Honoring Two More Fallen Hereos

Over the weekend, two more officers lost their lives in Line of Duty deaths and have been added to the Honor Roll on my sidebar that is growing way too fast for my liking. No doubt you, my readers, are becoming just as dismayed as I am at the alarming rate our Law Enforcement officers are losing their lives but I will continue to do these posts in an effort to make people more aware of the tragedies that happen all too frequently right here in our own country so that maybe something can be done to stop these horrible losses while honoring those who have sworn to protect and uphold the law.

Senior Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar, a 6-year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol, lost his life Saturday morning, January 19^th, while trying to stop suspected smugglers who had illegally entered the country from Mexico. According to Agent Michael Bernacke, a spokesman for the agency’s Yuma sector, Agent Aguilar was trying to place spike strips in the path of a Hummer and a Ford pickup truck near the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area in California, an area which is frequently used by smugglers trying to bring people or drugs into the country from Mexico, when the suspected smuggler’s Hummer intentionally struck and killed him.

Both suspect vehicles fled into Mexico where they remain at large. The FBI is leading the investigation, along with other federal, state and local authorities. In addition, Mexican authorities are lending their full support to capture those involved.

“Today we mourn the loss of one of our own,” Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar said in a statement. “This serves as a tragic reminder of the dangers our agents face every day while securing our nation’s border and our way of life.”

Senior Agent Aguilar, age 32, from El Paso, Texas lived in Yuma, Arizona where he leaves behind his wife and two children.

On Sunday, January 20^th at approximately 2:34 a.m., Officer Matthew B. Thebeau of the Corpus Christi Police Department was killed in an automobile accident while responding to an assault call when a motorcycle traveling at a high rate of speed started to go out of control,. Witnesses told police Thebeau appeared to try to avoid a collision with the motorcyclist.

According to a statement released by police officials, Officer Thebeau's patrol car struck a concrete wall and straddled the barrier for approximately 50 yards until it istruck a light pole and I-beam supporting a highway sign. Officer Thebeau was ejected from the patrol car and landed in the northbound lane of traffic where he was then struck by at least one other vehicle. He was transported to Spohn Memorial Medical Center in Corpus Christi, Texas where he was pronounced dead.

"As police officers, we know the risk and we live with the reality of life and death every day," said Chief of Police Bryan Smith in a prepared statement, "But there is nothing that can prepare you for the feelings of shock and sorrow when a brother or sister in blue makes the ultimate sacrifice while serving the citizens of Corpus Christi. Today, we stand together, united in sorrow. Our thoughts and prayers go the family of officer Matthew Thebeau."

Officer Thebeau was a 2-year veteran of the Corpus Christi Police Department and only 25 years old at the time of his death.

Once again, please join me in acknowledging the passing of these two fine men who gave their lives in service to others. My thoughts go to their families, friends, and fellow officers.

Saturday Night's Party Wrap-Up

All week I've been getting some very lovely virtual flowers in my email from some special online friends but last night when I got to the employee party I was actually handed the real thing in the form of this lovely corsage which probably would have looked better if I had been smart enough to actually take a picture last night rather than this morning after it spent the night in the refrigerator! The planning committee for the party had thought it would be a nice touch this year to recognize past Employees of the Year with a either a pink corsage for the women or a red boutonnière for the men. Even though I'm not what one might call a corsage kind of gal, it really was very nice once someone else pinned it on for me so that I wouldn't stab myself and end up with blood all over my nice dress!

However, you folks obviously don't want to hear about my corsage based on some of the comments I got in yesterday's post about the party. You want the dirt, the skinny, the 411 - all of the excitement and drama of a Saturday night out with a fancy dress, painful shoes, and sparkly earrings! As Mimi inquired in a comment she left,

"Please indulge my imagination this morning. How long did it take for your earrings to fall off? Before or after dinner? Huh? I need to know this. Two dances? Two kisses? or two seconds ...... (that would be my preference) And the dress. You did wear a little black dress, didn't you Linda? Slinky. Sexy. Classy. Fit for dancing. Dancing! How many dances? And how many did you turn down? (yes, the dirt please) and were they good kissers? That's really the important part. Smooching in the punch line does not count. Haven't I taught you ANYthing??! Oh yea. And who won the employee award."

Well, not to disappoint royalty but my earrings stayed on all night until I came home and removed them - my shoes did likewise (I actually left them on all night for a change) - I didn't wear a black slinky dress but rather a purple one with seed beading that befits a woman of my, er, age - and there were no kisses except for quite a few on the cheek and one special one from an EMT who knelt down and kissed my hand while declaring me to be his very favorite dispatcher. This same EMT got down on his knees again and asked me for a dance and kissed my hand again afterwards but don't anyone go getting any ideas - he's probably younger than my son but cute - wow! - is that kid cute! Anyway ... moving on ...

I had to "MySpace" it with the picture over to the right as my official photographer went to spend the evening with Jason, Amy, and Cate rather than be left home alone while Mom went out cavorting so it's not the best in the world but not the scariest either. I could really do with some professional retouching but alas, what you see is what you get!

There were a lot of pictures taken during the course of the evening but mostly by other people so I have to wait to actually see them myself - never mind post them! I'm hoping that they turn out better than the one I have here of myself, Frank (a part-time dispatcher and worthy opponent when it comes to snarky comments!), and Chica - my very favorite Ecuadorean scheduler and wife to Hugo who makes the best sandwiches in all of Eastern Connecticut! Hugo (seen below with his lovely wife) actually took another picture before this one that was much better except that it's too dark to use (bummer) so I'm stuck with this one where I look like I'm thinking "just take the f'ing picture already!" Well either that or my shoes were starting to hurt my feet from standing for so long!

One of the things I really enjoy about this annual party is that you get the chance to see everyone out of uniform and dressed in their finery looking very handsome or beautiful as the case may be. I am always impressed and amazed at the women who can walk around in strappy sandal-type shoes with 4-inch heels and not only maintain their balance but dance in the things! Apparently I don't have the "shoe gene" that gives one the ability to do such things but I thought these shoes were kind of cute and they really weren't as uncomfortable as some others I've worn in the past.

As a matter of fact, I - the person who is a notorious non-dancer - actually got out on the dance floor for a few dances (other than the slow dance with my EMT in shining armor and my annual dance with Andrew, one of my favorite paramedics) and didn't feel like a totally uncoordinated clod while dancing to KC and the Sunshine Band's "That's The Way I Like It" and Justin Timberlake's "Bringing Sexy Back". I figured that everyone else was having too good of a time to critique my dancing skills and the two Midori Sours I had loosened me up enough to hit the dance floor. Don't tell anyone I said this but it was actually kind of fun!

