The Coolest Things That Happened To Me In 2005

1.  My parents still going strong at age 72
2.  Having a mid-life epiphany and getting a new perspective
3.  Vacation in Memphis
4.  Going to Graceland in a stretch limo
5.  Becoming a Louisville Bats season ticket holder
6.  Buying a guitar at the Gibson factory
7.  Getting broadband and a wireless router
8.  Becoming a member of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary
9.  Getting to meet Terri Clark twice
10. Going to Ruth's Chris in a bad 2006 Mustang
11. Getting back into playing the guitar and singing
12. Buying a $350 Swiss watch on sale for only $60

Goodbye 2005

Dear 2005,

After spending 364 days with you so far, the time has come when we must say goodbye.  But before we bid farewell, I'd like to thank you for a few things.

Thank you for showing me how important friends are.  This summer, you gave me the opportunity to be a rock for someone; just a few weeks ago you gave that friend the opportunity to be a rock for me.  We both knew we had it in us, but we never thought we'd have to step up like that for each other.  You gave us that chance to step up, and we're stronger for it.

Thank you for showing me yet again the importance of unconditional love.  During the fun times, the sad times, and even the bad times, you gave me the chance to give and receive unconditional love from my friends and family.  I hope that your friend 2006 will give me the same chance.

Thank you for no major illnesses or health dramas during your year.  Other then the 'rents and me ending your year with sinus infections, you've seen us healthy.  You've seen us eating healthier and getting more rest.  And best of all, you've seen Mom beating her diabetes. 

You've seen a few repairs to the BMW, but as you leave us, it's in tip-top shape.  You also saw the Blazer making it through another year in good shape.  And I thank you. 

Thank you for showing me that I need to be playing the guitar more.  You made me remember how great it feels when I play and sing.  One resolution for your friend 2006 is to keep on playing and to try my hand at song writing. 

Before you leave, thanks again, 2005, for everything.  For the laughter, for the tears, for the frustrations, for the anxiety, and for the triumphs and sucesses. I've learned from them all.  

Your friend,  Puddin

 

Who Stole The Nun Bun?

Nun Bun stolen, owner reports
Cinnamon sacrilege on Christmas morn

Something crummy happened in Nashville on Christmas morning.

The Nun Bun was stolen, its owner said — and he fears the globally renowned cinnamon roll, famous for its resemblance to Mother Teresa, has been ripped apart and thrown away.

"My gut feeling is that it's destroyed," said Bob Bernstein, the owner of Bongo Java coffee shop, where the bun had been on display for nearly 10 years. "Someone took it, destroyed it and it's the last we'll hear of it."

Someone broke into the Belmont Boulevard coffeehouse yesterday morning, apparently with the sole purpose of stealing the pious pastry. Bills and loose change in charity-donation containers near the bun's glass display case were untouched, Bernstein said.

"They went right for the bun," he said. "What the heck they are going to do with it, I can't imagine. It's sure not something anyone would eat. I hope they do eat it. It will teach them a lesson."

Store managers were alerted to someone breaking into the coffee shop yesterday at 6 a.m., Bernstein said. He called police immediately, he said. The theft is under investigation, Metro Capt. Ben Dicke said last night.

The Nun Bun became the object of international attention in 1996 — less than a year before Mother Teresa's death — after Bongo Java employees noticed its uncanny resemblance to the world-famous Catholic missionary.

"It may not be a miracle, but it's close enough for Nashville," singer-songwriter Sand Sheff said at the time.

To preserve it and the image it bore, the bun was coated with shellac.

The bun was controversial, too. Bernstein stopped marketing T-shirts and mugs featuring it after Mother Teresa, then 86, wrote him asking him to stop. "She didn't mind the bun itself, but she didn't want us making money off her name or image," Bernstein wrote in his history of the Nun Bun posted on Bongo Java's Web site, www.bongojava.com.

The curious confection enjoyed some renewed publicity last year after a Florida woman made $28,000 on e-Bay by selling a partially eaten grilled cheese sandwich she said featured the image of the Virgin Mary.

The Nun Bun often is listed among such notable foods-as-religious-icons that occasionally capture Americans' attention as the "Fish Stick Jesus" and the piece of popcorn whose owner said it bore the likeness of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. Closer to home, many Tennesseans also remember accounts of "Freezer Jesus," an image of Christ that appeared on a chest freezer in Estill Springs, Tenn., in the late 1980s.

As for what anyone could do with the Nun Bun while it's "hot" — while it's stolen merchandise — that wasn't clear yesterday. There were no listings on e-Bay last night for a "nun bun."

Bernstein said he does not know the bun's worth. He tried at one point to find an insurer for the bun, "but no one would touch it."

Metro’s police report on the theft estimated the bun’s value at $25. It said the “Mother Theresa Cinnamon Bun” was the only item taken. As stolen goods, the bun was classified in property category No. 77, for “other.”

Bongo Java was closed yesterday for Christmas and was due to be closed today, but Bernstein said he will open the shop so people can come to discuss the bun, or, perhaps, provide information they might have about who stole it.

"It's weird," Bernstein said. "You laugh about it a little bit, but it's an empty feeling. It's like the end of an era."

 

If you remember, it was just about this time last year when things were abuzz about the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich.  We should have known it was just a matter of time before another so-called miracle food popped up.  I did some checking before posting this, and as of 6:00 p.m. EST tonight, the Nun Bun hasn't appeared on eBay yet, although you can get a bumper sticker or a Nun Bun t-shirt on there. 

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think it looks like Mother Theresa at all.  To me, it looks more like Jimmy Durante. 
 

 

Coincidence . . . Or Not?

