HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Before the countdown, here is just a little recap of the year 2005. The first line from the first post of each month in 2005.

January ~ No blog

February ~ No blog

March ~ No blog

April ~ No blog

May ~ No blog

June ~ Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Today is the day.....
How come we wish our days away?

July ~ Sunday, July 10, 2005
Dennis
It's here.

August ~ Tuesday, August 02, 2005
And the winner is...
Well to be honest he is not really the winner, but placed 72nd out of 500.

September ~ Friday, September 02, 2005
Not the elevator ride!
Have you ever been in a situation where you had to engage in small talk?

October ~ Monday, October 03, 2005
Doctors, Mechanics, Lawyers...
Here is a recap of some of the things I experienced last week.

November ~ Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Good things to know!
1. Budweiser beer conditions the hair

December ~ Thursday, December 01, 2005
"Half-Nekkid Thursday-7"
Ahhhhhh! Fresh out of the nice, hot shower.

Ten

Nine

Eight
Seven

Six



Five
Four

Three
Two

ONE


HAPPY NEW YEAR!


Have fun and be safe!

When I was 3....

When I was 3 years old, my family moved from Des Moines to Birmingham.
The builder had not finished our house as planned, therefore had to set us up in some apartments until the house was finished.

Since he had to pay for the cost of the apartment, of course, he wanted to spend as little as possible. He arranged for us to live in one apartment and store our things in a second apartment which happened to be located in a very low income part of town.

I was very little, so I could not really form an opinion of where we were living, but I do know that I was not happy. The little boys that lived in these same apartments were mean to my older brother and me. They would push me down and steel our toys.
(I know, poor little thing, right?)
On a couple of occasions, my mom had even had gone to the neighbors apartment to retrieve our toys. My mom would say, "Excuse me sir, but I believe your son has brought some of my children's toys to your house." The man, sitting in an easy chair staring at the television, without turning his head, would say "yeah, just take what's yours."
Well, I guess you kind of have the picture.

Once, my grandparents had come in town from St. Louis to visit.
Before they left to go home, they said to me (I am sure just an endearing way to say good bye) "Why don't you come home with us?"
Well, I guess I took them literally. I went into my room and a few minutes later I came out dragging a suitcase behind me. My mom asked me where I was going, and I said "I am going home with them....come get me when we move". If any of you know me, then you would be able to picture me with pouty lips ~ a trait I have always had.

(I suppose at that time my parents and grandparents discussed it, but I don't remember that part of it, I was too young).

So, they put my suitcase in the car, and off I went on my own adventures to St. Louis with my grandparents. I was shared and showed off between both my mom's parents and my dad's parents.

A month later, my dad flew to St. Louis and brought me home, to our new house.


My parents have always said I had a little bit of an independence streak from the time I was very young.


Okay, I shared, now it is your turn...what is one fond childhood memory that you have.

The Kind of Dame I am...

Guys, what leading man are you? Ladies, what classic dame are you?

I was visiting Dave. While I was there, I took this test. I found out what kind of classic dame I am...

Myrna Loy You scored 14% grit, 14% wit, 28% flair, and 57% class!

You are class itself, the calm, confident "perfect woman." Men turn and look at you admiringly as you walk down the street, and even your rivals have a grudging respect for you. You always know the right thing to say, do and, of course, wear. You can take charge of a situation when things get out of hand, and you're a great help to your partner even if they don't immediately see or know it. You are one classy dame. Your screen partners include William Powell and Cary Grant, you little simmerpot, you.

Guys, find out what kind of classic leading man you'd make by taking the Classic Leading Man Test . Gals, find out what kind of lady or tramp you are by taking the Classic Dames Test.

Then, let me know!

~ Happy holidays *hugs*

Cold and almost bare!

Carsley tagged me!
Here is what is in my "fridge" right now. I know, it is almost bare, but there are some essentials in there.
So, while you are in there looking around, feel free to ask if you can't find something!



I am supposed to tag five people.
This one is easy, so let's see....
1. Neo
2. Jef
3. Becky
4. Roboshrub
5. Aliecat

I hope everyone will play. Just let me know when you have posted your picture, then tag five others.