As for the new Employee of the Year, had I actually placed a bet on yesterday's prediction, I would be cashing in my winnings right now as the winner was the exact person I had said it would be. Val, who is one of the billing specialists in the Connecticut Ambulance Billing Service section of the company was quite thrilled to be given the award and actually was crying when she took the stage to receive her plaque. She gave a nice speech but afterwards I was told by quite a few people that mine still stood as the best best speech ever. I so wish I could remember it but apparently when you start out with "I'm on drugs tonight" it's a little hard to recall anything! Even if I don't remember it, though, a lot of other people do! Maybe someday I'll be good enough to receive the award again and redeem myself but I rather doubt it as I don't believe anyone has ever been made Employee of the Year twice - they like to spread the awards out and I don't blame them for that at all. Like I said, it's a wonderful thing to be recognized for doing a good job - especially when you take pride in your job. A big congratulations to Val and I hope she enjoys her front of the building parking space for the next year!

Because I don't have to be into work until 3:00 today I stayed until the party wrapped up a little after midnight and then came home to a quiet house where I took off my earrings - by myself - and then my shoes - by myself! I'm sure that Mimi would have enjoyed more drama and romance but alas I was pretty sure I wasn't going to meet my Prince Charming at the party as I already work with all of these people anyway so there were no surprises as to who was there. Besides, my Prince Charming appears to still be wandering around lost in the woods somewhere ... perhaps next time Mimi is out doing snow-watch in the woods of North Carolina she'll see him and point him in the right direction! If not, I guess I'll be going to next year's party solo, too!

On Parties and Awards

No time to visit other blogs today as I need to get gussied up for my company's annual employee party (they call it a "holiday party" but I've never been quite sure exactly what holiday they're referring to!). This is the one event of the year where I actually attempt to do something with my hair, toss on some make-up, put on a nice dress, and wear pretty - yet painful - shoes that normally end up being taken off halfway through the night because I just can't stand it anymore!

Along with Service Awards, Attendance Awards, and the like, tonight they will announce who the new Employee of the Year is. If I were a gambling woman, I'd put my bet on one of the billing clerks as, per popular opinion around the company, it's "their turn on the other side of the building". I don't think that's the criteria the award should be based on and I certainly hope that isn't the case. I think it should go to the employee most outstanding and most deserving but that's just one former Employee of the Year's opinion.

At the annual party in 2005, I was awarded Employee of the Year for 2004 and I have to say that I felt it was a great honor as well as a goal attained. When I first began at American Ambulance in June of 2003 and found out they had an Employee of the Month/Employee of the Year program, I made it my goal to attain that title. I hadn't expected to accomplish that goal quite so quickly but I sure the heck wasn't going to turn it down either!

What made it even more special was that when I was named Employee of the Month in August of 2004, I was nominated by over 30 of my fellow employees and per our Human Resources Director that apparently was pretty darned unheard of. To have had that sort of support, vote of confidence, and recognition from fellow employees meant even more to me then becoming Employee of the Year who is picked by the Executive Team from the pool of winners of Employee of the Month.

I wish I could remember more about that night and that holiday party but it's a bit of a blur. I had somehow managed to mess up my back the night before the party and spent part of the morning at the Emergency Room barely able to move! I was diagnosed with a lumbar strain, given some pretty powerful muscle relaxers, and sent home with the doctor's approval to go to the party (he apparently knew I needed to be there) and then stay out of work for several days.

Fortunately my friend Paula was going with me that night so she drove to the party and kept tabs on me throughout the evening. Apparently I gave one heck of an acceptance speech; note: never ever under any circumstances tell a room full of EMS people that you really ought to be home flat on your back - at least not if you embarrass easily! Even in my prescription-drug-induced state I remember being very honored and thrilled, though. Beyond that, most of it's a haze though I distinctly remember the year's worth of harassment that I got from my fellow dispatchers on the receipt of my award!

Whoever wins tonight, I wish them congratulations and hope that they remember their special evening with clarity and pride as getting any sort of positive recognition from the place you work for is really a very nice thing. Sure, you get harassed something awful by your fellow employees but the award is validation that you've done a good job and we all need to know we've done well from time to time.

Now, I need to go work on my hair and try to find my earrings ... I promise to try to post some pictures tomorrow!

Honoring Another Fallen Hero

Detective Jarrod B. Shivers of the Chesapeake Police Department in Virginia died on Thursday, January 17th, while attempting to serve a narcotics search warrant in South Norfolk. When the suspect opened the home's door he immediately fired one shot, fatally wounding Detective Shivers, before he then barricaded himself in the home for a short time before being taken into custody.

Shivers, age 34, was an officer for eight years with the Chesapeake Police Department and was assigned to the Special Investigations Section. Detective Shivers was the recepient of an award five years ago through the Virginia HEAT (Help Eliminate Auto Theft) program sponsored by the Virginia State Police and was honored for uncovering a car-theft ring that stretched from Hampton Roads to Richmond.

Detective Shivers is survived by his wife, two daughters, and a son. The Bank of Hampton Roads has opened an account for Shivers where donations can be made under his name or under an account named “Officer Down” should anyone wish to donate in his memory.

This is ridiculous - it's only the middle of January and I have already added eight names to the Honor Roll on my sidebar ... this does not bode well for the rest of the year. Please join me in not only offering condolences to the family and friends of Detective Shivers but also in praying that this sort of senseless loss of human life will stop.

"Pardon me but do you have any Grey Poupon?"

Why yes, as a matter of fact I do! I have two types of Grey Poupon -

There's this very tasty Hearty Spicy Brown flavor and

this Harvest Coarse Ground flavor.

I recently received both of these Grey Poupon mustards in the mail to try out and then write an honest review on which was great because anytime I can get free foodstuffs in the mail to try out in exchange for simply writing a post you can count me in! You can also count on me to give an honest opinion and that's exactly what I'm going to give you in regards to these two mustards.

Amanda is a yellow mustard only kinda kid so she wasn't of much help in reviewing these mustards so I called in the help of my dispatch supervisor who knows a good thing when he's handed it! I asked him to try out the Harvest Coarse Ground mustard for me and he was more than happy to put it on the ham that he was preparing at home that night. He assured me that it was absolutely delicious and really added to the flavor of the meat. Watching a grown man drool over a mustard is quite the sight but apparently the Harvest Coarse Ground is just that good!

That left me with the Hearty Spicy Brown to try so I trotted off to my local grocery store and picked up the fixin's for a sandwich or two - roast beef, turkey, provolone cheese, and some nice soft Kaiser rolls. I came home with my mouth watering, constructed a sandwich using the Hearty Spicy Brown mustard, and then sat back to enjoy it. To be honest, I haven't had a sandwich that good in a long time as the mustard added just the right kick to it. I've probably got some of the country's blandest taste buds this side of the Mississippi River but this mustard added just the right amount of spices without being overpowering or sending me reaching for the closest glass of water to put out the fire in my mouth!

