Battle of Selma ‘07

Anyone up for a Civil War? The 20th Anniversary of the Battle of Selma Civil War Reenactment will be going on from April 12 - April 14. Advanced scheduling is required. Call (334)875-1960.

Ticket cost on Thursday and Friday is $5 each day.

On Friday, at 7 p.m., the artillery will be unleashed. At 8 p.m., join in the fun at the re-enactor's camp dance. Both events are free to the public.

On Saturday, April 14, gates open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Events include tours of Confederate, Union and Civilian camps, a troops drill, and the Skirmish, reliving the events of April 1, 1865.

On Saturday night at 7 p.m., the Battle of Selma Grand Military Ball will be held at Sturdivant Hall. Tickets for the ball are $15.

For ticket information, contact the Sturdivant Hall Museum at 334 872-5626 Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

On Sunday, April 15, gates will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Events include a 9 a.m. period worship service. At 10:30 a.m., a Civil War memorial service will be held at Old Live Oak Cemetery.

At 2 p.m., the Battle of Selma Re-enactment begins.

Lawdy, Mz Scarlett! Dem damn yankees is comin' agin! ;)

Star Wars Stamp

Almost thirty years after the movie, Star Wars, opened in Hollywood, a series of U. S. Postal stamps will be offered to the public in its honor.

There will be a voting contest to pick the most popular of the 15 SW stamps at: www.uspsjedimaster.com They want to see if they can break the record of the Elvis stamp. May the force be with them--thank you very much! heh

There are 400 US mail collecting boxes across the country decorated with stickers to look like R2D2! I wonder if they do that cute beeping like he does?

No need to rush out to buy the stamps! They won't be available until May 25! Well, you didn't expect them to put them on sale before the postage went up, did you?!

May the force be with you!

Tom Welling, Just ‘Cause!

This is Tom Welling. Mmmmmmm. He's Superman on Smallville. Mmmmm. That's why I watch Smallville! Mmmmm. Oh, pay no attention to the purring,,,,that's just me, enjoying the view! heh

UPDATE:For those seeking photos of Tom Welling--I posted one in Sept and 2 in July--enjoy!

No TP for a Year!

No, not me! A couple in NY with a 2 yr old plan to go for a year without toilet paper, or using any paper products, eating only organically grown food--grown within 250 miles of Mahatten-- and making no garbage! He is a liberal tree-hugger who plans to write a book. (Won't that be a waste of paper?) He's calling it No Impact and has a website at: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/

I am about to retire from recycling most things because in order to recycle, I have to store things and when ready drive downtown, which is about a 30 mins trip. I wish there was a pick-up service available but there isn't. The last time I went, I was alone and no one else was there except for a man who appeared out of nowhere and attached himself to my back door. I didn't see him when I drove up and suddenly, he's knocking on the window of the passenger back door! It felt like my heart was on standby! I looked at him, turned around and asked myself--do I drive off with him attached to the car or do I unload the car that I had just loaded at home? He looked small (wasn't considering a knife or gun!) so, I reluctantly unlocked the car and started unloading things. Throwing things was more like it! I threw a lot of stuff from as close to the car as I could. The whole time I was saying to myself--I am not coming back here again over and over! He was taking things out of the car, too. My guess is that he was from the soup kitchen a couple of blocks away. I didn't ask! I became aware of my purse being in the front floorboard and knew it wouldn't be too hard for him to reach over and get it. I don't carry much money but having had my purse stolen before, I knew what a headache it is to replace everything!

We got through and I knew he expected money, so I got a dollar out and told him I didn't have much money and with me standing inside the car door, he snatched it out of my hand and was off! I sat down in the car, locked the doors, restarted my heart and looked around and didn't see him anywhere! I started the car and left quickly! I don't know if I was more scared or angry! I didn't ask for help and didn't feel like I had a choice about it!

This was my second experience like this. The first time the guy was waving me in and took stuff out of the car while telling me he was hoping to get a job, etc. When the car was unloaded, I wished him luck with the job, got in the car and left! I only had change and there was no way I was going to open my purse in front of him! At first, I thought maybe he'd been hired to help on week-ends but now I think word has been passed around the soup kitchen and I don't plan to go back!

