Amazing Race --Go Team Cowboys!!!

I love this show and I love this team. They are respectful and funny and smart and appear to be having a great time. Oh, and they are cute as buttons. Anyone who knows me knows that cowboys are some of my favorite people.










And I am way ready for team Dumb Ass Beauty Queen and her her whining to move along. I doubt this relationship is still intact.

Church, week 2

This morning I went to Christ Lutheran Church. It was a nice traditional church, completely opposite from last weeks. More to my comfort zone than last week although I had trouble following along. Finally someone gave me a guide and we sailed. I was raised with different hymns and they are between pastors so a lay person gave the sermon but he did amazingly well. His message was that one person can do a small thing that change of the world, He told a story of a pilot in 1948 who made it his mission to show the children of Russian occupied Berlin that he Americans were not necessarily the enemy by dropping chocolate to them from airplanes. One guy began and his friends followed and they proved that one person's small actions can change soneone's world. It was a great message. There is a line in a Brad Paisley song that says something like "To the world you may you may be just another girl but to me you are the world". That is sweet and sinplistic but I do believe one person can make another person look at the world through different eyes. I hope I help make someone's world a better place.

Berlin Airlift Pilots Launched Candy Mission

Berlin Airlift pilots enjoyed their mission of flying into Germany to deliver food and supplies to the German people. It was a wonderful feeling to be delivering food and help, rather than delivering bombs.

During one mission, pilot Lieutenant Gale S. Halverson decided to tour around the area of Germany where he landed each week. During his tour, he met lots of children who came out to watch him take pictures of the sites. Unlike most children, they did not beg money or candy from him, but just stood and watched. In a flash, an idea came to him. "You kids wait until tomorrow and I will drop you some candy from my airplane."

The next day, Halverson kept his promise and dropped three small handkerchief parachutes of candy from the plane. He used the flare chute in the bottom of the plane. From that first idea grew a daily effort to drop candy from the sky to the German children.

The excited children wrote their thanks and began calling Lieutenant Halverson, "Uncle Sam" or "Captain America."

In the beginning of the candy drops, Halverson used his own weekly candy ration. Soon the other pilots and support staff started giving their candy and gum and their handkerchiefs. The project grew so big that his old army base also began to contribute candy and handkerchiefs. The city of Mobile, Alabama, formed a drive to request help. Soon, candy and handkerchiefs from around the country began arriving for the pilots to drop. One week, Lieutenant Halverson flew 368 pounds of candy and fifty pounds of handkerchiefs from America back with him in his C-54 airplane that he had brought to the states for maintenance work.

At the time Lieutenant Halverson started this candy drop mission, he was 27 years old. That was in 1948. Today, he would be in his late seventies. Perhaps a class project would be to research to see if they could find out what happened to him and if he is still living. He was at one time stationed with the 521st Air Transport Group, Brookley Air Force Base, Mobile, Alabama. Col. George S. Cassady was his commanding officer. Just think what terrific stories he could tell! Berlin Airlift Pilots Drop Candy, Gum for the Children in Germany!

Pretty cool story, huh?

Ringtone

This week I talked to a customer who was a bounty hunter. His ringtone? Jailhouse Rock.

I had to laugh.

Facebook

This morning I went on Facebook and there was an IM from a friend who told me she was in trouble. Being FB I figured it was that she needed someone to click and finish her barn. Then she told me she was in London and that she and her son had been robbed at gunpoint and needed $$. Now I called my friend--who told me her mom had received an email saying the same thing. She had obviously been hacked. I didn't really believe anything was wrong but what bothered me more is that the hacker used my friend's son's name in the IM. I then thought most of the day about Facebook and why I like it. I like it because I can keep up with my family and friends but it has become something much bigger. My profile has way too much info on it and I have accepted friend invitations from friends of friends who need neighbors for whatever.

Today, I removed info and neighbors and friends that I am not related to or close enough to keep track of every day. I started to deactivate the entire thing but really like reading about my family. But I will be very careful what I put there.

On the surface, this blog appears to have more personal stuff but as with most people and things in my life, personal really is not personal. I don't really don't talk to anyone much about anything personal. But I'll think twice about putting it out there anyway.

American Idol

I didn't watch it all but I was amazingly underwhelmed by what I saw. Won't be watching.

Church

It's been a while since I went to church...a few years. I have always loved church but something happened at my last church that really had nothing to do with me directly but it so went against what I believe that I never went back. I've never lost my faith in what is real, that is God and his plan for me, the sacrifice of his son, where I'm going when this life is done. But the people in that building were more cruel than I'd ever seen and they thought they were right and I could never reconcile that.

That being said, I have for the past little while known that I need something in my life, a place of worship and fellowship. So today my journey began.