Should the good folks at Kraft Foods want to send me a sample of all the other mustards in the Grey Poupon line, I'd be more than happy to give them a go (hint, hint!) but I guess one shouldn't look a gift mustard in the mouth. It's better to put it there instead!

A Little Linky Love

This link loving in 2008 came from Simone's Butterfly:

I have randomly selected 5 of you below to be tagged and I hope that you will similarly publish this post in your blog. You will have to tag 5 other bloggers and just keep adding on to the list. (Do not replace, just keep on adding! Yes we hope it will be a long list!)

It’s real easy! Tag others and see your Technorati Authority increase exponentially!

The benefits of Viral Linking:

• - One of the fastest ways to see your technorati authority explode!
  
• - Increase your Google PageRank fast
  
• - Attract large volume of new traffic to your site
  
• - Build your community
• - Make new friends!
  

Add your blog url here...

The Strategist Notebook | Link Addiction | Ardour of the Heart | When Life Becomes a Book | The Malaysian Life | Yogatta.com | What goes under the sun | Roshidan’s Cyber Station | Sasha says | Arts of Physics | And the legend lives | My View, My Life | A Simple Life | What Women REALLY Think | Not Much More Than This | Jayedee | Jenn | Beth | Christie | Marla | Cailin | Simone | FlipFlopMom | Katrina | Gill's Jottings| Work of the Poet| Wakela|Modern Day Goddess|Livin With Me|Are We There Yet??| You are next...

Now, add/tag 5 of your friend's blogs…

• Jeni @ Down River Drivel
• Jamie @ Duward Discussion
• Misty Dawn @ My Dogs Keep Me Sane
• Joan @ The Erstwhile Librarian
• Akelamalu @ Everything and Nothing

Déjà vu all over again!

At least that's got to be what Jillian, one of the schedulers that I work with, is thinking at this point. Jillian gave birth to a beautiful baby boy back on my birthday - September 9th - and she just found out this week that she's pregnant again. Which means that she'll be having this next baby right about the same time she had her son. Hoky smokes, Bullwinkle!

Not that I have a lot of room to talk myself as I had Jamie only a little over 13 months after I gave birth to Amanda but it wasn't planned that way and I really wasn't all that thrilled about it. There are things that you just don't think about when you have your kids that close together - things like needing a second baby crib or other baby furniture like a high chair, baby swing, etc. Never mind double on the diapers and formula and all those other things that go along with babies. I remember having one very big and very full diaper bag to cart around with me! That's probably where my back problems began now that I think about it!

Jilly is sort of excited about the blessed event but she admits that her significant other is more happy about it than she is. Of course, it's so much easier for a man as they don't have to go through the nine months of pregnancy and labor and delivery and all of that fun stuff. It would be great to see just one guy go through that just once! Maybe the entire male population would be more understanding about it then. Maybe!

In the meantime, Jilly's hoping for a girl so send good thoughts of that to the stork for her!

I've Got A Question - You've Got An Answer

The company that I work for, American Ambulance Service, Inc., is just one part of The American Group of which American Professional Educational Services, Connecticut Ambulance Billing Service, Inc., and MACARA Vehicle Services are also a part of. One of the 'perks' of the job is that we can have our vehicles serviced at MACARA and have it payroll deducted - which comes in quite handy when needed.

I dropped my car off this morning on my way into work for an oil change, tire rotation, and a few other small things that need to be done periodically and caught a ride down to pick it up again after work. When I got there, the manager seemed a bit upset that they hadn't had a chance to get to it yet in spite of the fact that I had dropped it off at 7:00 and it was now after 3:00. It wasn't just that which had him upset, though. Apparently another customer had somehow managed to back into my car while it was in the parking lot and done a pretty good job of scraping up the rear bumper on the passenger side.

Uh ... okay ... I certainly wasn't expecting that but Pete assured me that the other guy's insurance company was going to pay for the damage and that they had already ordered the paint and could do the work right there next week. They had just about been ready to start the oil change when I walked in so I said I had to walk down the street to run an errand anyway so no big deal and when I looked at the damage to the car it really wasn't that bad either. If I had something other than plastic bumpers it might have been a lot worse but it was just a lot of paint transference and a couple of small nicks that could be easily repaired.

I really wasn't at all upset as it was obviously an accident, not that much damage, and these things happen - hence the reason they're called 'accidents'. Truth be told, I'd rather the guy had totaled the thing as I have gap insurance and it would have gotten me out from under a car payment that I'd rather not have but oh well ... whatchagonnado?

Anyway, all of that brings me to this week's question and it's about accidents -

Have you ever had or been in a car accident?

I've been driving for well over 30 years now and have fortunately only ever had one accident many, many years ago in 1979 when crossing an overpass on a highway in Minnesota. There was some black ice on the roadway that I didn't see that spun our small British MG-B around in almost a complete circle before it backed up over the embankment and came to a stop doing quite a number on the wheel bearing. Thankfully no one was hurt and the car was able to be driven to a garage in a nearby North Dakota town but it sure gave me one heck of a scare.

Since then I always chant "bridge freezes before roadway" when driving in winter weather and have been fortunate enough to not have anymore accidents. I count myself very lucky - very lucky indeed.

Now, what about you? Have you had a guardian angel on your shoulder when you're on the road, too?

One of the Reasons I Like Blogging

It might seem like I'm taking the long way around when it comes to the title of this post but stick with me here ...

If there's one thing that I've noticed while working in the Emergency Medical field, there are a lot of words that I just can't seem to wrap my lips around and pronounce correctly. Words like hematuria (blood in the urine); epistaxis (nosebleed); hematopoietic (blood cell production); acetabulum (the cup-shaped socket of the hip joint); and radiculopathy (any disease of the spinal nerve roots) just to name a few.

It's not bad enough that I have to try to pronounce some of those words but I have to use them in conjunction with a mouthful of radio codes that are supposedly designed for radio brevity. To the uninitiated, the code that we in dispatch speak is probably just as confusing as a foreign language and when you throw in complicated medical terms, it gets even more confusing.

For example, a common dispatch for me to put out over the radio would be similar to the following:

"You're responding 23 Code 1 to 123 Main Street in the Greenville section for a 55-year old female with dyspnea secondary to severe epistaxis times two hours."

Translated - you're responding to 123 Main Street on the east side of the city for a 55-year old female who called 911 as she's having trouble breathing because of a 2-hour nosebleed.

I say things like that all day long so is it any wonder that by the end of the day when I get home, I don't have any great desire to sit and talk to anyone? Maybe that's why blogging is such a nice outlet for me - I don't have to try to actually say anything - at least not out loud! And that's one of the reasons I like blogging! See, I told you I'd get there eventually!

Honoring More Fallen Hereos

I received another of those dreaded Line of Duty Death Notifications in my email today after just thinking this afternoon on my way home from work that this might be a better year than last year when it comes to the number of deaths in the Law Enforcement community. Obviously I thought too soon ...