I'll still take the newspapers to the church down the road and do what I can do in safety, but no more going to the recycle center downtown!

And btw, I don't know who thought of locking the car doors with one button, but bless 'em! I always lock the doors when I go downtown. I was at a former neighborhood post office one night around 7 pm, putting stamps on some cards, and I saw motion out of the corner of my eye. I surprised myself with how fast I hit the lock button! A man was standing by my door and when I cracked my wondow, he was telling some tale about his girlfriend dumping him out and he didn't know where he was and would I take him to the highway! WHAT? I'm wondering if I have stupid on my face? No way was I taking him anywhere! I suggested he walk down to the grocery store and ask one of the guys for a ride and he left--and so did I! The next time I was in the store, I asked the cashier if he had come in and she said he had and one of the guys gave him a ride. Not that I was concerned. I was just checking to be sure he needed a ride!

And this brings me to the 250# drunk cop in Chicago that beat up the bartender who was half his size! Ladies, if someone attacks you, forget you're a lady and fight as dirty as you can! You know what I mean--grab hold and create as much pain as you can! Kick the knee, go for all the soft spots. Great if you have a weapon. I'm sure this lady was so shocked it was hard to think, but she could've hit him with a beer bottle. The men in the bar did not help! I don't know if it was because he was a cop or they were just too drunk, but dang--no help, at all?! It was really brutal! She survived but is scared to go out now.

Lock your car doors, ladies!

They Walk Among Us

A guy bought a new fridge for his house. To get rid of his old fridge, he put it in his front yard and hung a sign on it saying: "Free to good home. You want it, you take it." For three days the fridge sat there without even one person looking twice at it. He eventually decided that people were too untrusting of this deal. It looked too good to be true, so he changed the sign to read: "Fridge for sale, $50." The next day someone stole it. Caution... They Walk Among Us

One day I was walking down the beach with some friends when someone shouted, "Look at that dead bird!" Someone looked up at the sky and said, "where???" ...They Walk among us

While looking at a house, my brother asked the real estate agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn't want the sun waking him up every morning. She asked, "Does the sun rise in the north?" When my brother explained that the sun rises in the east, and has for sometime, she shook her head and said, "Oh, I don't keep up with that stuff." ...They Walk Among Us

I used to work in technical support for a 24/7 call center. One day I got a call from an individual who asked what hours the call center was open. I told him, "The number you dialed is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." He responded, "Is that Eastern or Pacific time?" Wanting to end the call quickly, I said, "Uh, Pacific.." ...They Walk Among Us

My colleague and I were eating our lunch in our cafeteria when we overheard one of the administrative assistants talking about the sunburn she got on her weekend drive to the shore. She drove down in a convertible, but "didn't think she'd get sunburned, because the car was moving."...They Walk Among Us

My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car. It's designed to cut through a seat belt if she gets trapped. She keeps it in the trunk. ...They Walk Among Us

My friends and I were on a beer run and noticed that the cases were discounted 10%. Since it was a big party, we bought 2 cases. The cashier multiplied 2 times 10% and gave us a 20% discount on both. ...They Walk Among Us

I couldn't find my luggage at the airport baggage area, so I went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed up. She smiled and told me not to worry because she was a trained professional and I was in good hands. "Now," she asked me, "has your plane arrived yet?" ...They Walk Among Us

While working at a pizza parlor I observed a man ordering a small pizza to go. He appeared to be alone and the cook asked him if he would like it cut into 4 pieces or 6. He thought about it for some time before responding. "Just cut it into 4 pieces. I don't think I'm hungry enough to eat 6 pieces." ...Yep, they walk among us... and they breed!

Amazing Race All Stars 3/25/07

There sure was a lot of confusion and frustration at the airport for all the teams attempting to get a ticket to the African nation of Tanzania! Charna and Mirna went to a different ticket counter and made plans to go to Johannesburg and try to get there that way. Other teams think that's risky and decide to stay at the airport overnight. Teri wanted to go back to the hotel but Ian insists they need to stay at the airport. Eric and Danielle get on a plane only to be taken off, because the seats belong to someone else. If someone else got on, it wasn't shown. Danielle is very upset.