I was raised in a Southern Baptist church and find that in some ways their beliefs and biblical interpretations don't seem consistent with the Christ I know. They don't believe a woman can become an ordained minister and I've even been churches where a woman could not teach a Sunday School class that had a man in it. It's funny, their Christmas foreign mission offering is for Lottie Moon, a missionary who served in China. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about her:

Throughout her missionary career, Moon faced plague, famine, revolution, and war. The First Sino-Japanese War (1894), the Boxer Rebellion (1900) and the Chinese Nationalist uprising (which overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911) all profoundly affected mission work. Famine and disease took their toll, as well. When Moon returned from her second furlough in 1904, she was deeply struck by the suffering of the people who were literally starving to death all around her. She pleaded for more money and more resources, but the mission board was heavily in debt and could send nothing. Mission salaries were voluntarily cut. Unknown to her fellow missionaries, Moon shared her personal finances and food with anyone in need around her, severely affecting both her physical and mental health. In 1912, she only weighed 50 pounds. Alarmed, fellow missionaries arranged for her to be sent back home to the United States with a missionary companion. However, Moon died en route, at the age of 72, on December 24, 1912, in the harbor of Kobe, Japan Her body was cremated and the remains returned to her family in Crewe, Virginia, for burial.

And our church thinks she could not possibly be a minister. But that is another debate for another day.

Today I went to a Methodist church, near my house, that had service times on their website. I don't really own dresses anymore and my feet and shoes with heels are not really happening so for the first time in my life, I went to a morning worship service in pants...a nice shirt and slacks. I was overdressed. I found a church excited about worship with a pastor with a great message about Lent. He was wearing a t-shirt with the Church's name and was forced at the end of the service to cover a bet of some kind by eating a sundae with chocolate ice cream, anchovies, squirty cheese, yogurt and onions. When last seen, he was running out the back to presumably barf. There was no choir but a band, no hymnals but a slide show, no traditional hymns and Bibles provided by the church so you did not have to know where to look, they just directed you to the page number if you wanted to follow along. I'm stating facts here, not judging. But I think you can probably tell that I found many of these things different. Not bad, just not what I'm used to. It was a nice church, they seem genuine in their faith and everyone was very friendly but it's not my cup of tea. I need to find a middle ground between my old traditional church full of intolerance and the new wave what tradition? church.

I plan to keep looking and will find what I need. God will lead me where he needs me to be. I have no doubts.

February 21

A couple of weeks ago I talked about losing my mom and now it's daddy's turn. February is not my favorite month...

I lost my dad a year ago Sunday. Like with mom, the call came about 2am from a nice nurse whose job it is to tell me it was peaceful.

I was lucky enough to have my dad with me the last 3 years of his long life and as with my mom my heart hurts every day because I miss him. I am finally at the point where I can sleep without listening for him to call out. But I wish he was here to call out.

My dad would tell you he had a good life...he got to make a living cowboying, he had mom with him for 58 years, he had a ton of friends and a family that thought he hung the moon. I know now he is in Heaven with mom and I hope he can hear a pin drop.

I'll see them all again some day...

Interesting Trivia...Maybe its all true

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury.

Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

Coca-Cola was originally green.

It is impossible to lick your elbow.

The state with the highest percentage of people who walk to work is Alaska.

The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%
The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%

The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven is about $6,400.

The average number of people airborne over the US at any given hour is 61,000.

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.

The youngest pope was 11 years old.


Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David, Hearts - Charlemagne, Clubs - Alexander the Great, Diamonds - Julius Caesar

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in The air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in The air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the Horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.

"I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

Conception occurs more often in December than any other month.

Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of their birthplace.

The most popular boat name is Obsession.

Bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all were invented by women.

Honey is the only food that doesn't spoil.


The thing most ironic about Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny) is that he was allergic to carrots.
I have been informed that this one is NOT true...an urban legend I guess.

In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight".

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the Rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase Inspired by this practice.

In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden.... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

Body & Spirit....

In People magazine this week, there is a review that describes a book called 'The Wife's Tale' and describes the 5'6", 302 pound heroine as "a body weighed down by flesh and a spirit smothered by loneliness". I'm not 5'6" or 302 pounds but I feel exactly like that some days.

The nail has finaly been hit on the head...

On June 18 I will walk away from a really good paying job that I have worked at for 25 years and I will walk into the unknown. This is not a secret. I know people probably think I am crazy and maybe I am. And while I can explain that my company is not the same company I went to work for it's hard to explain beyond that. Then today, after another crazy busy day I was walking out with Jan and she said something that brought things into the light. Her observation was that she can't fix our company because it is not fixable. I've always known that but I have always taken pride in the fact that even if my customer hated my company, he left my desk knowing that I did everything I could to make him happy and to fix his problem. Now I can not only not fix the company, now my ability to provide quality customer service is diminished to a level that I can't live with. I need to be able to treat people the way I want to be treated and I no longer have the ability to do that because customer service is not possible. We are expected to accomplish things that drive any personalized service right out the door because there is too much to do and too little time to do it in. Thy want less people to do more work for less compensation. Everyone is stressed out, everyone has too much to do and while some are willing to help, most have had any caring driven right out of them. I need to work for a company who values their customers more than my company does Its time to move on.