Three more officers join the Honor Roll in my sidebar today starting with Deputy Constable David Joubert of the Harris County Constable's Office - Precinct 7 in Houston, Texas. The following information is taken from an article online at PoliceLink.com:

"A Harris County deputy constable, was killed on his way to escort a funeral procession when his motorcycle struck a car that pulled in front of him on Sunday, January 13th. Deputy Constable David Joubert, age 60, was on his way to a funeral procession in Pearland, Texas just before 1 p.m. when a Mitsubishi suddenly turned into the path of his motorcycle.

Joubert was thrown to the ground and dragged several feet when the motorcycle struck the driver’s side door of the Mitsubishi. Paramedics rushed Joubert to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he died from his injuries, police said.

Joubert joined the Precinct 7 Constable’s Office in January 2005. As a member of the Precinct’s Motorcycle/Motorcade Unit, he volunteered for dignitary escorts, traffic control, community parades and special events, according to a Precinct 7 news release sent via e-mail. He also was a member of the Precinct 7 honor guard, an elite group of deputy constables who represent the precinct at events and official ceremonies honoring fallen peace officers. Deputy Joubert had previously served with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office for 10 years.

Houston police said the fatal accident remains under investigation. The driver of the Mitsubishi that pulled in front of Joubert did not appear intoxicated at the scene and consented to give investigators a blood sample."

Deputy Constable Joubert

In addition to Deputy Constable Joubert, this post also honors Police Officer Ricky Bryant Jr. and Police Officer Eric Barker of the DeKalb County Police Department in Georgia, both of whom were ambushed and shot and killed while working an off-duty, uniformed security job at a local apartment complex on Wednesday, January 16th. Officers Bryant and Barker were investigating reports of a suspicious person on Glenwood Road in Decatur, Georgia when they were ambushed and shot by two suspects at approximately 12:30 am.

According to PoliceLink.com, officials haven’t said what led to the shooting or whether the officers returned fire but DeKalb County Police Chief Terrell Bolton says the officers “never had a chance.” Police have been using dogs and a helicopter to search for two men seen running from the scene.

Officer Bryant was only 26 years old and had served with the DeKalb County Police Department for 2 years; Officer Barker, aged 33, was a 6-year veteran of the department.

Officers Bryant and Barker

Please join me in saluting these three brave men and sending condolences to their families, friends, and Departments on their tragic losses.

Fall in Love With the Next Mo Show

Our intrepid Mo Show Movie Critic
& Mommy Blogger Neila
returns to co-host this week's show
on Romantic Comedies.

Tune in live Wednesday @ 7pm Eastern
to The Mo Show
on Blog Talk Radio

I love romantic comedies or "chick flicks" as they're more popularly known so this show is going to be right up my alley! Of course, I haven't seen too many of them lately myself but I'm sure that Mo and Neila will talk about at least one of them I've seen during the course of my lifetime!

There's Must Love Dogs with John Cusack or When Harry Met Sally with Billy Crystal or You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks or Shakespeare in Love with Joseph Fiennes or Love Actually, Bridget Jones's Diary, or Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason with Colin Firth (Colin Firth ... drool ...) or Bull Durham with Kevin Costner or 10 Things I Hate About You with Heath Ledger or ... wait a minute, maybe I have seen a lot of these after all!

Darn but I love love so I'll definitely be there and I'm going to have popcorn on hand for this show - how about you?

Lifting One's Spirits

My friend Mo sent me a flower in my email today - isn't it beautiful? And it's my favorite color, too!

There is nothing like a beautiful flower to lift one's spirits on a cold and cloudy January day except knowing that you have a friend who cares about you enough to send you a beautiful flower on a cold and cloudy January day. Or any day for that matter! Thank you, Mo, you are truly the best!

What about you folks? What lifts your spirits when they're a little down? What makes you smile? What warms your heart? What brightens your cold and cloudy days?

Come One! Come All! To the Manic Monday Midway!

"Now come one, come all to this tragic affair ..."

Oops! Wrong lyrics! That's the opening line from The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance and not at all the right song to announce the first ever Manic Monday Meme Carnival that Morgen of It's a Blog Eat Blog World is hosting this week! Shame on me!

But what can I say? Every time I hear or think the words "come one, come all" this song goes through my head! Blame it on Amanda - I know I do! But don't blame me if you miss this great carnival! Just click on the midway below for some great reading and don't forget to buy some cotton candy or throw a ball at the clown to knock him in the water or take a turn on the merry-go-round! Now go and have some fun!

The Band Meme

Along with most everyone else in the Blogosphere, I was tagged by Mimi Queen of Memes for the No Autographs, Please - The Band Meme wherein it was decreed that I needed to follow the easy steps laid out for producing my own record album under a band name provided by Wikipedia with a title provided by the Quotations Page and the album art courtesy of Flicker.

Just in case I thought I would risk a weekend in the dungeon and not do the meme, I was doubly tagged by Sandee of Comedy Plus so it didn't appear that I was going to be able to wiggle out of this one even if I had wanted to!

Well, what the heck, if I had my life to do over again I'd have attempted the role of rock star anyway so without further ado I present to you my very first compilation and album ... or is that CD? Do people actually make albums anymore??

Personally, except for the band name, I think it rather fits me!

I'm not going to tag anyone else due to the fact that Queen Mimi went a bit crazy in the tagging department and let her scepter run out of control so there doesn't appear to be anyone left to tag but if by some chance she missed you in her tagging frenzy and you'd like to give it a go, pop on by Bloggingham and check out the easy instructions to create your own ticket to Super Stardom!

Oh, and just to give credit where credit is due, I wanted to point out that our good Queen stole this meme from Bud at the WTIT Tape Radio Blog who apparently stole it from someone else first. Not to say that she's a thief mind you but I'm just not sure about these memes that arrive via ill-gotten means!

It's Quiet ...

When I left for Rhode Island earlier this afternoon around 4:30, it was with a very chatty 14-year old in the passenger seat. A 14-year old who talked non-stop for the entire 49.56 mile trip. Adding to the noise was the CD player and the Korn CD that she had chosen for background music.

When I drove back from Rhode Island a little after 7:00 p.m., it was in silence. No chatty 14-year old, no rock music, nothing except the sounds of the road and the thoughts in my head. Thoughts that just can never seem to wrap themselves around the concept of putting my youngest child on a plane and sending her to live somewhere else.

Every time I go through this I think that I've gotten used to it; that I'm not going to get a lump in my throat while the plane backs away from its gate, that I'll be able to keep my composure while I walk back down the concourse by myself; that I'm not going to cry while I drive home from the airport; that I'm tougher than that.

I'm not used to it; I do get a lump in my throat; I barely keep my composure; the tears do come; I'm not tougher than that.

As I write this I'm sitting at the computer in the dining room in a totally quiet house and listening to the refrigerator running in the kitchen and the dryer tumbling away in the basement below me because it's so quiet.