Now, let's do a shot! Does anyone have any limes?

Merry Christmas!

fa-la-la-la-la
la-la
la
la ....

My Stalker

I hear many people talk about be stalked by other bloggers and they end up having to move their blog.
I once had a stalker in real life, and it was almost 4 years ago.
I used to work at a bookstore parttime, and this guy we shall name "Freakboy", worked there fulltime.
He seemed nice and always tried to talk to me. I became friends with him. We would hang out and spend time together (as friends). The more time I spent with him, the more I realized that he wasn't "quite right"...(sort of slow, but it wasn't drastic).
After a while, I felt more and more uncomfortable being around him (take in mind I still had to work with him).
He kept talking about getting a different job, so of course I encouraged him.
I know, that was completely selfish of me, I was mostly thinking how nice it would be to not work around him, but he did not know that.
Finally he got a job at an eyecare center, making glasses ~ frames and lenses.
Good for him...and now I didn't have to work around him!
I had wanted to tell him that I no longer wanted to hang out, but I was a little concerned he might not take the news so well (to the point he may do something to himself).
It was apparent that he liked me much more than just a friend, so I decided to break away from him slowly, so it would not hurt his feelings.
I became busy with other people instead of doing stuff with him. Finally, I got the courage, and I told him that I just couldn't hang out anymore that I felt uncomfortable about our friendship. Well, I won't go into complete details of how hard he cried, but all in all, it ended pretty good.
I really was nice to the guy, even though I wanted to scream to him that he was a "perverted freakboy and I never wanted to be around him anymore".

**Side note~Right about this time I started going out with boyfriend.

It wasn't over then....

So, here is what happened because I was nice and did not want to hurt his feelings....

He kept coming in the bookstore at night and hanging out in a section close to the area that I was working and would watch me.
I found out later that he would call nearly every day to find out when I was working.
When my friend told this to me, I went to the manager, he said he would put a stop to this.
He also kept calling me and hanging up. (I know, what grade are we in, 3rd?)
I ended up moving, which was a good thing, now he didn't know where I lived any longer.

Wrong!

Once he came in the bookstore and asked me how I liked living in my new apartment off of Cahaba River Road!!!! What? OMG! Has he followed me?
Then he said "Oh, I saw your chart at the eye doctor, so I looked at it". WHAT? (Oh, did I mention that he got a job at the eyecare center that is connected to the eye doctor I go to)?
One of the co-workers at the bookstore overheard him tell me this and said "Dude, that is illegal".
Then he started stuttering and mumbling...."Uh, well, I didn't really look at it, I just saw it".
First of all, he works in the glasses lab, not the doctor's office ~ they just happen to be in the same building, so what was he doing snooping around the doctor's office? ...And secondly, isn't that against the law for him to do that?
I told my boyfriend and he said he was going to talk to him. I think at this point, boyfriend was ready to do more than "talk to him".

It was about a month later, I had to go to my eye doctor to pick up some contacts (luckily "Freakboy" wasn't there, but I was in tow with boyfriend).
They couldn't find my chart, and boyfriend was about to speak up when they finally found it. We contemplated saying something about "Freakboy" anyway, but didn't.

Then we had to get mean...
So, between me, boyfriend and the manager at the bookstore, we finally made "Freakboy" realize if he didn't stop there would be consequences.
He finally did stop!
....And
He no longer works at the eyecare center. I am not sure where he works now, or if he even works...I don't want to know.
He no longer calls me.
I have moved again,
and I no longer work at the bookstore.
What a freak for sure!
I guess I was lucky, it could have been much worse.

Answers to Buggtastic Brain Busters

1. WIFALLTH

Fall in with


2. THING MANY MANY

One thing too many


3. SPEAKER SOUGHT

Sought-after speaker


4. H O M E

Home grown


5. GET GET FOTHINGSCUS

To get things in focus


6. FANACTTILE

Act infantile



7. B B
___________
COME GRIEF

To be overcome by grief



8. B B
________
BURDENED

To be overburdened


peace ~

Buggtastic Brain Busters

We haven't done this in a while. Plus, these are easy!
Tell me what you think? Post your answers, but don't cheat by looking at the other's answers. Most of you guys know by now, if you don't want to play, just leave a comment, any comment (be nice:)

1. WIFALLTH


2. THING MANY MANY


3. SPEAKER SOUGHT


4. H O M E


5. GET GET FOTHINGSCUS


6. FANACTTILE


7. B B
___________
COME GRIEF



8. B B
________
BURDENED

~*~*~*~*

There are no right answers for the numbers below. Just tell me what comes to mind!