121 days according to my Iphone countdown App.

Chopped

So who has the snottiest, snobby faces while tasting the food?

Alex Guarnashelli or Amanda Freitag?

What have either ever done? Has anyone other than Foodies ever even heard of then?

I'm pretty sure I'd not like either in real life because I don't like either as "tv personalities"

Comments

I basically write this blog for myself but I like people to actually read it. Not many do and that's ok but I am always excited when I get a comment. But lately my comments have been in Chinese and lead to semi nude oriental booty maids and that is offensive to me so now I have to moderate comments. Why the heck to people think they have the right to spoil someone else's things, even their blogs. Ok, spoil is a harsh word. It's not spoiled. But I am somewhat annoyed...

Valentines Day

The new definition is 'Single Life Awareness Day' or according to my cousin Mattea it's 'Thank you all of you stupid greeting card and candy companies for rubbing it in my face that I'm single day'

Yep, I'm jealous. I admit it.

A Single Man ^^Spoiler^^

I am a huge Colin Firth fan and he is nominated for an Academy Award for a movie called 'A Single Man'. The move is set in the early 60's and begins when George is notified that his long time partner Jim has been killed in a car accident. He is also told that the service for his partner is for "family only" and clearly, George is not considered family. He is basically left to mourn alone, with the exception of one friend who knew of his relationship. His friend is played by Julianne Moore as a boozy divorcee who at one time had been his lover. She'd like to rekindle their relationship but as George explains in a flashback of a conversation with Jim that even if he has had sex with women, he falls in love with men.

In the days following Jim's death we see glimpses of Georges life at work (he is a college professor), at home and in encounters with 2 young men who see into the secret life he lives. One is a casual meeting in a parking lot that goes nowhere while the other is one of his students who basically stalks him. The student Kenny appears to be confused about his sexuality and is obviously attracted to George. Other than a little skinny dipping there is nothing shown on screen between them but I think that this was actually more provocative than 'Brokeback Mountain' . I was actually uncormfortable watching some of the scenes.

The ending was pretty strange....George had lined his ducks up to commit suicide and decides not to but then apparently dies of a heart attack.

I have not totally digested the movie but am thinking I would not recommend it even though I thought Colin Firth did a good job. And I don't ever need to see it again.


** our of ***** For Colin. But sorry, I think no Oscar.

February 3

I know it's tomorrow but I need to write tonight.

On February 3, 1993 I lost my Mom. Technically I'd lost her before that but her body remained on this earth until that date. Then she was called home to Glory, where I hope she's been walking and is now clear headed and sitting between my sisters at a slot machine, waiting for me to show up someday. And I know that sitting next to Cathy, she's broke. We used to joke that the fastest way to lose money in Vegas is to sit down next to my sister. And in a while, Mom will do what she did for more than 50 years, go home to Daddy and take care of him because he's there too.

Patty Loveless sings a song called 'How can I help you to say goodbye' and here is the last verse:

Sitting with Mama, alone in her bedroom
She opened her eyes, and then squeezed my hand
She said, I have to go now, my time here is over
And with her final words she tried to help me understand
Mama whispered softly, time will ease your pain
Life's about changing, nothing ever stays the same

And she said, how can I help you to say goodbye
It's okay to hurt, and it's okay to cry
Come let me hold you, and I will try
How can I help you to say goodbye


Time has eased my pain but I miss my mama every day of my life. She was the best!! And now I need to go cry.

John Edwards

I got my People Magazine yesteray and on the cover is Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of John Edwards, the former senator from the state of South Carolina and former presidential candidate. It chronicles Elizabeth's journey for the last 3 years as she's been diagnosed with breast cancer and is now in stage 4 and 'incurable'. They have been married for more than 30 years, have 4 kids, went through the death of their son who I think was killed by a drunk driver, have been through 2 presidential campaigns and have faced this cancer for a few years. Then, last year the rumors start that he has had an affair with a campaign worker and that he has another daughter. At first he denied the affair, then conceded the affair but denied the child. Now it comes out that he has indeed acknowledgted that the precious little girl is his.

Now we find out that Elizabeth has known of the affair for a couple of years and she found out about the child this summer. I have to wonder why she stayed, why she did not show his sorry butt the door but instead she's tried to make things work. She was out of remission and stood beside him as he ran for president even though it probably would have been better for her to be at home, for her health and her kids. She tried to work things out after she found out about the affair. She is dying and fought hard for a family so she can leave her little ones behind. But apparently, the baby was the final straw. Apparently divorce papers are drawn up. In a classy move, she went to meet the child and too her Christmas presents. John has moved out. She's ready to move on.

So to recap, this "man" married a good woman, made her promises, fathered her children, then had unprotectd sex with a bimbo, denied the affair, denied his child and broke the heart of the sick mother of his children

I can honestly say that this person is worse than Bill Clinton and who knew that was even possible. I can only thinks of one word to describe him. It's not a word that I use very often but sometimes its the only work that fits.

John Edwards is a FUCKER.