The cousins have a prayer with a ticket agent in Johannesburg to get on the plane to Dar Es Essalaam and it works! They wonder where the other teams are after they land and go to the ferry terminal to get the first ticket to ride a dhow (boat) to the island of Zanzibar. Their trip is postphoned by a storm and the next day, Danny and Oswald are there to join them in their sailing trip. Charna gets sick and spends some time looking at the water!

Meanwhile, back at the airport, Ian and Teri and Bill and Joe are still trying to get on a flight! After 2 nights in the airport, they're finally on their way!

Back on the island, the tasks are Solve It or Schlep It. Solve it involves putting a 62 piece wooden puzzle together. The puzzle recreates an image from a style of local artwork, called Tinga Tinga. In Schlep It, teams had to go to Kjangwani Lumber Yard, put a 50# log on a cart and take it to a shipyard a mile away. The logs are used to make the native boats, dhows.

The cousins and best friends both decide to do the puzzle and the best friends finish first, but on their way to the next destination decide to stop and buy fruit. This gives the cousins a chance to get ahead. They are first to arrive at the tiny village of Kikungwi, home to the Massai, on the island of Zanzibar. The Roadblock here is to use a Kungu, a woooden weapon used by the Massai, to hit a clay mask 65' away. Mirna was the first to hit the target. What luck! The Pit Stop was Old Fort, an 18th century fortress.

The cousins were the first to hit the mat and when Phil told them they'd each won a catamaran they were silent and then asked him what it was! He told them it was a boat! Charna may want to sell hers!

Uchenna and Joyce had no problem with the time penalty from last week and safely came in third. He got to jump with the Massai and was pretty happy about that, too!

Beauty queens did the log task and were fourth.

Teri and Ian and Joe and Bill were neck and neck from the time they did the puzzle. Teri and Ian didn't realize right away that the puzzle pieces were painted on both sides and finished alittle behind. This proved to be their downfall, as they were last and eliminated.

I wonder what Rob and Amber were doing? ;)

Artist Loses Hands And Feet, Not Talent

I saw this on the news the other day and looked it up to post about it, but didn't see any way to tell her story better, so I'm printing it as is. I thought it was amazing, and she is an Alabama teacher!

If there can be such a thing as a bright side to losing both your hands and feet, Becky Guinn has found it.

Becky is without a single finger left to wear her wedding ring. But the way she sees it, "most men only put the ring on once, David puts it on every morning." (She wears it on a chain around her neck.)

"Her spirit has been unbelievable through this whole thing," her husband says.

It's especially unbelievable considering what she does for a living, and how she lost her limbs in the first place.

"This came so out of left field," Becky says.

Four years ago, this otherwise healthy, 59-year-old grandmother of four had a severe allergic reaction to a common blood-thinner called heparin.

"It clotted my blood rather than thinning my blood, and it filled the capillaries in my extremities. The effect was kind of like frostbite," Becky explains.

It was a blow that would have devastated most anyone — certainly any artist.

"When your wife is an artist; just the idea of losing your hands, it's tough," David says.

But amazingly, almost immediately after getting out of the hospital, Becky was able to use what arm she had left to sign her daughter's birthday card.

"That was a huge deal. It was kind of like a light coming on — like, OK, we're going to be able to do this," Becky says.

The second step was getting back to Valley High School in Valley, Ala., where Becky had been an art teacher. She showed up just six days after getting her prosthetics.

Later that year, when in English class the kids had to write a paper about their favorite hero, 60 percent picked Mrs. Guinn.

"Because she's so inspirational," one student says. "I got a lot of respect for her," another student adds. And another says "she's just a good all-around person."

"She's convinced that she needs to pour her life into these students," David says.

"I haven't studied this for 35 years to not share it," Becky adds.

Share it and do it. Today, four years after losing her hands, Becky has improved dramatically over that "Love, Mom" in the birthday card. She has been painting after the amputations. If anything, she may be better than ever.

"The work she's doing now, I just think it's the best she's ever done," David says.



© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Her students love her and her painting is awe-inspiring! I love stories like this and I hope it gives hope to the soldiers who are returning home with similar mountains to climb, and everyone else for that matter!

Finally!

One of the first posts I did was about the duck who was shot, stuck in a fridge and woke up a day or so later. I wanted to use a photo of myself and one of my ducks but had alittle problem getting it in the right place! Well, with Basil's help, it has happened! Ta-da!

No comments from the computer smarties, please! Just consider me a first-grader, hopefully learning everyday!

Thanks, Basil! ;)

Houdini kin wants body exhumed, tested

For all his death-defying stunts, Harry Houdini couldn't escape the Grim Reaper: He died on Halloween 1926, apparently from a punch to the stomach that ruptured his appendix. But rumors that he was murdered have persisted for decades. Eighty-one years after Houdini's death, his great-nephew wants the escape artist's body exhumed to determine if enemies poisoned him for debunking their bogus claims of contact with the dead.

"It needs to be looked at," George Hardeen told The Associated Press. "His death shocked the entire nation, if not the world. Now, maybe it's time to take a second look."

Houdini's family scheduled a news conference for Friday to give details on the plans. Prominent New York lawyer Joseph Tacopina is helping clear any legal hurdles to the exhumation

Who would want to murder Houdini? Possibly a group known as the Spiritualists, unhappy with his financial support to expose their fraudulent seances.

Comments like he would get his just desserts were made and the group was fond of arsenic poisoning.

At his death, it was thought a punch in the stomach had caused his appendix to burst and he had died from perilonitis. Arsenic poisoning would still be detectable.

Marine Pilot Receives British Honor

A lot of American tourists come to London hoping to catch a glimpse of the Queen. But Maj. William Cheserak is no tourist: He's a hero.

Cheserak, a U.S. Marine pilot, was honored on Wednesday in a way no American has been since the Second World War. He was awarded the British Distinguished Flying Cross — the most prestigious medal for airborne service the British have.

"I was overwhelmed, quite surprised," Chesarak says.

Chesarek was serving as an exchange helicopter pilot in Iraq with a British Naval Air Squadron, flying cover for a ground patrol when it came under intense fire.

"I did basically a run into the town, low level," he explains, adding that he preferred to not necessarily draw fire.

But draw fire he did, with one rocket round just missing him. Despite that, Chesarek then flew into the fight to evacuate a severely wounded British soldier, likely saving his life. He didn't think he did anything extraordinary.

But others did. This war has plenty of controversy. It now has one more hero.


© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Taylor at Local Autograph Signing

This is Taylor Hicks at a local autograph signing in Birminngham before his sold-out concerts earlier this month.

(Michelle Williams Birmingham News)

‘We want this baby polar bear dead’ say animal rights lobby

[YouTube link]

This is Knut, an adorable baby polar bear who was abandoned at birth by its mother and is being raised at a zoo in Germany. An animal rights group has decided it would be better off dead and want it put to death since they think he won't be able to assimilate with other polar bears.

I bet they aren't as cute as the baby bear--maybe they should be put to sleep! heh (j/k--maybe!)

If you go to Youtube and do a search for baby polar bear, there is a cute video of the little bear playing but it's in German.

The Amazing Race All Stars 3/18/07

I'd just like to say, I miss Rob and Amber!

First thing Mirna says is how glad all the teams are that she and Charla knocked Rob and Amber out of the race. It might mean less competetion but it doesn't necessarily mean they're happy with the couins! heh

Oswald and Danny were first to leave for the base of Marital mountain chain, ride a chair lift and hike half a mile to Marital Glacier. There they had to use an avalanche beacon to find a buried beacon in the snow for their next clue.

Joe and Bill, were first in line when the lift opened the next morning and found their clue quickly. They were to fly 7000 miles to the southeast African city of Maputo, Mozambique.

Dustin and Kandice failed to pick up their beacon before using the chair lift and had to hike back up to get it. I like these two--they get along well and usually play the race well but the past two shows have caught them making big mistakes. So far, they managed to come out well, in spite of this!