ONE ~ No one can eat just one (potato chip)
TWO ~
THREE ~ is company, or a crowd (which?)
FOUR ~ play (I know it's not spelled that way) *blushing*
FIVE ~ Golden rings
SIX ~ you get egg rolls!
SEVEN ~
EIGHT ~
NINE ~
TEN ~ little indians

Give it your best shot. I will post the answers later. Have fun, cya later!

Twinkle-Toes...that's me!

Christmas Elf Name My Christmas Elf Name is Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

Christmas Naughty or Nice List I am on the The Nice List After checking the North Pole database I had : 2,482 nice entries 287 naughty entries Check your name on the Christmas Naughty or Nice List at JokesUnlimited.com

Tell me your "elf name" and if you are on the Naughty or Nice list!

Night on the Town

Here is a cute little movie that I made........> Night on the Town

I hope you enjoy it!


ALSO...
Here is a little movie that TWolfe made for me........> Castle Lee Ann

I hope you have a great Friday and super weekend!

Five things about me!

I was tagged by Kay Ray. The object of this game is to list "Five weird habits of yourself", then tag five people. The people tagged need to make a blog entry with their "five weird habits" and tag five others.

1) I put the volume on the tv on an even number.

2) I put the items in my refrigerator in the same spot all the time; (I can grab my juice or milk with my eyes closed).

3) The zipper end of my pillow cover is the first end that goes into the pillowcase.

4) When I get hot while sleeping, I will put my left foot out of the covers instead of moving the sheets and blankets off of me.

5) When I am happy, I will unknowingly sing out "fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la" (even if it is not Christmas time).

Tag time!!!

T-Wolf,
Becky,
Angel,
Ellen,
and......

Ok, I know not to tag Carl (you know why Carl), Jiggs (because I think I have tagged you for everything, but I still love ya), Calzone (you have usually been tagged by someone or tagged with the same game previously), hmmmm.....I seem to tag the same people each time ~ so Dave, I will spare you too! Soooo,

FRANK, you are tagged too!

Through the eyes of babes...

NUDITY

I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was starknaked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, "Mom! That lady isn't wearing a seat belt!

HONESTY

My son Zachary, 4, came screaming out of the bathroom to tell me he'd dropped his toothbrush in the toilet. So I fished it out and threw it in the garbage. Zachary stood there thinking for a moment, then ran to my bathroom and came out with my toothbrush. He held it up and said with a charming little smile, "We better throw this one out too then, 'cause it fell in the toilet a few days ago.

OPINIONS

On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, "The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents."

KETCHUP

A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup to come out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answerthe phone. "It's the minister, Mommy," the child said to her mother. Then she added, "Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle."

MORE NUDITY

A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, "What's the matter haven't you ever seen a little boy before?"

ELDERLY

While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. The various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs, unfailingly intrigued her. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, "The toothfairy will never believe this!"

DRESS-UP

A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, "Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit.""And why not, darling?" "You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning."

SCHOOL

A little girl had just finished her first week of school. "I'm just wasting my time," she said to her mother. "I can't read, I can't write and they won't let me talk!"

BIBLE

A little boy opened the big family bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He pickedup the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages. "Mama, look what I found", the boy called out." What have you got there, dear?" With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, "I think it's Adam's underwear.