It's quiet because for the first time in quite some time, there is no one in the house but me. Amanda is staying over at Cate's house having opted not to make the trip to the airport with us and Jamie is probably somewhere over North Carolina on her way back to Tampa.

It's too quiet. And even though I am a person who relishes her quiet time, who enjoys having the house to herself on occasion, tonight it is too quiet.

Except for my thoughts. Which are too loud.

I've Got a Question, You've Got an Answer

Before I get to my question for this week, I wanted to take the time to apologize for not being a very good blog visitor this week at most of the blogs I read regularly. I attempted to get to some posts that were in my Google Reader last night and the night before but to take them all on was a pretty daunting task considering that this has been quite the week.

Between getting the stomach bug from hell last Saturday that knocked me for a real loop for several days to having Jamie here for another week to it being ridiculously busy at work most days (apparently there were a lot of people who decided to give drug rehabs a try as part of their New Year's resolutions and they all decided to call 911 this week including one guy who told me he was "suffering from mental telepathy") to just not having the energy to spend much time on the computer all just left me way behind in reading everyone else's posts. Also, it took me some time to set up the Fallen Heroes tribute on my sidebar as well as write the two posts for the four men who have already fallen in the line of duty this year.

With things more or less going "back to normal" after Jamie flies back down to Florida tomorrow (pending any other illnesses or mishaps), I shall endeavor to do better and not only read but actually comment on the wonderful posts that all of you put a lot of time and energy into writing. Honest!

All of that kind of leads into this week's question, one that I was thinking about last night while trying to fall asleep - ah, the things that run through one's mind while sleep alludes ...! -

On average, how many comments do you get on your posts?

There are some blogs out there that I've seen that get over 100 comments on every single post they write and to me that is totally mind-boggling and amazing! I couldn't even fathom getting such a reaction to something that I wrote but I must admit that it would be totally cool! Of course it would probably also require that I reciprocate in kind and leave comments on all of those blogs whose bloggers left me a comment and that would then require blogging to be a full-time job - something that would pay the bills even less than my current status of being gainfully employed at a 48-hour a week job does!

So, to answer my own question, I'd have to say that I get - on average - probably between 10 and 15 comments on a post. How about you folks?

A Short Explanation

I haven't really been doing paid posts anymore simply because after the whole Google Page rank thing, I rather lost the heart for it. I think a lot of people did because prior to a lot of people's blogs dropping to a PR0 there were a lot of decent opportunities to make some decent money and now there are virtually no good posts to be had.

If it was Google's intention to take the want and/or desire away for people to write paid posts then they did a bang-up job as I have noticed that a lot of us who used to do paid posts no longer do them. However, you might have noticed that I did a paid post earlier today for small business phone systems. It was pretty short and simple as I had basically forgotten how to write a good paid post but I still do them occasionally for PayU2Blog as they don't have all the crazy requirements that PayPerPost did and does. Plus the occasional $5 in my PayPal account comes in handy. It won't help pay the bills like the money I used to make did but at least it's there if Amanda needs something small from eBay or we want to order a pizza from Domino's.

So, if you see the occasional paid post pop up you'll now know why it's there! As always, feel free to pass it on by but if it's something that appeals to you then my job here is done!

Honoring More Fallen Heroes

Sadly, it didn't take long before I had another name to add to my sidebar ...

Another Line of Duty Death Notification arrived in my email today announcing the death of Deputy Sheriff Sean Pursifull, a 31-year old Law Enforcement Officer in Kentucky. As reported by the Associated Press on PoliceLink.com today:

PINEVILLE, Ky. – A sheriff’s deputy in southeastern Kentucky was killed when a teenage driver’s car rammed the officer’s parked cruiser.

State Police say Bell County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Pursifull, 31, died early Thursday. The teens have been charged with murder in Pursifull’s death.

Authorities say the teen and another youth in a black 2002 Mazda drove away from an Exxon gas station in Baxter without paying and police followed them down U.S. 119 into Bell County. State police said the car was speeding in a 55 mile-per-hour zone and two state troopers attempted to stop the vehicle during a pursuit.

Pursifull was stationed on the northbound side of U.S. 119 in his vehicle when the teen’s car veered over the center line and rammed into Pursifull’s vehicle on the right side. Pursifull and his K-9 dog “King” were killed in the collision, state police said in a statement.

The 17-year-old driver, from Delaware and a 16-year-old passenger from Pennsylvania were only slightly injured.

Both were released from a hospital and jailed in the Adair County Juvenile Detention Center on charges of murder and assault on a service animal.

(c) 2008 YellowBrix, Inc.

What a complete and total tragedy that two officers - Deputy Pursifull and K-9 Officer King - died in this senseless and preventable incident. I am sure that both will be sorely missed by family, friends, and fellow officers at the Bell County Sheriff's Department.

In addition to Deputy Pursifull's death, I needed to add one more Law Enforcement Officer to my sidebar as I somehow managed to miss his death yesterday when I did my original post. Corporal Courtney G. Brooks of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police Department was the very first officer to die in the line of duty this year on January 1st.

A 40-year old father of three and 13-year veteran of the force, Corporal Brooks was struck by a hit-and-run driver on I-95 in Baltimore City at approximately 11:30 pm. on December 31st, 2007 while putting out traffic cones at the interchange of I-95 and I-395 to keep commercial vehicles out of downtown Baltimore during their New Year's celebrations.. He succumbed to his injuries shortly after midnight on New Year's Day making his death the first line of duty death in 2008. The driver of the vehicle who struck him was apprehended the next morning and awaits trial.

Rest in peace - Corporal Brooks, Deputy Pursifull, and K-9 Officer King. May you never be forgotten.

"Remembering All of Law Enforcement's Heroes" My Way

As I have mentioned in several previous posts, I get an email from PoliceLink.com in conjunction with The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc. whenever there is a line of duty death anywhere within the country's Law Enforcement community. The notification looks like the following:

and arrives with the heartbreaking words "Line of Duty Death Notification" as the subject line in my email box.

Whenever I get one of these emails, I always open it very carefully always holding my breath and hoping against hope that it isn't someone that I knew from my time at the Stockton Police Department in California. I don't worry about it being someone from my time at the Police Department here in Norwich as, should there be a line of duty death here, I'd know about it long before it hit my email. That's not to say that I don't worry about the men and women here because I do - I just don't worry about hearing about something awful via email.

I noticed last year that these emails seemed to have been coming way too frequently and there was a reason for that. According to a December 27th, 2007 press release from the National Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Fund:

"2007 has been a deadly year for law enforcement in the United States, with 186 officers killed nationwide as of December 26, according to preliminary statistics from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) and Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.). When compared with 2006, when 145 officers died, officer fatalities rose more than 28 percent this year. Outside of 2001, when 239 officers died — 72 in the September 11 terrorist attacks — 2007 is the deadliest year for American law enforcement since 1989, the NLEOMF and C.O.P.S. said in their preliminary report on 2007 officer deaths."