Meanwhile, Danny and Oswald were having trouble finding their clue and were last to leave. They said if you were lost in an avalanche, not to depend on them to find you! ha In the end, it didn't matter as all teams were on the same plane! I think it was Oswald and Danny who picked up some cologne at the airport and generously sprayed themselves!

After arriving in Mozambique, teams had to pick a taxi with a driver and travel to the Apopo Training Field. Eric decided, to play a joke on Joe and Bill and pretended to be trying to pass them, which had the desired effect. The girly men didn't like that. Eric said they were annoying and he was making fun of them! After they stopped, Joe snottily told Eric he should watch his jokes! There was talk about freaks and bipolar! Bill said peace several times and said they weren't letting any negativity into their game. Excuse me, I think I have to throw up!

When the gates opened, teams had to use a large rat--they were cuter than NY rats--using a collar and a leash, to find a deactivated mine with a flag to get their next clue. They are actually used to find mines, have names and hey, if there's an accident, the worker has a snack! (jk)

Joe's rat, Nelson, was first to find the clue so they were on their way 50 miles back to Maputo to find Praca dos Trabalhadores, a building designed by Gustav Eiffel. (Eiffel Tower, maybe?)

Next task was Pamper or Porter. Pamper was going to a market area and offering to paint fingernails for money, which was usually done by a man but the teams didn't know this. Some thought it would be too hard to get people to do this and went on to the Porter task which meant they had to fill large bags with coal, using their hands, sew them up and deliver one 45 lbs bag to a residence.

Charna and Mirna decide on the fingernail painting and put on a show about offering the people in the market a manicure. It was a good decision and they were first to head to Fortaieza, a fort completed in 1781 and the oldest building in Maputo. They were first (cough) to step on the mat and won a trip to Aruba. (They better stay in well lighted areas and stay away from the Dutch guy!)

The beauty queens also decide to do the manicures and were very good at it! Teri almost had to beg Ian to do the manicures--he didn't think people would want a man to do it! heh They also finished quickly.

The teams doing the coal were having a much harder time of it, and they were getting very dirty! Oswald and Danny tried to chase down Phil to give him a hug at the Pit Stop with their dirty clothes and hands, but he said, "No way!"

Eric and Danielle had a footrace with Joe and Bill and barely lost. Eric said they were beaten by two queens.

Stepping onto the mat in last place, a thrilled Uchenna & Joyce received the very good news that this was the first non-elimination leg of the race. While the threat of elimination now hung over their heads with a 30-minute penalty assessed if they don't win the next leg, they still counted their blessings to still be running the race. Uchenna said, "I don't like being in this position. We need to rock and roll. We just have to keep our intention right and stay forward." Joyce added, "Given the competitive people here thirty minutes could be pretty disastrous so we're gonna work like hell the next leg to come in first. We certainly can make miracles happen. We did on the last race."

Now just why couldn't that have happened last week for Rob and Amber, huh?

Eagles Landed in DC

Major Pain has a post about the gathering of Eagles in DC yesterday. It was hard to find anything about them on the news, as expected. They were easy to spot, though--they were the ones holding American flags! Thanks and a standing ovation to all who went and stood in the cold!

http://www.onemarinesview.com/one_marines_view/ (One Marine's View)

GunnNutt also has quite a few pictures at Semper Gratus
http://sempergratus.com/

Taco also has a post at SandGram:
http://sandgram.blogspot.com/

(If the links don't work, they are in my blogroll)

A Gathering of Eagles

Major Pain (One Marine's View) has an important message about a gathering of eagles in Washington, D.C. on March 17th. Please read! http://www.onemarinesview.com/one_marines_view/

Procrastination

I have a slight problem with procrastination. Even though I promise myself I'm not going to do it again, I find myself dealing with something I've put off, yet again.

Last fall, I had to find a special dress for a special occasion, and once again found myself putting it off until I had to get it done! I'm not a big shopper--I don't like to shop just to shop. Because this was a special occasion, I knew it wasn't going to be easy to find what I wanted and I dreaded the "looking" that I knew it would take! I also knew after the first attempt, I was going to have a problem with my feet and legs cramping afterwards. I found aspirin helped with that but by procrastinating I had painted myself into a corner timewise! This was also causing some anxiety which isn't good when you're diabetic. I was down to the last week and this little voice kept saying that I should go by the doctor's just to check on numbers to be sure I was okay. Again, procrastination.

