- the beach club at jimmy john's is the only way to go. avocado spread, sprouts, cucumbers, turkey AND provolone... plus more stuff! yum.
- if you're going to transport drugs, do not do such in a county vehicle. it's sort of conspicuous and makes you easy to find.
- grown men in public positions will argue over budgets like kids fight over toys. it normally ends up with both crying and in search of their mothers.
- i cannot see the newsrooms tv from my desk, which will make me very disappointed if i don't get home for the second half. i am rooting for the gators, i just can't bring myself to cheer for oklahoma after going to texas over osu (good game). let's see a UF-Utah game, eh? urban's former school versus his current school. i think that would be a good game. maybe obama can make it happen when he starts figuring out a college football playoff system.
- i need new wipers. and tires. and rotors and brakes. thank you economic stimulus....
- people in laundromats are hesitant to talk to strangers, especially strangers with notepads and cameras.
- God loves me and my life is good. I think i relearn that every day.
jimmy john's brought us some free food at work one day-business promotion. They were very good and we had a variety of subs(4') to choose from. What a great thing to relearn everyday! XOXO
part of the problem is having to re-do the tests - his pain is such that lying still for the scans is very difficult. I don't think it's a matter of needing immediate answers - just trying to figure out where to go from here, treatment wise.
it was an innocent statement, given with kind forethought from my friend abby.
"we eat grapes at midnight."
i thought this was a tradition between abby and her boyfriend. confused, i asked why. sensing i misunderstood, she said, "oh, no! we ALL have to eat grapes. really fast. and if you don't the old women will smack your hands."
this was how my new year's eve started out. how was yours?
the grape eating is a spanish tradition and i was apparently in the midst of several spaniards. i thought i was at my friend bryan's house, and he is definitely not spanish, nor is his wife, but some relatives are and they are the ones that run the party.
to go along with the grapes, there was the group singing of "auld lang syne," a spanish hat dance thing to raise spirits, huggin', kissin' and throwin' streamers.
unique traditions, to say the least.
the grape eating sounds simple, until you try to do it. we were given 12 grapes (large, globe grapes), one for each month of the year, and told to eat them when the lady in the middle of the floor banged her skillet with a mallet. you have to eat every one or else you'll have bad luck (right...). though skeptical, it still looked like something fun to do.
the banging started, about 3 seconds apart. the first two or three grapes were fine. shocked by the speed at which the senora was banging, the next few were more difficult. i found myself running out of room in my mouth, with juices dribbling down my chin. my eyes started to water as i felt the early stages of asphyxiation. i glanced at my friend matt, who was in worse shape than i. he looked as green as the grapes he was eating, and as we found out later, doesn't like to eat juicy food. his girlfriend sat beside him, oblivious to the fact that she was about to get grape bits down the back of her sweater.
seeing his eyes start to bulge out of his head made me start to giggle. not a good thing when your mouth is full. juices start to spray everywhere. my friend wendy, sitting below me, notices and starts to laugh as well. she starts to choke. this is not good at all. we definitely need an EMT at the next grape eating.
finally, we all get to the 12th grape, get it down and move on with little injuries. the song goes well. the dance is... interesting. it's like the hokey pokey. a lot like the hokey pokey actually. you can tell the non-familial party-goers as we're the ones crowded in the corner staring at everyone else in a combination of fascination and horror.
then the party ended. it was fun. definitely my most interesting new years in a long time. we were talking after, about how you see the families in movies who act like that, but you never think anyone actually does. this family does. i'm grateful they shared, it was indeed a fun memory. and it'll take 364 days to forget :)
You have such a way with words...you have definitely chosen the right profession. Marylanders seem to think you have to eat black-eyed peas on New Year's day for good luck. In WV it must be cabbage...now grapes. I think the grapes sound the best but I am not sure of the speed at which they must be eaten. Oh well, they say laughter is good medicine and reading this blog certainly was good medicine for me.
I thought of you when Chris was telling me about his and Wes' adventures in crawdad eatin'. They weren't too successful as it turns out. Chris made me laugh when he told me that the first one he picked up was still twitching--he hurriedly threw it down and told Wes, "don't get that one--he's still alive ...and mad." What little meat they managed to get out was way spicy--after all, they were in New Orleans...