No wonder it seemed like they were coming way too frequently because they were. Needless to say, I got way too many emails last year notifying me of yet another brave man or woman who had given their life while serving their community, their state, or their country. Way too many.

This year I have already received two emails telling me of the deaths of two more brave men - Deputy Sheriff Jason S. Zunker of the Chippewa County Sheriff's Department in Wisconsin, 31-years old and a 4-year veteran of the force, who died of injuries sustained when he was hit by a car while directing traffic at a truck fire; and Detective James Walker of the Miami Police Department, a 30-year old 8-year veteran assigned to the Domestic Violence Unit, who was killed by gunfire from an AK-47 while attempting to take action against a suspect who had just opened fire on another vehicle. Detective Walker was off-duty at the time of the incident and fatally injured while in his unmarked vehicle.

Both of these men leave behind family and friends who are no doubt devastated by their deaths as well as departments that now mourn the loss of one of their own. Senseless deaths. Needless deaths. Deaths that came way too soon to young men in the prime of their lives.

It is my fervent hope that I do not get anywhere near the number of notifications this year that I did in 2007, that the killing of those who have sworn to protect and serve us comes to a stop. Realistically, though, I know that won't happen overnight and I will continue to get these dreaded emails because I'm not going to turn off the notifications and stick my head in the sand for fear that someday one of those notifications will hold the name of someone I knew, someone I shared a shift with, someone I still care about.

What I am going to do, though, is write a post for each man or woman who dies in the line of duty and add their name to a new feature I have installed on my sidebar to honor them. If you look to the right and down a bit, you'll find an American flag with the words "In Memoriam" dedicated to the Law Enforcement personnel who gave their lives in service. I plan on listing their date of death, their departments, and their names with a link to their own individual Memorial Page at The Officer Down Memorial Page. If you have the time, take a moment to stop by and visit their memorials and say a small thank you for their service and their ultimate sacrifice. They, and their families, deserve that much at least.

Also, if you could please join me in saying a prayer that I don't have to add too many more names to that list I would really, really appreciate it. Thank you.

Defining "The Flu"

Three days after coming down with a nasty stomach bug, I am finally starting to feel a lot better and want to thank everyone for their kind comments regarding my health and recovery. I also want to thank my cheeky little British friend Claire for her lovely post and cartoon rendering of my - shall we say - dilemma? Please bear in mind that Claire is suffering from another nasty sinus infection and perhaps that it what is affecting her sense of delicacy hence the rather graphic depiction. Oh wait ... no ... Claire has no sense of delicacy when it comes to some things but that's one of the things I love about her! Do stop by and wish her well with her bout of "sinus urination" if you get the chance!

Meanwhile, I also wanted to thank a couple of other folks for setting the matter straight regarding a stomach bug versus The Flu. I had lamented that after having now had a nasty upper respiratory infection/head cold and a stomach bug both in less than a week what was the sense of having gotten a flu shot and both Lee and MightyMom set me straight on the difference:

Lee of Tar Heel Ramblings said:

"Just a little bit of information that won't make you feel any better. What you have is almost certainly not the flu. Believe it or not, but there is really no such thing as "stomach flu." Flu symptoms include fever, body aches and sometimes a rash. But rarely does it involve vomiting or stomach upset.

What you have is probably not a virus at all, but rather a bacterial infection of some kind. Hence the nausea and vomiting."

NinjaNurse aka MightyMom of My Wonderful Life stated:

"NinjaNurse is obligated to inform the public of the following:

The flu shot you got does nothing for what folks call "flu" which is really a stomach virus (GI if you want to be specific) because that isn't the flu. It also does nothing for head colds as that is an Upper Respiratory Infection and isn't the flu either.

The flu is a disease caused by the influenza virus. It causes cough, congestion, fever, fatigue (extreme), generalized achiness, runny nose, and decreased appetite. It lasts 7-10 days. So, as long as you've not been in bed for a week going through 2 boxes of tissue a day and feeling like you were hit by a semi .... your flu shot worked. Be thankful!"

Ah-ha, well, yes, I guess that I did know that what with working in a medically-related field and all but for some unknown reason I have always called it a stomach flu. Obviously I am wrong in doing so as a quick check of Dictionary.com produced this definition of influenza (the full word for flu) that is even more chilling than what NinjaNurse depicted:

Main Entry: in·flu·en·za
Pronunciation: "in-(")flü-'en-z&
Function: noun
1 a : an acute highly contagious virus disease that is caused by various strains of orthomyxoviruses belonging to three major types now considered as three separate genera and that is characterized by sudden onset, fever, prostration, severe aches and pains, and progressive inflammation of the respiratory mucous membrane —often used with the letter A, B, or C to denote disease caused by a virus of a specific one of the three genera influenza A that has been widespread in the United States this winter —H. M. Schmeck, Jr.> b : any human respiratory infection of undetermined cause.

Alrighty then - that sounds much worse than what I have had recently as I can't even pronounce orthomyxoviruses never mind want them floating around in my system! Plus influenza has been known to wipe out large amounts of people at various times in history so I am going to be thankful that I did get my flu shot and keep my fingers crossed that it works!

Whatever it was that I did have - whether you want to call it a stomach bug or a stomach virus or I'm sure some sort of more colorful description that Claire could come up with - it wasn't fun and I'm still kind of afraid to eat real food for fear of setting my intestinal system off again but at least I was able to get back to work yesterday for my usual 16-hour Monday shift (hence no post!) and am going to be able to enjoy some of the incredibly out-of-season warm temperatures that are predicted for today.

In the meantime, though, Amanda has been home from school for two days with an upset stomach (lucky for her it remains simply upset and not active) and I've heard that my good blog buddy and all-around-nice-gal Ms. Maggie Moo is also home sick from work today with an equally upset stomach. If you get the chance, please drop by and wish her well.

And as for all of you who wished that Jamie would not get sick with this bug herself but be a carrier for it down to Florida - shame on you and what a lovely thought!

Update: I just found a post called Watch Out for the Norovirus over on The Boomer Chronicles and it sounds like exactly what I had! Well, except for the vomiting because as I told Rhea in a comment I left, "I didn’t have the vomiting as it seems to take an Act of Congress for me to be able to just throw up and get it over with and Congress failed to meet during my time of illness ..."

Isn't it nice when you can put a name to what ails you? Well, a name other than that of one's ex-spouse??

Did anyone get the plate number ...

... of the truck that hit me? To quote my old Gram B when I woke up early yesterday morning, "I didn't feel a bit good" and from there I progressed to not feeling so much like Death eating a cracker but like Death enjoying a long and bountiful banquet ...

