So Much For Winter

It's hard to believe that today is the last day of February. We've barely had a winter, which personally disgusts me because I love winter and snow.  But I digress.  Like I said, today is the last day of February and we've already had tornados in January and now in February here in the area.  We dodged a major bullet here in the Louisville area, but just to the south and southwest of us, a very strong tornado touched down.

I've said before and I'll say it again: I don't like spring and I'm not looking forward to it like most people. I don't like it because of all of the storms and severe weather. But other than a few cold days, this winter has been more like spring than most of the recent springs we've had. 

You Go, Angelina

I don't care what anyone else says about her right leg or her pose.  Angelina Jolie was smoking hot at the Academy Awards on Sunday night.

Grandma Was Right

Many years ago, a friend came to interview my Grandma for an article on friends and friendship that she was writing for a magazine.  She interviewed Grandma and talked with her for a couple of hours.  During that interview Grandma said something that  is more true as the years go by.  While Grandma was giving her pearls of wisdom about friends and friendships, she said something that almost contradicted what she'd been talking about.  At the time she said it, I remember thinking about I really didn't wish it were true.  Now that I'm older and a hardass, I realize she was right for the most part.  She said "Look in the mirror.  You're going to see the one person that you can truly rely on."

Link Of The Week

My Mom has always been the bird watcher in the family.  She would spend most of her free time on their trips to Canada watching the loons and other birds with her binoculars. Here at The Compound, she keeps her binoculars handy and can rattle off what birds are currently in our area without batting an eye.

Thanks to the internet and other technology, we can watch birds online thanks to web cams.  A friend from church shared this link with us, and I'd like to share it with you, faithful readers.  The link is to a site where you can watch a bald eagle sitting on three eggs in her nest.  The nest is located in Decorah, Iowa.  Check it out at http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles.

Sorry, Andy Wrobel

After some research, it seems that Andy Wrobel did not set the world's record for pancake stacking on Tuesday as TWIT reported.  Wrobel's stack was 76 centimeters, and at the time they thought the existing record was 74 centimeters.  But it was discovered that Paul Dedroog of Belgium had the existing record of 77 centimeters, set last January.  Better luck next year, Andy. 

On a related note, it has been said by many friends and relatives that my Mom makes the best pancakes ever.  I would be the first to say that.  Her's are so good, that I never order pancakes when eating breakfast out at a restaurant.  Mom's pancakes are thin, almost like crepes.  So that having been said, I don't think Mom should try her hand at breaking the world record for pancake stacking since hers are so thin, and she'd have to make a mess of them to get them to stack up to over 77 centimteres.  That's fine with us.  She wouldn't want the glory anyway.

Flashback Friday

As part of Flashback Friday, TWIT would like to wish a very happy 60th birthday to Mr. Potato Head.

Way back on this day in 1952, Mr. Potato Head was patented and introduced.  Back then, when you bought Mr. Potato Head, you just got the plastic face and body accessories, and used a real potato, or other suitable vegetable, for the head.  Later on in the late 60's, Hasbro wanted to make even more money, so they changed things around, so when you bought the Mr. Potato Head kit, you also got a plastic potato to use, complete with pre-formed holes for the facial parts. Believe me when I tell you it just wasn't the same.

I loved my original Mr. Potato Head, and I would play with it for hours.  Giving up a potato from the potato bin was a small price for Grandma and Mom to pay for some peace and quiet around the house. And I remember how I would always stick the little plastic pipe in my Mr. Potato Head's mouth, because back then, my Dad and Grandpa both smoked a pipe.

I haven't checked online, but I would guess that there are virtual Mr. Potato Heads that kids can play with.  And I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a Mr. Potato Head iPhone or Android app out there, too. 

I Wish I'd Said This

Following is a transcript given to me by a faithful reader.  The background of the story first:  today was her boss' birthday, but as of 9:00 this morning, none of her coworkers had remembered that it was his birthday; only my friend and faithful reader.  Not even the Lead Person in her department remembered. The transcript that follows is part of her conversation with the Lead Person in her department.

Faithful reader:  Where's the cake?

Lead Person: Nobody told me it was his birthday.

Faithful reader: It's the same day every year.


That is priceless, my friend and faithful reader.  Absolutely priceless.  That's yet another reason why you rock.

That's What I Call A Stack!!