I woke up one morning with something in my right eye, but when I looked in the mirror, my eye looked fine. I thought it might be a floater and went on with my search for, by now, a damn dress! While I was out, I sudenly noticed that I was looking through lines of blood in my right eye. Again, nothing when I looked in a mirror, but now, I'm paniced! I called the eye foundation and the person I talked to said he didn't think it sounded like an emergency but if I wanted to come by they were open all night! Not an emergency? Silly me.  I called my cousin who lives near Montgomery and she said she would be up in the morning to go with me to see the doctor. I had a hard time going to sleep and really didn't sleep much.

We went to the GP's the next day and my BP was high, as was my blood sugar. We left there and went to the eye hospital. I had had an extensive eye exam the year before and this was more of the same. They do everything but take your eye out and put it back in! This time I had an eye sonogram. When the intern asked me to look at a light on the wall, it was blank. He thought I might have a detached retina and called the "retina" doctor to come in and have a look. He did everything again and after almost 2 hrs, said the veins in my eye had burst. It seems when you're diabetic you grow extra veins to make up for the circulation problems. My choices now were to have surgery where you're put to sleep, or I could have lazer surgery to avoid that, but I needed to have it right away. No procrastination this time! The doctor said it wouldn't be bad and I had heard lazer surgery didn't hurt, so I agreed to have it done.

There wasn't much prep. I got in a chair which let down and the doctor came in with a needle in his hand that he was attempting to hide from me. He put it in my face, right by my eye and I could feel it touching the bone under my eye. He put one of those contraptions in my eye to keep it open and I made an "oo" sound and he asked if it was too big and removed it and had another one in very fast. The lazer was louder than I expected and for the first 15 mins or so, was tolerable. The last 15 mins were very uncomfortable--every other blast felt like a needle going into my eye! I was trying my best to be still because I sure didn't want him to hit the wrong thing in my eye! I was shaking alittle and questioning if this was better than being put to sleep!

The doctor said there was a lot of blood in my eye and he couldn't get all of it and I would need to come back in 3 wks for more surgery. Just what I didn't want to hear. He said it wouldn't be as bad--I asked if I could have that in writing! He said to sleep with several pillows and not to lie flat, and not to take aspirin. The next day my eye felt like it had been rubbed with sandpaper but wasn't unbearable. The hardest thing was not lying down flat!

I made another attempt to look for a dress but just gave up and wore something I already had. Everyone looked at my slightly swollen, red eye and said in horror, "what happened to you?"

Driving proved to be a problem especially at night. It has gotten better but is still not as good as my vision was before. Reading is also a problem and I sit a lot closer to the computer now! It looks like I have hair in my eye (to me) and the lazer evidently cut my eyelashes in half. I'm very irritated that they haven't grown back!

I also haven't been back for the rest of the surgery. Yep, I'm procrastinating. Knowing what to expect makes it very hard to pick up the phone and make an appointment. I really think I'd rather be put to sleep!

My cousin told me later she couldn't believe how calm I was--well, I didn't think it was going to hurt! She left the room after he fired up the lazer. Chicken. heh.

I'm trying to work up the courage to make an appointment, but, so far, no luck!

The Amazing Race All Stars - 3/11/07

Well, phooey! This is not what I wanted to see happen! Not Rob and Amber!

Rob and Amber left first and got their clue to fly to Punta Arenas, Chile and find Lonsdale's Shipwreck.

Charna and Mirna find time to not only fight with other teams but each other as well! I realize Charna is at a disadvantage as a little person, but these two do not make me want to cheer for them!

The choice of tasks is Navigate It or Sign It. Rob misspelled the name of a country while making the sign post and didn't want to give up until it was almost too late. They decide to do the Navigate It which means they have to find a sailor, get a compass and find the  Nautilus Building for the next clue.

They have to take a charter plane to the Southern most part of South America called the end of the world post office, find a letter in a sack of mail that was written by someone from their original race team, read it and head for the pit stop.