Cara...that is hilarious...and I'm sitting her picturing all that happening in my mind....you DO have a way with words! That was waaaaaay more interesting than my night! I was the only one awake at 12:00!!!!!!!!!
i don't want to say anything, but the dolphins are beating the jets... i would love to see chad and the boys win this one. (well, they were...) THEY DID!!!
a sunday morning funny:
in class this morning, we talked about jacob and esau. i had a couple of pictures of them as men, when esau came in from hunting and sold his birthright for the stew.
jacob brewer, being the hunter he is, said, "um, cara... where is esau's camouflage? won't the deer see him?!"
smart kid...
how's the weather where you are? yesterday was AMAZING! i took advantage of it and really enjoyed the warm weather. all the windows and doors were open. it's amazing how much better you feel in a little sun after two or three straight weeks of rain and snow!
i got out today and did 18+ holes of disc golf. the rule is our group plays if it's over 50 and we don't know how many more days will be over 50. it was a little muddy and windy, but felt wonderful!
well, i need to go make sure i have clothes clean for the week. only 4 days this week, then we switch to an a.m. paper and i can sleep until 7:30 most mornings!! i miss that. i miss that a lot. 5:30 is no fun for anyone.
I enjoyed the Sunday funny! :)
The weather here is crazy. We turned the a/c off on Sat. & woke up so cold on Sun. we had to turn on the heater. Today, it was so cold when we woke up, got pretty warm during the day & now it's cold again!
Alone by Heart is one of my favorite songs ever!!!!!!!! You rock! ANd, I'll tell you something funny...Audrey has my love for music...one day, when she was only 3...I asked her what her favorite song was...she replied "How Do I Get You"....(alone)! That girl has good taste!
yes, it was painful. You know our best player, Andre Smith, was suspended for the game. Yeah, he's a big O lineman and a junior. If (and really it's barely a question) he goes pro early, he's predicted to be a top 5 draft choice. So guess what happens when he gets down to New Orleans...improper contact with an agent. Makes me so mad I could spit. So with merely days to go before the game, major shuffling has to be done with our O line (that has no depth) and then in the first series, Johnson on O line gets hurt. John Parker Wilson isn't the best QB but at least our line would give him time and protection. Not so much last night. It was jailbreak all night for Utah.
Maybe you had one as a kid, or knew someone who did. It's the iconic little red wagon with the Radio Flyer logo.
If so, you might not recognize the newest product dreamed up by the brain trust at Radio Flyer's Chicago, Illinois, headquarters.
This wagon, called the Cloud 9, is equipped with enough high-tech bells and whistles to make the family minivan jealous.
"We approached this product much like an automotive company might with a concept car," said Mark Johnson, Radio Flyer's product development manager.
Outfitted with 5-point safety harnesses, padded seats, cup holders, foot brakes and fold-out storage containers, the sleek, curved Cloud 9 has every family covered for a ride through the park. But that's just for starters.
There's a digital handle that tracks temperature, time, distance and speed -- just in case energetic parents want to track their split times around the playground. And there's a slot for an MP3 player, complete with speakers, for some cruising tunes.
That's right: The little red wagon has gone 2.0.
"Music is such an important part of kids' and families' lives, we thought it would be great to have a speaker system built in the wagon," said Tom Schlegel, vice president of product development.
The Cloud 9 is still a prototype, but it wasn't developed on a whim. The company did extensive market research beforehand, then tested it out on the real experts at home.
"We sit down [and] observe how moms and kids are using our products," said Schlegel. "That's where our new ideas come from."
To develop those ideas, Radio Flyer's designers are using state-of-the art technology. They use Wacom Cintiq graphic tablets, allowing them to draw directly onto digital renderings of new products. And Radio Flyer also has its own in-house computer numerical control, or CNC, machines that create prototypes right on site.
Radio Flyer's blend of cutting-edge design and old-fashioned products appears to be a successful recipe. In an economy where businesses and families alike are tightening their belts, the company is still going strong.
"Radio Flyer survived the Great Depression, and this year has been a difficult year for a lot of companies," Schlegel says, "But Radio Flyer is actually growing this year. We're actually looking for engineers and designers in our product development group to keep up with the growth of the company."
That's quite a testament for a company nearly 90 years old.
My uncle is 11 yrs older than me. He used his red wagon to pass papers and when I was little he took me with him. I sat in the wagon with the papers. LOL When I was in my late teens I worked at the Hobby Center on West Washington Street with a woman who remembered me in the red wagon as a toddler. LOL