TWIT would like to congratulate Andy Wrobel for becoming the new the world record holder for pancake stacking.  Yesterday on Shrove Tuesday (aka Fat Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday), Wrobel flipped and stacked his way into the Guinness World Records by stacking a whopping 60 pancakes on top of each other for a stack that topped out at 2.49 feet.  The record was set in Australia.

The world record stack eventually collapsed, but, luckily, not before officials and judges could confirm that it broke the previous record of 2.42 feet set in Croatia in 2008.

Something You Don't See Everyday

This picture was taken just moments ago in the parking lot of the local RiteAid drugstore.  I guess they couldn't wait till they got home to try it out.

"For those times when you have to know now."

Happy Monday

We usually have some laughter during our lunch breaks in the downstairs lunchroom, but today, it was just one laugh after another.  My friend and faithful reader SH was on a major roll, and she was spewing out the one-liners one after another today during our lunchtime.  JDub got into the act as well, and said a few good ones.  Of course if I were to type them in, they would make no sense to anyone else except the people in the lunchroom, but suffice to say it was one of the funniest lunches that I've experienced in a while.  I normally don't name drop in TWIT but I will today, and say that the lunchtime laughs got off to a good start when JN spoke up and said "Did I hear you talk about Grandpa Jones?"  That's all it took.

Link Of The Week

As of tomorrow it's game on, homes.  I'm back to counting calories and riding the bike every day.  To help with this endeavor, I have a good link.  http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php  You can find out how many calories you burn when you do a certain activity.  I am going to be consulting this site every day to figure out how long I need to pedal on the bike. Good luck in your endeavors.

Sherman-Geddon: Done, Snowmageddon: Unsure

The Weatherazzi are working round the clock today in an attempt to correctly predict how much snow we will get late tonight/tomorrow as a result of the big storm front moving through.  As of noon on Saturday, they still don't really know.  They think the heaviest and most snow will be south of Louisville, but they've said that they can't accurately predict.  So who knows how much snow any of us in the area will get tonight or tomorrow.  It's anybody's guess. 

Sherman-Geddon Is Over!!

We interrupt the regularly scheduled Flashback Friday to bring you news that Sherman-Geddon has ended.  Well, it will end at midnight tonight when the Sherman Minton Bridge is opened.  It's been a long time coming - over five months.  But the work has ended and hopefully the bridge is safe for traffic once again.

Unless you had to travel across the river to get to Louisville (or vice-versa) for the past five and a half months, you have no idea what we're talking about.  Commute times doubled and tripled for people trying to get across that bridge to get to work.

Now the bridge travellers have to look forward to the inevitable Kennedy Bridge closing so the gigantic potholes can be repaired.  I hope they at least wait a few weeks for everyone to get used to the old traffic pattern before they change things again.

Reflections

Today was a sucky day and I'm glad it's over.

A Little Good News

The 'Rents and I were heading out of the house tonight when we saw our neighbor PS, along with everyone's beloved Rocky Dog, walking over. PS looked happier than we've seen him in ages, and rightly so. PS was grinning ear to ear as he said he got the results of his PSA test today, and they could not find any signs of cancer.  Believe me when I tell you that was the best knews we've heard in a few weeks. He made it through his radiation treatments like the fighter that he is, and even quit smoking during this ordeal.  There were problems along the way but he and his family got through them.  Thank you, Lord, for another miracle.

Happy Valentines Day

With my quick wit and sarcasm, some might think I'm a hardass. Well, I am when it's needed.  I'm also a softy when it's appropriate, too.  So on this day, Valentines Day, I'd like to share the lyrics of one of my all time favorite love songs.  And I am proud to say that I know two of the writers that that put this powerful and meaningful song together, and I know they won't mind me sharing the lyrics with you, my faithful readers. 

I'll Still Be Loving You

Written by Pam Rose, Mary Ann Kennedy, Todd Cerney and Pat Bunch

Changin my life... with your love

has been so easy for you
And I'm amazed
Every day
And I'll need you....
Till all the mountains are valleys
and every ocean is dry
My love.....

I'll be yours until the sun doesn't shine
Till time stands still
until the winds don't blow
When today is just a memory to me
I know.....
I'll still be loving
I'll still be loving
You
I'll still be loving you

Never Before..
did I know
How loving someone could be
Now I can see
You and Me
For a lifetime
Until the last moon is rising
you'll see the love in my eyes
My Love....