Oswald and Eric finished the task first and win a trip to Maui.

Charna and Mirna are really ugly and call Amber a bitch as they run for the pit stop. Amazingly, they reach the pit stop first and since Rob and Amber are last, they are eliminated!

On the experience, Amber commented, "This isn't the end. It might be the end of the race for us, but the fact that we got to come back and do it a second time is pretty spectacular. Just to spend this time with each other means the world to me." Rob added, "I think the thing I'm gonna miss most is not being able to compete, knowing that there's a game going on and I'm not in the game. At the end of it all, I still have an amazing wife, a great life, a great family. I'm a lucky guy. I'm already a winner."

Indeed! And I am going to miss seeing their adorable cuteness!

Heh

Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut and still think they are sexy!

Taylor Rocks in B’ham

Taylor Hicks played to two sold out crowds this past week-end at the Alabama Theatre. First he got the key to the city of Homewood, complete with a plaque, then he did some autographs while the Red Cross took up donations for the tornado victims at Enterprise.

He was alittle under the weather but put all he had into his performances and made his fans happy.

He has a new tour bus and said he quickly learned to close the privacy blinds while enroute, or there would be people honking and waving while moving down the road!

Taylor said he was glad to be home for awhile and was looking forward to eating some good food.

Jean Quilts Warm Wounded Soldiers

Andrea Holldorf might be the busiest lady in the tiny city of Grant, Iowa. She's busy making quilts using blue jeans for wounded soldiers at WRAH.

Her husband helps her by cutting the jeans into squares at night.

They don't need more jeans but could use quilting supplies and donations for postage.

Send to:

Andrea Holldorf

PO Box 258

408 Jefferson

Grant Iowa 50847

The Head Hunters

This photo supplied by the International Fund For Animal Welfare shows lions in cages at a breeding facility in the Orange free State province, South Africa in 2005 during part of an IFAW investigation into the captive breeding of the animals for canned hunts. South Africa's environment minister announces new laws, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007, to clamp down on the hunting of captive lions amid warnings from predator breeders that they may have to euthanize hundreds of the mighty beasts. (AP Photo/IFAW)

Would you be impressed by someone's "trophy" head of a lion or other top predator animal from So Africa if you knew that person paid almost $20,000 to chase down an animal in a truck that had been raised in captivity? Otherwise known as a "canned" hunt, where animals are chased into exhaustion and then shot. The people providing the animals raise them in cages and continuously breed them by taking the babies away from the mothers as soon as possible. Females are usually destroyed because males are more valued as "trophies".

They are trying to clean up this "sport" with new laws but the people who raise the animals are protesting with threats of killing all the animals on the "farms". (google--So Africa hunting law)

I guess none of these people have seen "Born Free". How very sad for the beautiful animals.

The Amazing Race All Stars 3/4/07

Rob and Amber leave first again as winners...again! Their first clue is to find the city of San Pedro de Atacama and the church of the same name for the next clue. That clue says to fly 800 miles to Puerto Monti. Rob and Amber find a travel agency opened late and book a ticket. Other teams are not aware and go to the airport for tickets. Mirna and Teri and Ian begin fussing over tickets when Mirna tries to barge in front of them and Ian shouts for security! heh In the end, all the teams are on the second flight except Rob and Amber, and 3 other teams who are on an earlier flight.

 Leaving the airport at Puerto Monti, Rob and Amber make a wrong turn on the way to a fishery. The task at the fishery was for one team member to jump in a tank of eighty flounders and transfer them in a small box to a holding tank. (Flounders are my favorite fish to eat and these were bigger than platters!)Danielle was afraid to touch them, at first, but after some harrassment from her partner, got the job done. I think I would've smacked him with one of the fish, but hey, that's just me! I also would've wanted a bath but I'm not sure they have time to clean up after tasks! David and Mirna also had trouble picking up the fish. The clue in the bottom of the tank said, "Find the sign for LaMaquina along the river.  Just before you enter Petrohue, search for your next clue."

 The last tasks were a choice between doing a 40' rock climb, or white water rafting with all the teams chosing rafting. It looked like fun--scary, but fun! Teri fell off but was okay. Rob and Amber finished first and made it to the pit stop first which won them each a full home gym.