Having not had an episode of stomach flu in so long I can't remember I had forgotten how very debilitating and horrible it can be. Trust me, my memory banks have been fully restored to an overflow capacity of knowing exactly how it feels again after yesterday's bout of illness. With the exception of making the trip across the hall to the bathroom way too many times, I didn't leave my bed from 12:00 Friday night until I was able to painfully extricate myself this morning at 7:00 a.m. - a full 30 hours later! Normally I rather like my bed and have a great deal of trouble removing myself from it's warm comfort in the mornings but today I wanted nothing more to do with it as there was no longer a comfortable position to lie in. The sad thing is that after all of the sleep I've gotten in the past day and a half, I'm still tired but I need to try to recover enough to get myself into work this afternoon.

If my being sick weren't bad enough, the timing probably couldn't have been worse as yesterday was the day that Jamie was supposed to fly back to Florida. Her flight wasn't until later in the evening out of Providence but it became painfully apparent to me that there was no way I was going to be able to get her there in the condition that I was in. In between bouts of nausea, I was able to get a hold of Southwest Airlines and spoke to a very nice lady there who canceled Jamie's flight reservations without any sort of a penalty and told me that I could apply the electronic funds to a new ticket on-line.

Knowing her Dad wasn't going to be happy about the whole thing I first checked to see if I could get Jamie on a flight during the week but without a 14-day advance purchase, I was looking at $277 for a flight - ouch! A quick check of Saturday showed that I could put her on the exact same flight she had been booked on just a week later for only $74 which meant that I could use the refund from her previous flight and still have a little money left over for whenever she flies up next. Even in my headachey, stomach crampy, nauseated stupor I was smart enough to figure that was the best deal so booked Jamie for that flight. The whole process took maybe ten minutes on the laptop but that was long enough to totally wipe me out so I didn't take the time to look up dear old Dad's email address to forward him the new flight info, etc. as I figured I'd be able to do it today when I was hoping to feel marginally better.

Understanding, sympathetic, non-suspicious person that he is, when Jamie told her dad that she wasn't flying back as planned and was going to be here another week his immediate reaction was "tell your mom to send me that flight change information now". I heard Jamie trying to explain to him that I was sick, I couldn't get out of bed, and that I would do it as soon as I felt better but I guess that he thought that I was basically up to no good and just didn't want to put Jamie back on the plane. He was apparently not convinced that I had made alternate arrangements and that there was no return flight booked.

Granted, I have thought of such things in the past however getting a major case of the stomach flu would not have figured into those plans. Besides, if he wants Jamie back down to Florida sooner than the flight I have her currently booked on then he's more than welcome to pay for the ticket at a much higher rate. Somehow, I don't see that happening, though. I suppose I could have picked up the phone and talked to him myself but I seriously was not feeling up to an argument. I'm still not feeling up to one but I'm sure that one will ensue later today. Oh goodie.

At any rate, I've had a cup of tea this morning which seems to be sitting okay and am debating a piece of toast. I still feel wiped out and pretty tender around the abdominal area but I would say I'm 1,000% better than yesterday. I just hope that neither of the girls come down with whatever I had as it's brutal and I hope I don't have a relapse either as I really need to go into work this afternoon.

I'm beginning to wonder why I bothered to get a flu shot this year what with the nasty colds and stomach flu I've now gotten. Being sick is probably a great way to lose some weight but I'm pretty sure that there are better methods out there!

Update: The ex called and he was more understanding about it then I thought he would be. His only complaint was that I should have called him first but like I told him, I was lucky I could even call Southwest. Also, I've decided not to go into work after all. I had some toast but I still feel pretty lousy and putting on a uniform to go in and deal with other people's emergencies just seems like more than I can handle right now. I think I feel another nap coming on ...

"Oh yes, there will be blood!" ~ Saw II

While Jamie has been up from Florida for the holidays I guess you could say that she's had a "frighteningly" good time. For some unknown reason, she seems to have taken a great liking to horror films - particularly those of the slasher variety such as the Friday the 13th and Halloween series.

I'm not sure that her Dad would approve (awww ...) but since she's been here Jamie has watched Friday the 13th Parts I through VI (with the exception of IV as she didn't want to watch that one), the original Halloween, and Jason vs Freddy wherein Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th and Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street face off against each other in a veritable bloodbath of gore. The kid is apparently not at all squeamish when it comes to people being gutted, having their throats slit, or even being decapitated. Ewww ...

I've never been much into your basic slasher films though I admit to having seen the original Nightmare on Elm Street when it hit theaters in 1984. I vaguely remember Johnny Depp's role in the film as Glen Lantz but I do remember his death came by being sucked into a big hole in the middle of his bed while gallons of blood sprayed around the bedroom and the ambulance attendant's statement upon entering the room, "We don't need a stretcher in there. We need a mop!"

Other than that and the one weekend when the ex took the girls down to Washington D.C. and I was home alone so rented a bunch of horror flicks and watched them back to back (including I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, the Scream series, and a few others I can't remember the name of ), I've never really watched the type of movies where scantily clad teenage girls scream way too much before some guy in a mask runs a knife through them. Not my idea of a good time.

Where Jamie got her like for these kinds of movies is beyond me. Sure, I've read a lot of Stephen King and probably even read some while I was pregnant with her, but those are scary stories of another kind so I can't say she developed it in vitro! I don't believe it's an inherited trait either as I can't think of anyone else in the family who likes these kinds of movies but Jamie has always been, uhm, what's that word? Oh yeah -different!

This week she has discovered another scary movie of a different type that she really likes that's creepy on another level - the Hannibal Lecter series. Despite the fact that it won 5 Oscars, I never saw The Silence of the Lambs when it came out in 1991 though I knew what the basic premise was and who - or should I say what - Hannibal Lecter is. I've heard quotes from the movie all over the place but never had the desire to sit down and watch it even though I really appreciate Sir Anthony Hopkins as an actor. I'd much rather watch him in Meet Joe Black then in his more terrifying roles even though he plays them very, very well.

Jamie, on the other hand, has watched not only The Silence of the Lambs but also Hannibal Rising, Manhunter, and Hannibal this week. She was quite pleased to learn that Dr. Hannibal Lecter was named the number one film villain of all time by the American Film Institute in 2003 - a title that I've found was well-earned as I've tried to watch some of these movies with her. I jump and turn my head away or make noises of disgust while Jamie says "wow! cool!" and watches every little detail. Again let me just say ... Ewww ...

She told me today that she wants to make scary movies when she gets older and if Wes Craven, Brian De Palma, John Carpenter, or Sean Cunningham got their start as famous horror movie directors by watching a lot of horror movies when they were young then Jamie may well be on her way to a career in film-making.

Gee, and I was so hoping for a George Lucas or Steven Spielberg instead!

Fulfilling an Obligation

The Chinese have a saying - "When someone shares with you something of value, you have an obligation to share it with others." To that end, I wanted to fulfill my obligation and share a couple of things I got via email. The first is a joke that I got from my friend Bulldog quite awhile ago and was saving for a good time to use -

The Indian Winter Weather Forecast

It was already late fall and the Indians on a remote reservation in South Dakota asked their new chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a chief in a modern society he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared. But being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is the coming winter going to be cold?"

