finland, 4-2, two days later to win the gold medal.

1992- Christina Cox and William Johnson,III are united in marriage.

2002-Chris & Bill Johnson, Mike & Paula Williams, and Mike & Diana Cornett board plane to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!

Super Nanny!

Amanda, Super Nanny, neighbors-Sophie, Thomas & Donna
Me, Amanda, Super Nanny, Sophie and Thomas


It's not very often that I have the opportunity to meet famous people. However, earlier this week I met Super Nanny! (This is a show that airs on ABC-http://abc.go.com/primetime/supernanny/ ) They are filming at the house across the street from my in-laws. Yep, right here in St. Charles, MO. So Tuesday, I arrived after work to pick Amanda up from the in-laws and they (& the neighbors too!) were all out in the yard getting their pictures taken with her. They coaxed me into jumping in for a picture. (It's of course not a very good picture, plus my father-in-law is not the best photographer either.) She seems to be a very nice person and I loved her accent! I think they are wrapping up the filming this weekend. My mother-in-law said that yesterday afternoon they were filming her "arrival", however she had already been here a week. Weird how they put the shows together. Anyway...that was my weekly excitement!

Officially Joining the "Blogging" Community

Well, as promised....I am officially blogging! I will warn you that I am NOT a creative writer and won't always have anything interesting to blog about. But....I am going to give it my best shot and see if I like it. So...stay tuned...'cause I've got a whole lota nothin' to say!