I'll be yours until the sun doesn't shine
Till time stands still
until the winds don't blow
When today is just a memory to me
I know.....
I'll still be loving
I'll still be loving
You

Way To Go, Adele

TWIT would like to congratulate awesome singer Adele for winning not one but six Grammy awards last night.  She deserved every one of them. 

Her performance of "Rolling In The Deep" was not only my favorite performance of the 2012 Grammy Awards, but it also goes in my top five Grammy performances of all time.

If you haven't bought her latest album "21", please get a copy. I'll be honest and admit that other than "Rolling In The Deep" I didn't like the rest of the album at first.  But after listening to it a few times, I was hooked.

Way to go, Adele.  Keep up the great work.

Link Of The Week

This year is zooming by too fast, and it's hard to believe that it's Mardi Gras time.  If you know anything at all about me, then you know that my family and I have always loved to celebrate Mardi Gras, especially Fat Tuesday aka Pancake Tuesday, when we decorate the house and have a pancake breakfast on the day before Ash Wednesday.

You, too, can get into the Mardi Gras spirit and you don't have to do anything except click on a link. Visit http://www.nola.com/paradecam/ and you can watch the parades live as they are happening.  And since these are webcams they aren't censored and are streaming live, there's no telling who or what you might see.  Laissez les bons temps rouler!!

You Know It's Time To Do Laundry

You know it's time to do laundry when it's February and you wear a Christmas sweater to work.  Just saying.

Flashback Friday

Way, way back in the day when soft drinks came in glass bottles that our parents had to pay a deposit on, you were pretty frugal.  When you popped the cap off, either you drank all of it or you used one of these handy plastic caps to seal it so you could drink it later when it was still fairly fresh.

I can't be sure if these were from Tupperware or another similar company, but I know we all had them. And if the truth was told, most of our plastic bottle caps like these were broken, as most of ours were at The Compound.  But that didn't stop us from using the top part of the cap to cap off the glass bottle to keep the soft drink fresh. 

I'm not surprised that I found a couple of these here at The Compound.

Quote Of The Month

Spoken to me one evening last week by a server while I was at BW3's in the BMW getting some carry-out wings:

"Your car is hot."

Another Knee Update

Things are progressing and my knee felt stronger this morning when I got up.  But as a precaution I brought my very cool hand-carved cane with me today just in case.

I'm getting ready to go soak in the tub until time for bed, hoping the hot water will do some good. 

Knee Update

I'm very happy to report that thanks to prayers my knee is back up to about an 80% recovery.  There's still pain and tenderness but it's nowhere near where it was Sunday evening when I twisted it. I didn't need my cane today, and didn't feel like my knee was going to give away whenever I stood up.

Many thanks to the Lord who answered my prayers and to my friends and faithful readers who offered up prayers on my behalf.  This quick recovery is proof positive of the power of prayer.

Monday, Monday

If I were to flashback to this time yesterday evening, faithful readers, I would not have been able to post.  At just about this time 24 hours ago I twisted my knee in the most bizarre, painful way ever.  I'm not even going to try to make it exciting or dramatic -- I was hopping up on my bed to lay down and watch a couple of Andy Griffith episodes until time for the Super Bowl when I twisted my knee.  I didn't really hear a pop; I felt it.  And I laid on the bed in tears for about 15 minutes before hobbling into the family room where the 'Rents were.

After seeing I was in distress, Dad grabbed one of his very cool hand carved canes for me to use, and that helped me move about the rest of the evening.  But I'm not ashamed to admit that I don't remember much of the entire Super Bowl because I was in pain and worrying if I'd torn something. There was no swelling and no bruising, which was to my advantage, so I quasi-ruled out that I'd torn my ACL or meniscus.  I chalked it up to a severe knee twist.

As soon as the Super Bowl was over, I hobbled to my bed, and attempted to sleep.  Key word is attempted.  I probably got maybe a total of two hours of sleep all night, because there was no way imaginable that I could position myself where my knee/leg didn't hurt.  During the hours I was awake I did something constructive:  I prayed.  First, selfishly for me for healing, strength, and for nothing to be torn, and then I started on my intercessory prayer, praying for just about every person I could think of.  I finally managed to get a couple hours of sleep, and just before I got out of bed this morning, I realized that some of the pain was gone, thank the Lord.