My co-worker G told us an interesting, and downright bizarre, Christmas story today.  I'm still pondering it.  He and his family have the three Wise Men from a nativity set, and this Christmas they set out trying to find Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus for the set.  These aren't your ordinary nativity scene figures; these are hand-painted and are pretty big.  They called the Big Store where they bought the Wise Men, but all of their Louisville and Southern Indiana locations were sold out of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.  G and his family went to Missouri for Christmas to visit his parents and sisters, and on their way back home Monday, they decided to stop at the Big Store that was just outside of his parents' hometown.  Lo and behold, Christmas is truly a time for miracles because they had one set left.  They bought Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, and got back out to their SUV and carefully wrapped the Holy Family in blankets and coats, to keep them safe for the trip home.  Once back in southern Indiana, they unwrapped the figures, only to find that Mary had a hole in the top of her head. The next day, they called one more Big Store and, yes, you guessed it - they had one set of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus left.  So G took the impaled Mary to the Big Store and exchanged her for another one.  Once home, they placed Mary with the rest of the nativity set figures, and discovered that she had a hole in her head, too.  Only this hole wasn't on the top of her head like the other Mary; her hole was on the side by her veil. 

Our suggestion was to try and repair the hole with some plaster and paint.  That, or maybe put a silk flower in the hole, and have it look like Mary is wearing a flower in her hair. 

Root Canal - Part 3

I am very happy to report that the last phase of my root canal was completed this afternoon.  I made a trip to my new dentist, who I absolutely adore, and he drilled out the temporary filling and replaced it with a nice, new silver permanent filling.  By far, this has been the easiest of all of the procedures.  I was leary for a moment while I was laid back in the big chair - he had the drill in hand and was ready to commence drilling out the old filling when I realized that he hadn't numbed me up.  He must have read my mind because he said "You won't feel a thing because the tooth is dead."  And true to his word, I didn't feel a thing.  After only 15 minutes, I was in the car and headed for home.
Thank you, my faithful readers, for your kind emails during the Root Canal Drama of 2005.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I have the best faithful readers of any blogger out there.

Farewell, ABC Monday Night Football

Last night was bittersweet - I got to see the Patriots show the Jets why they are two-time Super Bowl champs, but at the same time, it was the last Monday Night Football game on ABC.  Beginning in September 2006, Monday Night Football will move to its new home on ESPN.  ESPN will pay $1.1 billion per year for Monday night rights in an eight-year deal. 

ABC started Monday Night Football on September 21, 1970.  After an impressive 36 seasons, it is the longest running primetime sports series in television history.  Back in the day, it was a bold step to take for ABC.  At that time, football in America fit into a three-day weekend.  Friday night was for high school games; Saturday belonged to college football; the NFL played on Sunday.   The NFL offered it to CBS and NBC who both turned it down. ABC jumped on it and 555 games later, the rest is football history. 

Monday Night Football brought familiar faces to our homes every week - Howard Cosell, Dandy Don Meredith, Frank Gifford, and Keith Jackson.  Al Michaels took over the play-by-play duties in 1986, and will follow the series to ESPN next season, along with Joe Theismann, who gave us one of the more dramatic moments in MNF history.  I remember watching the game in the 1985 season when Theismann's leg was literally broken in two during a sack.  That is still one of the freakiest things I've ever seen on TV to this day. 

I did some research and was surprised to find that the Jets have the distinction of playing in both the first and last Monday Night Football games on ABC.  They lost both games - the first to the Browns, and the last to the Patriots - but it is a distinction nonetheless.

I guess I have nine months to call Insight Communications and get the cable moved from the living room to my bedroom so I can keep up my Monday Night Football tradition of watching the game from bed.  It's a good thing I have till September - it will probably take that long for Insight to come out here. 

 

Christmas 2005 Observations

We travelled quite a distance yesterday - a trek downtown to church and back home to the south end, and then a trip to the east end of town with a detour to downtown before heading back home.  In all our our travels on Christmas Day, I'm surprised to say that out of all the miles we covered, we only saw one restaurant open: Waffle House.  And it was the newly remodeled Waffle House just a mile or two from work, even.  We passed by it at about 9:30 in the morning, and at about 9:30 at night, and both times the parking lot was full and it didn't look like there was an empty seat available in the place.

I knew that there wouldn't be many restaurants open on Christmas Day, but I thought there would at least be a few open, for those that had no desire to cook Christmas dinner.  But no. No fast food, no steak joints, no chain restaurants, no Mom and Pop diners - nothing.  In keeping with the them from the funny movie "The Christmas Story" where Ralphie and his family have Christmas dinner at the Chinese restaurant, we didn't even see any Chinese restaurants open, either.  So if you wanted to go out to eat yesterday, you were out of luck if you didn't live close to a Waffle House. 

Another interesting observation came at Walgreens.  It was the only store open on Christmas Day.  A few years ago, I started a personal crusade about Walgreens being open on every holiday and vowed that I would not go there and shop on said holidays out of solidarity to the employees who were forced to work on the holiday when everyone else was off. And until yesterday, I kept my vow.  But since that was the only place open, that was where Dr. Joe called in my prescription.  So we stopped there on the way home from church to pick it up.  First of all, we had to park next door in the bingo hall parking lot because the Walgreens parking lot was full.  And we didn't park next to the drugstore side of the lot, either; we had to park on the other side of the bingo hall in their big lot.  I knew that was a bad sign. 

When I got in the drugstore, I counted 26 other people crammed back by the pharmacy, all 27 of us waiting for a prescription.  And there were at least that many people standing in line in the front of the drugstore, waiting to be checked out.  The majority of them were buying either batteries or potato chips.  I did see one girl in line purchasing an EPT home pregnancy kit.  I bet she had a Merry Christmas.