Dustin and Kandice, the beauty queens, came in fourth but Phil had to tell them he couldn't check them in because they had failed to pick up one of their clues. They backtracked and found the clue they missed and got back before anyone else had checked in.

Mirna left her car keys in the tent where they changed clothes for the rafting but even though they had to go back to get them, still managed to beat David and Mary, who were eliminated.

 There was a little man at the pit stop with Phil who embraced Charna. I hope they aren't starting a dating service!

Enterprise

Cleanup continues in Enterprise

Posted by Birmingham News staff March 02, 2007 11:26AM

ENTERPRISE -- The sounds of Thursday's police and ambulance sirens have been replaced today by the sounds of chainsaws and heavy trucks in this southwest Alabama town devastated by violent storms.
As recovery began downtown and in the neighborhood surrounding the ruins of Enterprise High School, police and National Guard troops stand guard.

Joe Songer/News staffFirefighters walk by the destroyed Enterprise High School gym.

A powerful twister ripped through the town of 23,000 Thursday shortly after 1 p.m., killing at least eight at the high school.
"We were supposed to get out at 1," said Anna Greenwood, a senior at Enterprise High. "It got so bad, that by 1:10 the school was destroyed."
She was in a hallway near the bandroom when the storm blew in, and walked out minutes after it passed over. "As soon as I walked through the door, I looked to my right, and there was no school," she said.
Greenwood said she saw some students and teachers trapped and some were bleeding. "It was bad," she said, adding that everywhere there were people who were hurt.
All Enterprise schools are closed today.
Bobby and Carolyn Wyatt stood this morning in their yard, covered with fallen trees, near the high school. The Wyatts have lived in their home 38 years.
"We were blessed. God blessed us," Bobby Wyatt said. "I've never seen it this bad in Enterprise." His brick, ranch-style home sustained minor damage in the storm.
His neighbor across the street wasn't quite as lucky. The man's home was gutted by the high winds and rain. The roof was ripped away, and only a few walls of the house remained.
Joseph D. Bryant

 

Yesterday was a scary day for most of the state.

Update: More info available, as well as photos of President Bush's visit at: http://www.al.com/

To offer help: http://www.servealabama.gov

 

Sisters

If this was a leap year, today would be one of my sister's birthday. We used to joke that even though she was nine years older than me, I was technically older than her because of the actual birthdays. She was one of my 3 older sisters, the youngest of them. Their father was killed in an accident when they were small. I liked to say I was an only child with 3 sisters. There has always been the 4 of us for as long as I can remember. Until 2005, just after Thanksgiving, when my sister died of cancer. Losing a sibling is a jolt.

She had lived in CA for most of her adult life with her family. She graduated from college as a x-ray tech, met her husband in GA and  since he as an AF pilot, moved several times before CA. She quit working for awhile and took care of her son and daughter. When her son was in his teens, she went back to school and earned a double-masters and started working on her Phd but found it too stressing to be away from her family. She started teaching at a local college and really loved it. She taught anger-management, which if you knew how much of her anger I saw growing up, you'd know how funny that was! (We worked that out long ago!)

I would go visit them in IL and baby-sit my niece during the summer and at Christmas. The fringe benefit was being introduced to some cute guys by her regular baby-sitter!

The last time she came home was in 2003, for our mother's funeral. She stayed with my sister in FL, so I didn't get to spend much time with her. And, at the time, I didn't know that cancer was on its way. Even after I knew, I wasn't prepared for the phone call that said she was in the hospital and time was running out. And shortly thereafter, she was gone. It was no longer the 4 of us, no more jokes about how old she was, just an ending.

Three months later, her husband also died. She had spent the past decade or so looking after him with heart disease.

One of my favorite things to do when we were all under the same roof, was to make the phone ring and sit down and listen to my sisters running through the house, fighting over who was going to answer the phone! Then I'd hear my name screamed and would have to run for cover!

I still have a hard time believing she's gone. She was the one who ate healthy, did yoga and was so proud of how good she looked.

I miss my sister.