My visit to Dallas

I had such a great weekend. I went to Dallas to visit Kay Ray. With wonderful hospitality, she showed me the city. We went to South Fork Ranch. That was so cool. Did any of you ever watch the old tv show "Dallas". They play the theme music throughout the ranch. Then later that night, we went bull riding at Billy Bobs. Oh my gosh, talk about fun! I would have never guessed how much fun it could be. Kay Ray is a pro at bull riding. Me on the other hand, well, just put it this way, I would have had you laughing for sure. By the end of the night I was riding that bull for more than "eight seconds" haha.
She has a great group of friends, they took this picture before I was ready, but we had a blast.
She is trying to get me to move to Dallas but it is just not in the works for me at this point! Next time, she is going to have to come visit me here in Birmingham.
Thanks for such a great time Kay Ray!
Love ya

What's in a name?

Stolen from Osbasso
Hmmm......



....hmmm

I tried it differently....



I never thought of myself as "naughty", but when done both ways, there is reference to that!
I just have too many "N"s in my name.

How does your name come out? Just click on one of the pictures, then let me know.

Just a little OCD

I know that I like things done a certain way.
Most of my friends tell me that I have OCD.
I realize there may be a slight tendancy, but it is definitely not extreme.
I have illustrated a few examples of things I like done in a specific manner.
Come on, realistically, don't many of you do these same things?


The sink gets wiped down after each use. A separate towel is used just for that.
This drives boyfriend nuts!




All of my DVDs (pictured above) and CDs are kept in alphabetical order.
Who doesn't?




The shower curtain gets closed completely after each use.
Well, you have to let the curtain dry, right?




The toothpaste tube gets squeezed from the bottom after each use!
Well, it just makes it easier, doesn't it?




The dishes get washed before going in the dishwasher.
Ok, they are clean, but the dishwasher sanitizes them with the high heat.




Money is organized by denomination before going into wallet.
Well, it makes it easier to pay quickly.

Hope all of you have a great weekend!

Multiplicity, and I don't mean the movie!

We have all heard of the sheep that were cloned a few years ago.
What do you think of cloning humans?
I am not talking about the movie Multiplicity, with Michael Keaton. I am talking about real life human cloning!
Woo Suk Hwang, a trained veterinarian, gained worldwide attention after announcing last year that his team had cloned the world’s first human embryos and extracted stem cells from them.

Since then, there were rumors that he used eggs donated by subordinate scientists in his lab. Scientists have said that collecting eggs from an employee is unethical because of the potential for subordinates to feel coerced.

So, after Hwang was accused of ethics violations, he apologized to the public, acknowledging that two junior scientists working for him voluntarily donated their own eggs for his research.

There had been plans to open cloning centers in San Francisco and London. But U.S. support for the effort is waning in the wake of the egg donation allegations. Earlier this month, a University of Pittsburgh researcher pulled out of his partnership with Hwang’s research team, citing ethical concerns.

Hwang’s apology came after the Health Ministry said earlier that an ethics investigation at Seoul National University found the two junior scientists gave their own eggs for research. However, the ministry said the donations were not in violation of ethics guidelines because they were made voluntarily. As the scientists’ egg donations were neither “coerced or coaxed” nor “aimed at making profit,” there has been “no violation of ethics guidelines,” Health Ministry spokesman Choi Hee-joo told a news conference. Hwang said he would continue his research at Seoul National University.

I am all for advancement in medical technology, but I find it strange that the only part of this they find unethical is the manner in which the eggs are donated.

What do you guys think?

Medical technology is the greatest!

Little Zachary Davis was born October 20 with an abnormal heart. It was a marvel in its own right. Besides having many features of known congenital defects, it also had something not previously recorded in the history of medicine. His coronary arteries, which normally deliver oxygen and nutrients directly to the heart muscle, were instead supplied by a bizarre circuit routed through his brain.

Richard A. Jonas, a heart surgeon at Children’s National Medical Center, said “It usually takes a lot for us to say ‘That’s amazing.’ We see a lot of unusual things, but this was way out there.”

This exotic misassembly was good enough to get the baby through gestation, but he would not have been able to make it through life. A week after Zachary was born, Jonas took his heart apart, added missing pieces and reconstructed it to something close to its original specifications. It took about four hours and included a 25-minute period when the infant was packed in ice, with no blood circulating.

This is simply amazing to me. This little child would not have survived if it had not been for this doctor who specializes in “early primary repair”.

