Taylor at Talladega

http://www.vimeo.com/947789

Tatlor Hicks singing the National Anthem at Talladega Raceway, April 27, 2008.

Birthdays

Today is my birthday and I remember being excited about that--now, it's more like a necessary evil! ;) They seem to come around a lot more often! Better than the alternative, I guess! This is a re-post.

April 25th

Yes, I know that was a couple of days ago, but I was without access to the blog so I'm talking about it now! That was the day I graced the earth---many moons ago! I arrived around 4:30 a.m. and weighed 6# 13 ozs, which is also how much my son weighed, years later! Certain members of my family would say that was one of the few times I was early. To them, I would say-- zip it! No one is perfect, you know! And there are bigger flaws to be had. Need I mention any?! Getting back to the theme at hand--my sisters were 12, 11 and 9 when I was born. Their father had been killed in an accident when they were much younger. I was my daddy's only child. I'm sure he felt like he'd hit the jackpot! ;)

I look alittle like him in this picture. I'm sure my mother made the dress I'm wearing and the booties, too. (And why do hospitals insist on combing babies' hair that way? My daughter's hair was done the exact same way! I'd comb it down, she'd go to the nursery and come back with the little flip again!) My daddy also told me that I liked ice cream so much, I'd eat it until my nose was red.

I've had some fun birthdays in the past, but haven't had one in awhile. this is one of the last ones, my 26th:


My face is alittle pink 'cause it was a surprise party at a relative's house and I turned about as red as a human being could when I got inside! I had planned a surprise party for my husband a couple of months before with a friend of mine whose husband had a birthday like a day after and we told each of them that the party was for the other one! Weren't we clever?! Let me tell you, it worked like a charm and they were both surprised! So, not to be outdone, he surprised me back! It was funny.

We've had some fun parties for the kids but the one I remember most was one for my daughter in the second grade. I invited the whole class, thinking they would not all be able to come--HA! I had a house full of running, yelling kids for a couple of hours! It was in June, so they were in and out of the house, too! From then on I was all for small parties!

Having my birthday in April was good, weather-wise, usually. I have a lot of pictures with sunshine in them. And even though they aren't as much fun to celebrate anymore, I had some fun parties growing up.

I hope David, Todd and Eric also had a happy shared birthday this year!

Hillary and Obama Smack Down

If you haven't seen the smack down of Hillary and Obama, do your self a favor:

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/04/22/video-hillary-clinton-wrestles-barack-obama/

I think they should do this for real to decide who gets nominated!

HT: Hot AIR

The Bush Family

I'm sure the lefties are twitching today!

Last night,  President Bush was on Deal or No Deal (not in person) to thank a soldier who served 2 tours in Iraq and to wish him luck--he won $78,ooo! It was a great surprise!

This morning, Laura Bush was on the Today Show and stayed to co-host for awhile.  She and her daughter, Jenna, read a book they wrote to some little people.  There was a discussion about twins and all the right things they had done with Jenna and Barbara. Barbara said she learned to get out of her bed first and helped Jenna to get out and they ran in to wake their parents! They went to different summer camps and had different friends. They were treated as individuals and never referred to as the twins. Jenna's husband-to-be asked Barbara first about marrying Jenna.  Jenna told him she was going to sleep in Barbara's bed on Christmas Eve like they've always done! They were cute!

They also did a tour of their eco-friendly home that was built in 2000 before he was elected. It is a one level house that expands over a large area. They went outside where Jenna's wedding will be. I hope they have good weather!

I enjoyed seeing them and especially knowing that the lefties were a-twitch! heh  

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24256616/

Babec

The 28 year old gorilla, Babec, had to be put to sleep due to heart disease problems. I think he was the only gorilla at the Birmingham Zoo. He had surgery in 2004 to have a pacemaker installed and in recent weeks had been clutching his chest.

I was a room mother for both of my kids and we went to the zoo fairly often on field trips. I always liked to look at the gorilla but was afraid of him, also! In spite of the sign outside his cage that said do not tap on the glass, there were always some smarty pants teens who would do exactly that and more.  The gorilla would act like he wasn't paying attention and suddenly jump to the front and hit the glass which would make everyone screan and jump! 

There's an article about him at the zoo site:

http://www.birminghamzoo.com/babec%20story.asp

Valuable Tags

Did you know that people in Delaware put so much value on having a car tag with a low digit number that when a man passed away with a 6 car tag, it was sold at auction for over $600,000!! How dumb is that?!

William "Spanky" Gibson

Marine Gunnery Sgt William "Spanky" Gison, 37, has redeployed to Iraq. Not unusual these days but the difference is he went back without one of his legs.  He was on a foot patrol in May, 2006, when a sniper's bullet hit his left knee, destroying it.  He tried to get up but the bullet also severed a major nerve and his femoral artery.

Back at home, his leg wouldn't heal and he begged to have it cut off so he could get out of the hospital.

He learned to ski and run and trained for triathalons. At the triathalon from Alcatrez a Marine General asked him if there was anything he could do for him and he said he wanted to go back to Iraq.

He's only one of a very small group but they are very much admired!

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/24029144/

Charlton Heston

One of the greats........