"It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold," the meteorologist at the weather service responded.

So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service again. "Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?"

"Yes," the man at National Weather Service again replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter."

The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find. Two weeks later the chief called the National Weather Service again. "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"

"Absolutely," the man replied. "It's looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters we've ever seen."

"How can you be so sure?" the chief asked.

The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting firewood like crazy."

Speaking of a cold winter, the last two days have found us in an Arctic freeze with this morning's temperature coming in at a bone-chilling six degrees above zero with a wind chill factor that brought it down to -9 degrees. Brrr! It's not supposed to be quite as cold tomorrow morning but I have my doubts about that as the temperature as of this writing at 10:30 p.m. is 9.5 degrees outside of my kitchen window and it's a long time until the coldest part of the morning.

Thankfully this freeze isn't supposed to last too long and temperatures are going to climb into the low 50's this weekend. To say that we here in New England are having a strange winter is certainly not an understatement and it's no wonder that everyone, myself included, seem to be capturing colds. I'm happy to report that I can actually breath through my nose again and that I've cut back significantly on tissue usage - something my poor, painful nose is thankful for!

While on the topic of cold, the other thing I wanted to share is the following picture that was sent to me via email by Andrew, one of my friends from work, which I thought was just too beautiful not to share. The picture depicts sunset at the North Pole with the moon at it's closest point to the earth.

Absolutely gorgeous, isn't it? I can only imagine how much more breathtaking it is in person but I also can only imagine how much colder it is in person! Not being one who particularly enjoys cold temperatures, I believe I shall be happy just viewing it from this distance!

Sending warm wishes to all of you no matter where you may be!

"Rabbits, Rabbits, Rabbits"!

While at work this past Monday (New Year's Eve Day) the topic of the superstition of saying "rabbits, rabbits, rabbits" on the first day of the New Year to insure good luck throughout the rest of the year came up. One of the nurses that called to schedule a patient's transport out of the hospital mentioned it to one of the schedulers I work with and she mentioned it to the rest of us.

Jen said she had never heard of this particular superstition; I said that I recalled hearing about it but thought that it applied to the first day of any month and not just the first day of the New Year. Problem is - I have never been able to remember to say it so I'm not sure whether it brings good luck or not!

For those who are not familiar with the "rabbits, rabbits, rabbits" superstition - it's a piece of folklore with an unknown origin and is related to the broader belief of carrying a rabbit's foot for good luck - which, of course, is never lucky for the rabbit itself! There is some belief that this superstition initiated in England during the 1200's though it didn't appear in print until 1420. No matter when it originated, it's been around for a long, long time and has naturally taken on several different incarnations.

Around 1920, one of the earliest referenced usages was to say “rabbits” three times before going to sleep the last night of the month and then “hares” three times first thing upon waking; a few years later, it was simply three “rabbits” in the morning with no “hares” at all.

Another incarnation is believing that the effect is stronger on one's month of birth or making “rabbit, rabbit” be the last words said on the last of the month and the first words said on the first of the month

Traditions also extend to saying on the first of each month: “A pinch and a punch for the first day of the month; white rabbit!” Upon saying it, you naturally pinch and punch the person you said it to but if you omit the "white rabbit" part, the recipient may counteract by saying "A flick and a kick for being so quick" and then give you the same.

I guess there's no particular right or wrong way when it comes to superstitions, especially ones with no set-in-stone documentation, and I guess there's also no harm in participating in them either as long as they're simple little superstitions like this one. The trick is just remembering to do them! As I said, my problem has always been that I just don't remember in time.

When I woke up on Tuesday morning one of the first things I thought of (other than "why am I waking up so early when I stayed up way too late with the girls??") was our talk at work about "rabbits, rabbits, rabbits" so I spoke the words aloud to my empty bedroom. Hopefully saying it out loud just to myself as the first words spoken for the day fits at least one of the variations as I could really use some good luck! I'll have to keep you posted as to how things transpire for 2008!

So, anyone else had any experiences with "rabbits, rabbits, rabbits" or maybe the variation of "moose, moose" on the second day of the month when you forgot to say "rabbits, rabbits, rabbits" on the first day? Or perhaps you know of another incarnation of this one? Superstitious minds wanna know!

*"Bunneh" artwork by Amanda

'L'art pour l'art'' ~ Art-Munkey's 2007 Wrap-Up

While I was spending a lot of time blogging during 2007, Amanda was spending a lot of time with her Sharpies, crayons, and colored pencils. I've featured some of her drawings in past posts but thought it might be nice to do an "art show" of sorts as we begin another year.

Some of these drawings will look familiar to those of you who have been reading on a regular basis and others are making their debut, though they've been posted on Amanda's Deviant Art site as they've become finished. I haven't featured some of them here as some of them are a bit "out there" but they're definitely all Amanda so I figured 'why not?' Who am I to censor the kid's creativity? Well actually as her mother I certainly can and, trust me, I will if necessary but the drawings in this post seem pretty 'safe'!

The drawing above is the very first one that I featured on this blog in a post titled Draw, Ya Varmit! on August 15th, 2006. Since then Amanda's drawing style, like her hair, has changed quite a bit while she develops her own characters and continues to improve so it should be interesting to see what happens as time continues to march on. Of course, it would probably help if she had an art teacher that was more encouraging than discouraging but thankfully she should only have this guy for the remainder of the year and next year perhaps she'll get someone more open-minded. After all, if Gerard Way, who has his own comic book out, gave her great compliments on her art this past summer then she must be doing something right! Right?

Now, without further ado, for your viewing pleasure I present to you -

The Art-Munkey - Uncensored!

Happy New Year!

This is just going to be a quick post in between doing laundry, making a meatloaf, and putting away the Christmas decorations but I did want to pop in and leave a message for everyone to have a spectacular year in 2008!

I'm working on another year-end up wrap-up post of a different nature than the one I did in the post below this (for those who read it early through Google Reader, it's much improved over the prematurely posted version!) but this next post is going to take some prodding in Amanda's general direction before it's done. And we all know how fast Amanda gets things done - not!

Hope everyone had a fantastic and safe New Year's Eve. I worked until 11:00 then came home, changed into my comfy pj's, and played Guitar Hero and Rock Band until the early morning hours with the girls. We took a short pause at midnight to welcome in the New Year with an enthusiastic 'woohoo' and then continued on. Yep, we know how to live it up out here in Connecticut but at least no one had a hangover today!

Jamie concentrates on the screen ahead of her.

Anyhow, off to do some domestic chores before I sit down and try to catch up with everyone's blogs. Hopefully I'll be able to get that other post up soon, too, but if I don't then trust me - it's Amanda's fault!