"There are only a handful of people in the world who can take a problem like this, think it through, do a complete repair, and have the child turn out so well," Mary T. Donofrio, Children's director of fetal cardiology, said of Jonas. "He actually did three operations, and [Zachary] had no leftover heart defects."

A newborn's heart is about the size of a large walnut. The operation is done with the surgeon wearing jeweler's magnifiers attached to glasses. How long a baby can be kept safely in "circulatory arrest" varies, but it is generally not more than 45 minutes. With each minute beyond a time limit that the surgeon cannot pinpoint exactly lies brain damage, a lifetime of lost potential, unhappiness and death.

Jonas sketched out the repair, determined the order of his work and kept a running total of how long it would take. (He prefers to do this the night before, explaining that "you do literally sleep on it; you run through the steps in your sleep.") There were 10 steps, the first seven requiring circulatory arrest. "What is difficult about an operation like this is coordinating all those modules," Jonas said. "You do not have an unlimited amount of time." The right order of work is not always obvious. In this operation, for example, he sewed one end of a donated vessel as Step 6, and the other end as Step 10. The price of doing things in the wrong or inefficient order can be very high. "You can paint yourself into a corner. You can literally get in a position where you can't get there anymore because you did things in the wrong sequence."

Zachary ended up with a normal appearing four-chambered heart in which the blood flows in the right direction.
Talk about stressful jobs!

Student’s best friend too!

Man’s best friend has been a helpful learning tool in Washington Grove Elementary school, Gaithersburg, MD. Tucker, a Golden Retriever and Ross, an Irish Setter have been helping struggling students with their reading skills.

One day, each week, the little readers get private sessions with one of the trained therapy dogs. The only other person in the classroom is the dog’s handler. The handler guides the lesson by posing her questions as if the dog is the one who wants answers about the story.

The children are inspired by the “nonjudgmental character” of the dog. The dog just listens and loves every word they say. This has helped children overcome their fear of mistakes. The kids don’t question if the dogs are listening, they just assume it.
The principal of the school says this enables a child to relax and enjoy reading. This is the first step for children to improve in pronouncing and comprehending the words.

The dogs are specially trained therapy dogs. They are screened to ensure they have the right skills, temperament, health and cleanliness.
The handlers must go through training with their pets. They do this on a volunteer basis, supported by donations, which means there are no direct costs to schools.

Over the years, dogs have been trained as therapy dogs to help the blind, hearing impaired and the elderly, why not in school?

In college, in my first psychology class, one of the guys in my class brought his Golden Retriever to class everyday. He wasn’t blind or impaired in any way. Those are very good tempered dogs. I could see why those dogs would be helpful to the children.

Some of the most colorful figures of the Old West

I am so glad it's Friday! I am ready for the weekend.
I just wanted to show you something that is fun.



That tall handsome dude in the middle is my cousin, obviously a distant cousin...(4th)
His name is "Texas Jack" Omohundro.
The two fellows with him are Wild Bill Hickok on the left and Buffalo Bill Cody on the right.

"Buffalo Bill’s show business career began on December 17, 1872 in Chicago; he was age twenty-six. "The Scouts of the Prairie" was a drama created by dime novelist Ned Buntline, who appeared in it with Cody and another well-known scout, "Texas Jack" Omohundro. The show was a success, despite one critic’s characterization of Cody as "a good-looking fellow, tall and straight as an arrow, but ridiculous as an actor." Other critics noted Cody’s manner of charming the audience and the realism he brought to his performance. Actor or not, Buffalo Bill was a showman. "

"The following season Cody organized his own troupe, the Buffalo Bill Combination. The troupe’ show "Scouts of the Plains" included Buffalo Bill, Texas Jack, and Cody’s old friend "Wild Bill" Hickok. Wild Bill and Texas Jack eventually left the show, but Cody continued staging a variety of plays until 1882. That year the Wild West show was conceived. It was an outdoor spectacle, designed to both educate and entertain, using a cast of hundreds as well as live buffalo, elk, cattle, and other animals."


Buffalo Bill Cody (2nd on left) / "Texas Jack" (on right end)
In stage costume 1873



"Texas Jack" 1874



"Texas Jack" 1880

I hope all of you have a good weekend!
*Hugs*