Month: March 2008

  • I knew Easter was early this year, but didn't realize just HOW early.

    HT:  Brad  

    Easter this year is: Sunday March 23, 2008

    As you know, Easter is the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the
    Spring Equinox (which is March 20/21). This dating of Easter is based
    on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover,
    which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

    Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22)
    but that is pretty rare. This year is the earliest Easter any of us
    will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our
    population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And
    none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!

    Here are the facts: The next time Easter will be this early (March 23)
    will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this
    early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that
    were around for that!). The next time it will be a day earlier, March
    22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was
    on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it
    any earlier than this year!

  • And yet another one! 

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSICA!

  • By jingo, it made it.

    It's the only one that did, of all the plants received over the years on the occasion of the births of our children:

    IMG_3490

    Above is the planter with ivy given to me by Don when Charles Edward was born, twenty-one years ago today.  Well, I daresay he actually bought it the next day or so, but still....it was one of the botanical offerings received in honor of my fifth baby, and the only one still alive and kicking.

    Mind, it's down to just a few leaves, but it's there.  Still in the kitchen window, getting a little water whenever I happen to think of it, which isn't often.

    HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY, CHARLES!
  • Hugo Chavez is a nuisance and a pest, but he's had at least ONE good idea.

    He's ditched the tiresome changing-of-the-clocks ritual that's repeated twice a year over much of the world in favor of moving them a half-hour and setting the time there.  Period.

    That's sensible, that is.  Split the difference and just STAY there.  No more time changes, which cost businesses money, aggravate all right-thinking people (hehehehe, Brad!), mess up the schedules of families with infants, toddlers, and school-age children, etc.

    I'm going to write my congressman and senators, urging the USA to emulate Venezuela in this area, if no other.

  • By jingo, these must be giddy days in Wyoming.

    Just imagine, their primary actually matters!  The candidates care!  And are showing up - in person - to campaign! 

    Right smack dab there in Wyoming!  e-faint

    Don't you know the citizens of that population-challenged state feel all quivery inside?  e-aw

  • One of those days, this was. Ups and downs.

    On the upside, Dan and Joe began working for Manpower at Alcon today!  Their usual schedule will be 3 p.m. till midnight, M-F, but they worked a bit this afternoon, getting acclimated and familiarized with their respective positions (they work the same schedule but in different areas of the company).  They're very pleased, as well they should be.  

    On the downside, the winter weather forecast to show up around 4 p.m. instead moved in about five hours earlier, catching virtually all of us off-guard.  I'd driven up to Keller to fetch Bryson from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's (where Kirstin works) and it was just overcast and chilly.  A couple of hours later frozen precipitation (snow pellets?  sleet?) was falling, making the trip with Bryson out to collect Dmitry from school a trifle dicey.  It changed back to rain, so I heaved a sigh of relief.

    Too soon.  Way too soon!  I'd checked shortly before leaving to take Bryson back out to Keller and found light rain falling. No problem.

    By the time we got out the door it'd turned into that slushy sort of frozen rain which splatters icily on the windshield.  I-35W was a mess!  Took me almost half an hour to get from the house onto that freeway, due to the stack-up on it, which backed up onto the access bridge.  By the time I made it to 820, it was snowing in earnest.  The farther north I drove (having exited on 377) the worse it got:

    Keller_snow2

    Met Kirstin at the SuperTarget at the Wautaga-Keller border, where the wind was blowing, the snow was heavy, and the parking lot was covered with the white stuff, making walking a tricky business.  I called Don anxiously, making sure he'd left for home. Yes, he assured me, he had.  He'd see me there.

    To my surprise - and relief! - the snow lessened as I drove back toward Fort Worth (this time skipping I-35 in favor of taking 820E to 121S) and really, the roads and traffic weren't too bad at all.  Was able to maintain a fairly steady 40 mph, and got home safely, to find nowhere near as much snow as there'd been up north.