I still took my cool cane to work, and used it for most of the day, but towards the afternoon, it was getting easier to walk and soon I was able to make a trip to the lunchroom and the bathroom without the cane.

Now supper is over, and even though I'm not in much pain right now, I'm still taking it very easy.  As soon as this is posted I'm going to grab a bottle of water and the heating pad and head back to my bedroom for an hour or two.  And you can bet I will gently get on the bed, instead of hopping.

Link Of The Week

In case you've been under a rock and don't know what's going on, today is Super Bowl Sunday.  In a bit over four hours the Super Bowl will be under way. In the meanwhile, take a minute to visit a link that could get you a free pizza and a two liter of soft drink.  Visit http://www.papajohns.com/ and sign up for Papa's Rewards. It's very quick, and once you sign up, you could win a free large one topping pizza and a two liter of Pepsi Max.  If the opening coin toss of the Super Bowl is heads, everyone in the United States that has signed up for Papa's Rewards will get the free pizza and two liter. You have until 6:00 EST to sign up if you haven't already.  Good luck and let's all hope for a "heads" coin toss.

Winter Vacation Wrap-Up

My first week of vacation in 2012 is drawing to a close.  Even though tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday, by this time the Monday Morning Dread will have hit.  But I digress.  It's been an awesome week off.  For my vacation week to have been in the dead of winter, I couldn't have asked for better weather.  It was mostly sunny with temps in the upper 50's and low 60's all week long.  And the only rain I've seen all week is the rain coming down this morning.

The 'Rents and I have had a great week - we've shopped, ate, went to the movies, ate, watched TV, ate, etc.  You get the picture.  I slept in till 9:00 almost every day this week, and took a couple of naps this week, too.  And I ventured to the East End not once but a total of three times this week; ordinarily I don't go to the East End of town three times in a year. 

But all good things must come to an end, and so it is with my vacation week.  Monday morning it will be back to spending the day with my work family and back to the confines of my little office.

Vacation Day 6 Decision Of The Day

Vacation Day 6 Decision of the Day:  Some friends are taking me out tonight to [still] celebrate my birthday. Not only are we going to my favorite seafood restaurant in the city, Bonefish Grill, they're also taking me to see the new Gina Carano movie, "Haywire."  The decision of the day is do I order shrimp or scallops at dinner? 

This decision didn't take much effort.  I decided to order an appetizer portion of their awesome Wild Gulf Shrimp with kalmata olives and Feta cheese and an appetizer portion of jumbo sea scallops - the best of both worlds.

Happy Ground Hog Day

We interrupt this week's Vacation Day Decision Of The Day to bring you greetings for a Happy Ground Hog Day. 

Punxatawny Phil, the official ground hog for Ground Hog Day, saw his shadow his morning, so that means six more weeks of winter.  This year, I'm not so sure what that means.  We haven't even had a winter so far. 

And here at The Compound, we've been watching but haven't seen the ground hog come out from underneath the barn.  If he does, he, too, will see his shadow because it's beautiful and sunny today.

We now return to my vacation.

Vacation Day 5 Decision Of The Day

Vacation Day 5 Decision of the Day:  I'm finally planning my stay-at-home-all-day day, and am wondering what to do. Do I watch all of my Madea movies back-to-back, or just watch the awesome old-school TV show reruns on cable?

This was a no-brainer.  As much as I love Madea, she easily won out.  I pulled out my entire Madea collection and they are ready to be watched tomorrow.

Vacation Day 4 Decision Of The Day

Vacation Day 4 Decision of the Day: The 'Rents and I are going to the movies to see "Joyful Noise." Le me say that in itself is a huge feat.  It's been probably 20 or more years since the 'Rents have gone to the movies.  We all three saw "The Beverly Hillbillies", and I honestly can't remember the last time I've seen a movie in the theater.  The Decision of the Day:  do we sneak in snacks or do I say to heck with it and peel even more money at the concession stand in the theater? Snacks meaning bags/boxes of candy, not big bags of popcorn or cans or bottles of soft drinks.

It didn't take too much deciding on this one.  I stopped at the drugstore and got Dad and I each a box of Raisenets and got Mom a bag of sugar-free Reese Cups.