    After a while, it occurred to me that Don hadn't arrived home yet.  Where could he be?  Finally, when it'd been almost two hours since I'd spoken with him, I called his cell, to hear he's fine and not too far from the house.  He saw little snow, but that didn't stop the traffic in Dallas from being utterly horrendous, so it took him 2 1/2 hours to get home.  Kirstin said it took Matt three hours to get from Plano back home to Keller. 

    The storm system has moved off to annoy states to the east of us, and I don't see anything else building up out west, so hopefully this winter event is over.

    Okay, okay, I know for those in Colorado (hi, Cheri!) or Michigan (yo, Lois!) or Pennsylvania (howdy, Cindy, Jane, et al!), the above photo is hilarious as an illustration of winter weather, but for this area....it'll do. 

  • Well, THIS makes a pleasant change, I must say.

    Clicked over to CNN.com and to what did my wondering eyes appear but this headline:

    CNN_Huckabe

    Wow!  Right smack in the primo position of CNN.com's front page!  It's been mostly Obama and/or Clinton, with an occasional McCain picture.

    Finally Gov. Huckabee's turn. 

  • It took me a bit over 15 minutes....

    ....though I realize my Facebook Puzzlebee thing says a bit over 19, but I forgot to pause it when I went into the kitchen for a few minutes...but here's a neat jigsaw puzzle y'all might like:

    Create your own puzzles at PuzzleBee.com!

  • This is hilarious!

    Don and I are watching Ultimate Recipe Showdown and the final segment of tonight's episode is chili.

    He's about to have an apoplexy, he's so indignant over the first competitor's offering, which is a vegetarian "chili."  He's firm in his conviction that a chili, by definition, requires meat.  As the recipe unfolded, revealing tofu, corn and - oh, horrors! - cashews, his frown of disapproval deepened. 

    Fortunately, the cashew-chili woman didn't win, though she came close.  The judges liked the cashews, BION. 

    Look, I am fond of cashews, but as a snack.  Not an ingredient in chili.

    Only Texans should make chili.  Down here, the presence of beans as an ingredient is still problematic, for pity's sake. 

  • A quiet weekend here.

    Let's see here....yesterday Dmitry went to spend the day with Carolyn
    (big surprise!), Jonathan stopped by to pick up a new computer he'd
    mistakenly had sent here (photo of him below), while Dan and Joe took
    Max to the park and otherwise passed the time.  Last night after dinner
    they decided to replace the radio in Joe's car (they couldn't see the
    interior lights properly in the daytime, Dan explained when I pointed
    out most people prefer to do that sort of thing when the sun's out, so
    they don't need flashlights).

    You know how one thing leads to another?  Well, they got the radio in
    alright, and it was working, but then the windows wouldn't go back up
    and the a/c didn't work.  Hmmmm.   Not a good trade, just to have a new
    radio.  They worked on it and worked on it and worked on it, finally deciding to drive around for a few minutes to see if inspiration would strike.

    Which it did!  "Maybe," Dan mused, "it's a fuse?"  So they replaced fuses and everything worked as it was supposed to.

    Well, until this afternoon, when I saw them at it again.  Apparently
    they got it mended, for they took Max and headed off to visit Viktor. 
    Dmitry left this morning with Carolyn's family for the Irish Festival
    over in Dallas, so who knows when he'll return home. 

    Mid-afternoon Jessica and Kirstin brought their children over so Don
    and I could take Bethany and Benjamin to choose birthday bicycles.  Don
    hadn't seen Bryson in a while, or Brianna either, so we invited them to
    come along.  To our pleasure, Jessica brought Bridgette over so we
    could finally see her!  It's been two months, and she's grown like a
    weed.

    IMG_3419

    First, above is the aforementioned photo of Jonathan, who's listening
    to his father; and here's his father with Bridgette, with Jessica in
    the background:

    IMG_3424

    Bridgette in the playthingummy that's a duplicate of Faith's in Japan:

    IMG_3430

    Benjamin with his musical card from us:

    IMG_3439

    Brianna looking cute:

    IMG_3442

    The girls on bikes:

    IMG_3462


    Brianna was eager for a bike as well, but since our van won't hold four children and three bicycles, she's going to have a wait a little while.  ;^)